Coastguards were alerted to “many” such boats attempting to launch from beaches in northern France in the early hours yesterday.
The rescue ship Ridens tailed a dinghy packed with 40 asylum seekers from a Dunkirk beach to a pick-up point near Gravelines where dozens more climbed in. Emergency crews saved three who fell into the Channel and 12 more who asked for help.
One of those plucked from the vessel unconscious later died taking the death toll this year to nine, said French charities.
The boat then continued towards the UK still carrying some 80 people.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It is shocking that France is allowing boats with illegal migrants to hop along the shore picking people up and then travel across the Channel - allowing that to happen simply attracts even more migrants to the Calais area.”
Traffickers’ use of such roving “taxi-boats” has surged in recent months. The tactic stops French police...
The rescue ship Ridens tailed a dinghy packed with 40 asylum seekers from a Dunkirk beach to a pick-up point near Gravelines where dozens more climbed in. Emergency crews saved three who fell into the Channel and 12 more who asked for help.
One of those plucked from the vessel unconscious later died taking the death toll this year to nine, said French charities.
The boat then continued towards the UK still carrying some 80 people.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It is shocking that France is allowing boats with illegal migrants to hop along the shore picking people up and then travel across the Channel - allowing that to happen simply attracts even more migrants to the Calais area.”
Traffickers’ use of such roving “taxi-boats” has surged in recent months. The tactic stops French police...
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Daily Express (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 21, 2025