A body was discovered on the beach of Calais and two others were recovered at sea, Wednesday November 6, the day after the recovery of two other bodies in the Channel, in a context of numerous migratory crossings, announced the Boulogne prosecutor's office -sur-Mer. Since Tuesday, five bodies have been discovered at sea, on the coast or off Calais, the public prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Guirec Le Bras, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). In one week, nine bodies were found in this area.
Contacted by AFP on Wednesday evening, the prosecutor reported “two bodies yesterday [mardi] at sea, one this morning [mercredi] at the level of the sea wall of Calais beach, a [autre] corps which drifted at sea around 11 a.m. and a last one at 4 p.m..
The prosecutor specified that the bodies discovered at sea on Tuesday and Wednesday were “altered and difficult to identify”but that the one discovered Wednesday on the beach carried “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”added Mr. Le Bras.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Channel crossings: coastal mayors express their helplessness
Read later
“Political choices kill at the border”
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 « interrogation » persistent due to a discrepancy between the number of people recovered and some testimonies on the number of passengers on board.
On Saturday, 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, the day a migrant also died in an attempted crossing.
At least 60 people have died in migrants' attempted sea crossings to England since the start of the year. This already makes 2024 the costliest year in human lives since the appearance in 2018 of the phenomenon of Channel crossings on small boats.
“The Channel brings back the bodies of people killed by political choices at the border. Our thoughts are with the families who are searching and mourning their loved ones.”wrote on Wednesday on X the association l'Auberge des migrants, which helps exiles on the coast. “The year is not over and as long as border policies do not change, these tragedies will repeat themselves tirelessly”the association is alarmed.
Between 1is and on November 5, 874 migrants managed to reach the English coast aboard small boatsaccording to the latest report from the British Home Office.
Also read the column | Article reserved for our subscribers Channel Shipwrecks: “The Franco-British migration policy is deadly, and it is not up to associations to compensate for its inconsistency”
Read later
