Channel: deadliest sinking of a migrant boat since the start of the crossings
A group of migrants attempting to cross the Channel this Wednesday, November 24, 2021 © GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS
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4 min
At least twenty-seven migrants died this Wednesday, November 24 in the sinking of their boat off Calais.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is expected in the evening, while Boris Johnson calls a crisis meeting of his government in London.
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She had left Dunkirk.
A boat with about fifty people on board was wrecked this Wednesday afternoon.
They were trying to reach the English coasts.
It is a fisherman who discovered the floating bodies off Calais, about fifteen first, underlines
Simon Rozé
of the France service of RFI.
A French Navy ship was then diverted to retrieve them.
Since then, the toll continues to grow and research is still ongoing.
This tragedy, described as a "
tragedy
" by Prime Minister Jean Castex, is by far the deadliest since the soaring in 2018 of migratory crossings of the English Channel, in the face of the increasing lockdown of the port of Calais and the Eurotunnel used until then. by migrants trying to reach England. "
My thoughts are with the many missing and injured, victims of criminal smugglers who exploit their distress and misery
", added Mr. Castex in a message posted on Twitter, ensuring to follow "
the situation in real time
".
The shipwreck in the English Channel is a tragedy.
My thoughts are with the many missing and injured, victims of criminal smugglers who exploit their distress and misery.
I am following the situation in real time. @ GDarmanin goes on site.
- Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) November 24, 2021
For its part, the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea qualifies as “the
worst accident
” of this type for migrants trying to reach the United Kingdom.
Three helicopters and three boats are participating in the search, according to the prefecture.
About fifty people were on board the boat which had left Dunkirk, said a source familiar with the matter.
Gérald Darmanin on site
The Dunkirk prosecutor's office announced to AFP the opening of an investigation for "
assistance with entry to illegal residence in an organized group
" and "
aggravated manslaughter
".
The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin was to go in the early evening to the hospital in Calais, before speaking.
Strong emotion in front of the drama of the many deaths due to the capsizing of a migrant boat in the English Channel.
We can never say enough about the criminal nature of the smugglers who organize these crossings.
I go there.
- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) November 24, 2021
Before this sinking, the death toll since the start of 2021 was three dead and four missing. In 2020, six people were killed and three others were missing. Four deaths were recorded in 2019. “
People are dying in the Channel which is turning into an open cemetery, like the Mediterranean. As long as England is opposite, people will continue to cross,
”said Pierre Roques, coordinator of the Auberge des Migrants, an association in Calais.
According to him, as of November 20, 31,500 migrants had left the coast since the start of the year and 7,800 migrants had been rescued.
A trend, which has not declined despite the winter temperatures.
According to London, 22,000 migrants made the crossing over the first ten months of the year.
►
To read also: More than 850 illegal crossings of the Channel in one day, a record
Crisis meeting in London
Across the Channel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has for his part called a crisis meeting, announced Downing Street. At the end of this meeting, the head of government said he was "
shocked, revolted and deeply saddened
" by the sinking, assuring that he wanted to "
do more
" with France to discourage illegal crossings. "
We had difficulty persuading some of our partners, in particular the French, to act up to the situation, but I understand the difficulties that all countries are facing and what we want now is to do more together,
”Boris Johnson told Sky News.
Earlier, the Conservative MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, deplored "
an absolute tragedy
".
"
This shows that to save lives at sea, we must first prevent boats from entering the water,
" she said, calling for "
an end to these dangerous crossings
".
London and Paris have agreed to strengthen their cooperation to try to stop these departures after a rise in tension in the wake of the arrival on November 11 of 1,185 migrants on the English coast, a record.
"
We have been denouncing and warning for years about the dangerous situation at the border
", amounting to "
more than 300
", the number of migrants who have died since 1999 on the coast, reacted Charlotte Kwantes, head of Utopia56 , an association that works with exiles in Calais.
"
As long as safe passageways are not put in place between England and France, or as long as these people cannot be regularized in France, whether Darmanin comes to Calais or not, there will be deaths at the border,
”she warns.
The policies decided on the border by France and England kill.
Still.
Thoughts of their loved ones.
https://t.co/aDq9LfBIbO
- Utopia 56 (@ Utopia_56) November 24, 2021
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