Despite the freezing temperatures at the start of the year, attempts to leave for England are almost daily. Since January 1, 2025, 890 people have already managed to reach the United Kingdom aboard makeshift boats
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Neither the cold nor the winter seemed to discourage candidates for departure for England. On the coast, the phenomenon has become massive, endemic. So much so that this Monday, January 20 in the morning, 84 people in distress were once again rescued on the open sea, in the Walde lighthouse area.
In the early morning, their boat set off from a beach near Calais. A walker saw this departure and alerted the emergency services. The CROSS Gris-Nez then decided to engage a French customs patrol boat and, upon arrival in the area, the crew spotted the boat, stranded on a sandbank at low tide. It is then impossible to intervene, due to the lack of depth to navigate. A helicopter from the French Navy is in turn involved. The tide is then rising and threatens the stranded people stuck on the sandbank.
-Under these conditions, 22 people were rescued by the helicopter. At the same time, the other people manage to relaunch the boat and head back towards England. The tugboat Abeille Normandie begins its surveillance mission and follows the small boat. A few moments later, following a new distress call, rescuers came to the aid of the 62 people remaining on board the makeshift boat and brought them back to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Rescues have become almost daily on the coast of Nord Pas-de-Calais. Already, three days earlier, on Friday January 17, 68 people were rescued after their boat sank in the same area. The start of 2025 seems to resemble the end of 2024, with departure attempts almost daily, as soon as the weather permits. “We approach the same numbers every day, which are often around 200 people.” assesses Angèle, coordinator of Utopia 56 Calais, interviewed on January 17.
According to a daily count kept by the Home Office, the British Interior Ministry, 890 people have arrived in the United Kingdom after crossing the Channel by boat, since January 1, 2025.
We have taken stock of the situation for the start of 2025, an article can be found here.
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