Eighty-five migrants trying to reach England rescued at sea off Pas-de-Calais

Eighty-five migrants who took to the sea on Wednesday December 4 to try to reach England from Pas-de-Calais were rescued, announced the Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture. “Many departures of migrant boats” were reported Wednesday to the regional operational surveillance and rescue center (Cross) Gris-Nez off the coast of Pas-de-Calais, according to a press release from the maritime prefecture.

One of these boats found itself in difficulty when crossing a sandbar in the Wissant Bay area. After requesting assistance, the 80 passengers on board were transferred to the intervention, assistance and rescue tug Bee Normandy of the National Navy, according to the same source. At the same time, on another migrant boat in the Wimereux sector, five people requested assistance from French rescuers. They were also recovered by theBee Normandy.

All those rescued were brought back to the dock at Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken care of by land rescue and border police, the maritime prefecture said. More than 70 migrants have lost their lives this year during attempts to cross the Channel, according to the Pas-de-Calais prefecture.

2024, the deadliest year

This provisional assessment makes 2024 the deadliest year in this area since the start in 2018 of clandestine crossings of the Strait of Pas-de-Calais on inflatable boats nicknamed « small boats »hardly suitable for the high seas and often overloaded. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, 151 migrants were rescued in the Channel, including four who fell into the water.

A vast raid also took place on Wednesday in Germany against a network of smugglers. According to the French Ministry of the Interior, the operation targeted a “Syrian and Iraqi-Kurdish network” suspected of having organized this year “the transport of at least 300 boats” intended for crossings of the Channel.