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FRANCE-BRITAIN-MIGRANTS-IRAN
French coast guard stops nine migrants heading to UK in small boat
CALAIS, France, May 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – France’s coast guard on Sunday
stopped a small boat with nine migrants — including a boy suffering mild
hypothermia — from crossing the English Channel to reach Britain, it said in
a statement.
The nine, all of them male and most of them adults, said they were
Iranians, the regional marine prefecture said in the statement.
They were intercepted by a patrol vessel around 5.5 kilometres (3.5 miles)
offshore, only a short way across the Channel, which is around 30 kilometres
wide at its closest points. They were taken to the nearby city of Calais
where they were handed over to border authorities.
Migrants seeking to enter Britain have been frustrated in attempts to cross
on vehicles through the Channel Tunnel or on ferries. Some have turned to
trying to cross the Channel in small boats, risking low temperatures, strong
currents and heavy shipping traffic.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1602 hrs