A thousand migrants crossed the English Channel this weekend, and several hundred more were rescued

After several weeks where conditions no longer allowed crossing the English Channel, this weekend was marked by a large number of attempted crossings by smugglers, impersonating migrants trying to cross to England. The Channel and North Sea Maritime Prefecture said it carried out several rescue operations on Friday November 11 and Saturday November 12 to help three sinking boats, with a total of 142 people rescued.

The rescue operations were carried out accordingly by the high-speed boat of the national sea rescue company with the support of the Belgian aid. near the building of the French Navy; and by a French customs patrol. The flyers were escorted to the ports of Dunkirk and Calais where they were cared for by border police and the emergency services, SDIS or SAMU as the case may be.

“They refuse the help that is brought to them”

In turn, the mayor of Calais (LR) Natasha Bouchard announced on BFMTV on Saturday evening.From the beginning of the evening, 14 transition attempts were made. […] which corresponds to about 500 refugee migrants, mostly of Syrian, Kurdish or Afghan nationality, who have more means to pay for crossings.“. The chosen one admits that he witnessed how the boat with 50 people was saved and then taken care of at the medical station on the beach.

“Migrants are sheltered by public services in Dunkirk or Calais, but very often they refuse the help they are offered. Smugglers or coxswains on these boats advise against the humanitarian aid offered to them.He added that the rescued migrants in front of him stayed at the aid station for only four minutes, after which the smugglers boarded again to try to cross the next night.

Clashes broke out on Saturday morning when police tried to prevent crossings near Gravelines. Border Police and National Police from Dunkirk Police Station intervened to repel the attempt to cross into the UK and in return suffered “slab“, according to the Bovo place, which nevertheless welcomes “successful operation“. “It was a routine immigration enforcement operation.“, the North Prefecture in turn notes, indicating that some of the dozens of police officers present are indeed “faces fierce resistancefrom migrants. According to the first data collected, no policeman was injured, and the police did not make any arrests.

40,000 passes since the beginning of the year

Britain estimates that the number of migrants who made the perilous crossing on Sunday passed the 40,000 mark, a record number, according to the Ministry of Defence. This weekend alone, 972 people crossed the English Channel in 22 small boats on Saturday, bringing the total to 40,885 since the start of the year. In the whole year 2021, 28,526 crossings were registered. It was already a record.

These rising numbers are putting pressure on the government as the Tories have made tackling immigration a priority since Brexit and the asylum system is more overburdened than ever.

Successive Tory governments have weighed in, abandoning some illegal or impractical ideas, such as pushing boats out of British waters with artificial waves, locking migrants on ocean liners or sending them to remote islands. The latest plan, announced under Boris Johnson, was to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, but this plan has stalled.

The issue is a point of tension with Paris, even as the two countries announced in a joint press release on Friday “progress” in finding a new agreement.

The UK will be willing to pay an extra £80m (€91m) to France for police reinforcements on French beaches, while British agents will have access to French control centres. Recent revelations about overcrowded reception centers in the UK have sparked controversy in a country where the population is largely in favor of accepting migrants. Interior Minister Suella Braverman, on the far right, was also shocked, calling:invasion“Migrant Inflow to UK, Remarks Considered”terribleby the United Nations.