Three years after the tragedy of November 24 and the death of 27 people, 70 exiles have died since January 2024 in the Channel

The body of an exile who drowned in the English Channel was found on Wednesday, November 20, on a beach in Quend, in the Somme. Another had already been discovered on Sunday November 17, on a shore in Marck, in Pas-de-Calais. Since October 30, there have been no less than fourteen macabre discoveries of the same type on the northern coast. According to the prefecture, which does not keep a count of missing people, more than 70 exiles have died since January 2024, trying to reach the English coast aboard a makeshift boat.

“That’s enough!” » wanted to react several municipal elected officials from across the coast, Wednesday, in a joint press release calling for “to engage in a showdown with the British”, to renegotiate the Le Touquet agreements and urge the authorities to open “legal immigration routes” between France and Great Britain. The press release also calls for the creation of a transport police force on the coast and the appointment of a prefect dedicated to immigration. However, not all northern mayors see things the same way.

“A complaint has been filed by relatives of the victims and associations for involuntary manslaughter and failure to render aid »

“I am against all-coercive, indicates, for example, Martial Beyaert, the socialist councilor of Grande-Synthe. For years I have been proposing the renegotiation of the Le Touquet agreements or even calling into question the Dublin regulation. I also want more resources, but not to build a new administrative detention center in Dunkirk, rather for support” which, according to him, involves the construction “places of refuge with 150 to 200 places on the coastal strip”.

This demand is also supported by several associations (Amnesty International, Auberge des migrants, Gisti, Médecins du monde, Médecins sans frontières, Migreurope, Osmose, Salam, Secours catholique and Utopia 56) which come to the aid of exiles. They are organizing this Saturday, November 23, in Dunkirk, a commemorative event of the shipwreck of November 24, 2021, during which 27 people lost their lives (four are still officially missing). “A complaint has been filed by relatives of the victims and associations for involuntary manslaughter and failure to provide assistance,” they indicate in a joint press release. The investigation, still ongoing, revealed several dysfunctions and shortcomings in the coordination of rescue operations. Seven soldiers and eleven smugglers should soon be tried before the national jurisdiction for the fight against organized crime, despite attempts at interference by the Ministry of the Armed Forces. » A march will leave at 6:45 p.m. from Place Jean Bart in Dunkirk. The associations then invite participants to join them for a round table at Studio 43, from 8:00 p.m.