Screen-printed cars, vans and buggies of the police patrol every night along the coast between Dunkirk (North) and Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais). Drones whir above the dunes. This presence has enabled the dismantling of thirteen smuggling networks between France and England since January, states a note from the Office for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Migrants (Oltim) dated May 27. Eight of them specialized in transport in “small boats”.
These poor copies of zodiacs, 10 to 12 meters long, often acquired at low prices and of poor quality, carry on average around fifty migrants on board. Since the first sea crossings recorded at the end of 2018, they have become the number one way for exiles to reach England, ahead of attempts at clandestine crossings aboard trucks.
“The millions invested to prevent exiles from leaving prevent nothing”
According to the latest available figures, released by the English government, 574 people managed to cross the Channel aboard small boats during the week of May 20 to 26, and 214 others were prevented from setting sail on French beaches.
“The main danger is the high number of passengers. In March, up to 114 people were recorded on a boat. There were deaths, including a child,” notes Alain Ledaguenel, rescuer from the National Society of Sea Rescuers (SNSM) in Dunkirk and whistleblower on the dangers faced by migrants in the Channel.
On board the small boats, the Vietnamese represented the first nationality to arrive in Great Britain between January and April, ahead of migrants from Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. Over the first four months of 2024, according to the French authorities, half of the departure candidates successfully completed the crossing.
“The millions invested to prevent exiles from leaving prevent nothing. In the end they pass, but taking more and more risks,” says Yann Manzi, co-founder of the Utopia 56 association, which organizes marauding raids every night along the coasts of Nord and Pas-de-Calais.
The NGO denounces an increase in the use by law enforcement of tear gas and LBD shooting on the beaches. Oltim, for its part, affirms that “the violence (against the police, editor’s note) in order to protect traffickers and prevent the seizure of nautical equipment”, already important in recent months, gained momentum in April.
