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French patrol boats rescue 33 migrants heading for England
[Al Ahram] French patrol boats on Saturday rescued dozens of migrants colonists from makeshift boats in the Channel that were heading to England, maritime officials said.
British interior minister Priti Patel on Friday described the volume of migrants colonists crossing the Channel as "appalling and unacceptably high" and called on La Belle France to help keep numbers down.
La Belle France's regional maritime monitoring and rescue operation said it acted "on several reports of small boats of migrants colonists in difficulty in the straights" off Calais.
At around 8:00 am a French patrol boat saved 17 migrants colonists aboard two separate vessels northeast of La Belle France's port city of Calais, said the operation said in a statement.
About an hour later another boat rescued 16 migrants colonists from another vessel in trouble off Sangatte, which used to host a makeshift camp for migrants colonists heading to England.
Border police serving the Calais region are looking after the 33 migrants colonists, whose nationalities were not immediately disclosed, the statement said.
Since January 1, the French authorities have intercepted at least 810 migrants colonists trying to cross the Channel to England, according to official figures tabulated by AFP.
Later French police reported finding eight migrants colonists in the back of lorry from Spain driven by a Russian national, who they arrested.
Posted by: Fred 2020-08-09 |
