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France warns of surge in migrant attempts to reach Britain by boat
LILLE, France, Nov 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – French authorities warned Thursday
of a spike in migrants attempting the dangerous crossing of the English
Channel by boat to reach Britain, which could reflect fears the border will
be shut after Brexit.
Maritime police rescued 18 people in two separate rescue operations
overnight, bringing to 30 the number of attempted crossings so far this year.
“But 17 of those are since October,” said Captain Ingrid Parrot, a
spokeswoman for the French maritime police based in Cherbourg.
“We’re dealing with a situation that’s getting worse,” she said, adding
that France was reinforcing its patrols in the Channel.
Britain’s interior ministry said Thursday that 14 people had been rescued
overnight, bringing the total number to 78 in the last two weeks.
“We have stepped up deployments of our coastal patrol vessels along the
South-East coast in light of recent events,” the ministry said.
Migrants have long massed along France’s northern coast hoping to stow away
on trucks heading for Britain, where many have family or believe they stand a
better chance of getting asylum or finding a job.
But starting in 2016, officials began seeing attempts by migrants to use
dinghies and inflatable rafts to cross the 33-kilometre (20-mile) Strait of
Dover, one of the world’s busiest shipping channels.
A total of 23 attempted crossings were reported that year, falling to just
13 in 2017, Parrot said.
But the prospect of Britain’s exit from the EU next March, which could lead
to tighter controls on immigration, may be pushing more migrants to make an
attempt by sea instead of trying to stow away on vehicles in Calais.
“We think they want to leave at all costs now because Brexit hasn’t yet
happened,” Parrot said.
Unseasonably mild weather in October may also be a factor in the recent
increase, while security has also been progressively stepped up around the
ports, making stowing away on trucks increasingly difficult.
– Fears of collision –
At around 2:00 am (0100 GMT) Thursday a tugboat spotted an inflatable raft
carrying six men and a woman and escorted them toward England, where it was
intercepted by Britain’s Border Force some five kilometres off the coast.
About an hour later, a ferry alerted authorities to another dinghy in
distress after its motor broke down, with 11 people on board.
French authorities were unable to establish communications and locate their
precise location initially. They were later spotted by a navy helicopter and
picked up by a French patrol boat.
“Four of them were suffering from hypothermia and transferred to the Calais
hospital,” the authorities said in a statement, while the others were handed
over to border police.
Last week a group of 17 Iranian migrants stole a fishing boat from a French
port and managed to reach the harbour at Dover, a feat Parrot described as
“unprecedented” since much smaller vessels are usually used.
Britain’s interior ministry said all 78 people rescued since November 9 —
including 24 people intercepted in three incidents on one day last week —
also claimed to be Iranian.
The attempted crossings are especially risky given the heavy boat traffic
in the Channel, sustained high winds and extremely cold water.
“Nobody should put their life at risk attempting to smuggle themselves into
the UK across the Channel,” the British foreign ministry said, adding that
such attempts remain “relatively rare.”
But so far no migrant drownings have been reported since 2016, Parrot said.
“Our biggest fear is a collision with a bigger boat,” she said.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0823 hrs