“The Regional Monitoring and Rescue Operations Center in Grey-Neh has been notified that many of the boats trying to cross the canal are experiencing difficulty in the strait,” the Channel and North Sea Security Directorate said in a statement.
She added that as a result, two ships belonging to the French National Navy and two boats belonging to the National Association of Maritime Rescue rescued a total of 138 migrants and returned them to the French coast.
According to the statement, all the rescued migrants were taken to the ports of Gravelin, Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer and were taken over by border police and firefighters.
Since the end of 2018, the Channel crossings towards the United Kingdom have increased, despite repeated warnings from the authorities, stressing the dangers of this type of migration due to heavy traffic, strong currents and low water temperature.
According to the French authorities, about 15,400 migrants tried to cross the Channel in the first eight months of this year, 3,500 of whom “were experiencing difficulties when they were rescued” and were returned to the French coast.
This outcome represents a significant increase in the number of illegal immigrants from France to Britain compared to previous years, as the entire year 2020 recorded the crossing or attempted transit of about 9,500 immigrants, compared to 2,300 immigrants in 2019 and 600 in 2018.
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