A body was discovered on the beach in Calais and another was recovered at sea this Wednesday morning. Already the day before, two other bodies had been recovered in the Channel.
Eight corpses in one week
In one week, eight bodies were found in this area, in a context of numerous migratory crossings.
The public prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Guirec Le Bras, specified that the bodies discovered Tuesday and Wednesday were “altered and difficult to identify”, but that the one discovered Wednesday morning at the sea wall of Calais beach bore “papers indicating that it is the body of a man of Syrian nationality”.
“In addition to forensic investigations, the investigative actions will aim to determine whether these bodies can be linked to shipwrecks or maritime events with deaths that have occurred recently, by determining the event in question,” summarized Mr. Le Bras. On October 23, at least three migrants died in a shipwreck, for which the authorities cited possible missing victims. The prosecution reported a few days later of a persistent “question” due to a discrepancy between the number of people recovered and certain testimonies on the number of passengers on board.
At least 60 candidates for exile have died since January
Saturday morning, another body was found on the beach of Sangatte, very close to Calais, and three were found on the beach of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, last Wednesday, day where a migrant also died in an attempted crossing.
Not counting the two bodies discovered this Wednesday, the two recovered Tuesday and the one discovered Saturday, not yet formally identified as those of migrants, at least 60 candidates for exile have died trying to cross the Channel since the start of the year .
This already makes 2024 the costliest year in human lives since the appearance of the phenomenon of Channel crossings on small boats in 2018.
“These tragedies will repeat themselves”
“The Channel brings back the bodies of people killed by political choices at the border. Our thoughts go out to the families who are looking for and mourning their loved ones,” the Auberge des Migrants association, which helps exiles on the coast, wrote on Wednesday on X. “The year is not over and as long as border policies do not change, these tragedies will repeat themselves tirelessly,” the association is alarmed.
