ZCZC
BFF-49
EUROPE-MIGRANTS-FRANCE-BRITAIN
Nine migrants picked up in a boat off British coast
LILLE, France, Nov 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – British officials have picked up
nine migrants who were trying to cross the English Channel aboard an
inflatable boat, French authorities said Wednesday, a day after 17 others
succeeded in reaching Britain in a stolen fishing boat.
“Overnight towards 4.00 am (0300 GMT), what appears to be an inflatable
boat carrying nine people crossed over to England after apparently leaving
from Calais” in northern France, maritime authorities said.
A French helicopter was dispatched but the vessel was finally intercepted
near Dover by British authorities, they added.
The group included both adults and children, French officials said.
A group of 17 Iranians — 14 men and three minors — had reached Dover on
Tuesday after stealing a fishing boat from the French port of Boulogne-sur-
Mer and hotwiring it.
Ingrid Parrot, spokeswoman for maritime authorities in northern France,
said that crossing was “unprecedented”, noting that migrants had previously
attempted the crossing in much smaller boats.
British officials said the Iranians’ asylum cases would be reviewed.
Thousands of migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia attempt to
reach Britain by stowing away on trucks crossing to England, mainly through
Calais.
Far fewer attempt the crossing by sea.
So far this year French maritime authorities have launched 23 operations
either to rescue migrants at sea in the English Channel or to stop groups
about to set sail.
On land, meanwhile, police continue to routinely clear migrant camps
around Calais, two years after dismantling the squalid “Jungle” settlement
which was home to over 10,000 people at one point.
Last month, French authorities cleared 1,800 people, most of them Iraqi
Kurds, from a makeshift camp near the port of Dunkirk.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1726 hrs