The destination was Great Britain.
The French save dozens of people in the English Channel

05/29/2023, 09:25

Again, people embark on barely seaworthy boats to start a better life in Britain. More than 60 of them have to be brought to safety by French rescue teams from the English Channel.

In two rescue operations off the French coast, 63 people were rescued over the weekend who wanted to cross the English Channel to Britain in barely seaworthy boats. According to the French authorities, the Gris Nez maritime rescue center coordinated two operations in the waters of Pas-de-Calais on Sunday night.

A boat whose engine fell into the water was helped by a boat belonging to the National Maritime Rescue Society, which disembarked 46 people, authorities reported. Meanwhile, another ship, which had been chartered in April to bolster search and rescue operations, brought 17 Oye-Plage castaways aboard.

Procedures for non-attendance

Just days earlier in France, the judiciary had charged five soldiers with failing to provide assistance in connection with the deaths of 27 migrants when their rubber dinghy sank in the English Channel in late 2021.

At the time of the accident, the three soldiers were working at the Gris Nez maritime rescue center, which is in charge of rescue operations in the English Channel.

The investigation focuses on allegations that emergency calls from people on the ship in distress were not answered. According to legal documents obtained by the AFP news agency, French authorities had ignored pleas for help from migrants in distress 15 times.

Last year around 46,000 asylum seekers crossed the English Channel, most of them from Afghanistan, Iran and Albania. Around 8,000 people have been rescued in French waters so far.