Shipwreck of migrants off Calais: "It could only happen!"

Arthur Peirera, Ugo Pascolo 7:14 p.m., November 24, 2021, modified at 7:14 p.m., November 24, 2021

"We are devastated, but also angry."

After the announcement of the death of at least twenty-seven migrants in the sinking of a boat off Calais on Wednesday, Claire Millot, from the local association Salam, does not hide her emotion at the microphone of Europe 1 . "When you see how they get on board, in small overloaded boats on an icy sea, it could only happen! Obviously, it's no longer summer and when you fall into the water, you freeze to death, the cold seizes you ", recalls the general secretary of the association which acts for the migrants. 

"They are people like you and me"

"One thing that we forget too much, and today the reality comes back to us in the face, is that they are people like you and me. We must welcome them", she pleads.

"We must create reception centers on the coast and offer them a welcome in France. We must stop pretending, we do not shelter them as stated by the prefect of the North [Pierre-Mathieu Joubert , editor's note] ".

Deadliest migrant shipwreck since 2018

This tragedy, described as a "tragedy" by Prime Minister Jean Castex, is the deadliest since the soaring in 2018 of migratory crossings of the Channel, in the face of the increasing lockdown of the port of Calais and Eurotunnel used until then by the migrants trying to reach England.

"My thoughts are with the many missing and injured, victims of criminal smugglers who exploit their distress and their misery", added Jean Castex in a message posted on Twitter, ensuring to follow "the situation in real time".