“France will not let La Mancha become a graveyard,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, after announcing the death of at least 31 migrants.
The French president asked for the “immediate reinforcement of the agency’s media Frontex at the external borders of the European Union “, and an” emergency meeting of the European ministers concerned with the migration issue “.
For his part, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, stated “shocked, outraged and deeply saddened” for what happened, and said he wanted to “do more” with France to stop these illegal crossings of the English Channel.
“We have had trouble convincing some of our partners, especially the French, to act accordingly,” he told Sky News after a crisis meeting.
In spite of the tension between France and the UK Due to this phenomenon, the two countries had pledged to reinforce their cooperation, after the arrival on November 11 of 1,185 migrants to the English shores, a record.
The balance of the shipwreck on Wednesday alone exceeds the total number of deaths in the English Channel since 2018, when the number of migrants trying to reach the British coast aboard small and precarious boats began to increase, in the face of increased surveillance. in the ports and in the tunnel that connects France and England.
Before this shipwreck, the balance for 2021 was three dead and four missing. In 2020, six people lost their lives and another three disappeared. In 2019, four deaths were registered.
“People die in La Mancha, which is becoming an open-air cemetery, like the Mediterranean,” said Pierre Roques, coordinator of a migrant association in Calais.
The rescue ships with the bodies of the victims had to arrive at night at Calais, where a hangar was installed to place them.
In this town in the north of France, a large security perimeter was deployed, with an important device of firefighters and rescuers, confirmed an AFP journalist.
According to the local maritime prefecture, three helicopters and three ships were participating in the search efforts.. And the Dunkirk prosecutor’s office (north) announced to AFP the opening of an investigation.
According to the first information from the rescue teams, the drama took place in a small and flimsy inflatable boat, with little stability as soon as it is loaded and there is waves.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex lamented this “tragedy” on Twitter. “My thoughts are with the many missing and wounded, victims of … criminals who take advantage of their anguish and misery,” he added.
Thursday first thing Castex will lead an inter-ministerial meeting to address the situation.
The French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who also expressed his “strong emotion” and underlined the “criminal nature” of those who “organize these journeys”, announced that four traffickers “directly related” to the tragedy had been arrested.
The head of the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea, Philippe Dutrieux, had warned AFP on Friday that these crossings of migrants aboard small boats doubled in the last three months.
As of November 20, 31,500 migrants set sail from the French coast since January and 7,800 were rescued, said Dutrieux, who noted that the trend did not slow down despite the drop in temperatures.
The United Kingdom, which accused France months ago of not doing enough to stop the arrival of migrants to its shores, says that 22,000 managed to cross the English Channel in the first 10 months of the year.
Source From: Ambito
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