272 migrants rescued trying to cross the Channel into Britain

INA-  sources

French authorities said Tuesday that they rescued 272 migrants off the coast of the Pas-de-Calais in the English Channel, who had set sail on rickety boats from the country’s northern coast in an attempt to reach England.
 
The Security Directorate of the English Channel and the North Sea said in a statement that the regional center for monitoring and rescue operations had received reports of several boats encountering difficulties off the Pas de Calais strait, noting that the rescue operations launched on the track continued during the day on Tuesday.
 
The statement indicated that a naval gendarmerie boat provided 48 people with aid during three rescue operations. The directorate counted a total of 10 remote rescue operations, one of which was carried out by a commercial ship.
 
According to the statement, all 272 rescued migrants were taken to the ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer, and were taken over by border police and firefighters.
 
Since the end of 2018, the Channel crossings towards the United Kingdom have increased, despite repeated warnings from the authorities that stress the danger of this type of migration due to heavy traffic, strong currents and low water temperature.
 
According to the French authorities, about 15,400 migrants tried to cross the Channel in the first eight months of this year, 3,500 of whom “were experiencing difficulties when they were rescued” and were returned to the French coast. This outcome represents a significant increase in the number of illegal immigrants from France to Britain compared to previous years, as the entire year 2020 recorded the crossing or attempted transit of about 9,500 immigrants, compared to 2,300 immigrants in 2019 and 600 in 2018.