From the French coast, they tried to reach Britain.
Eight migrants trying to cross the English Channel on a makeshift boat to reach the British coast were rescued on Friday, the maritime prefecture said.
At around 9:00, "the Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture is alerted by the Gris-Nez Regional Operational Monitoring and Rescue Center (CROSS) that one or two boats with possible migrants on board are at drift, " she said in a statement.
Increased attempts to cross the English Channel
Air and water resources are deployed by the French and British authorities in the area. A drifting boat of migrants is finally spotted by a ferry and the eight people on board are recovered by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI, British counterpart of the French SNSM) around 10 am.
This new attempt comes as 18 migrants had already been rescued under the same conditions on the night of Wednesday to Thursday.
The maritime prefecture is alarmed by the increase in attempts to cross the Channel since October, perhaps related to the Brexit approach.