France will charter two additional ships in the English Channel to carry out rescue operations on this maritime route taken by a record number of migrants wishing to reach the English coast, the General Secretariat for the Sea announced on Wednesday November 30. More than 40,000 migrants arrived in the UK this year after crossing this sea route in small boats, a record and a subject that has strained Franco-British relations for several years.
This “reinforcement of the sea rescue system” will intervene “in the next weeks”, specifies this organization placed under the authority of Matignon. He “is based first of all on the chartering of two additional vessels specifically dedicated to this mission, a requisition procedure being envisaged so that the availability of these additional means intended to save lives is as quickly as possible”continued the general secretariat, headed by the former prefect of police of Paris, Didier Lallement.
Drones soon to be deployed
The organization justified these additional means and the calendar of the announcement by “the arrival of colder weather” and “possibility of serious accidents” who “rise for migrants who use nautical means putting them in danger on the busiest maritime route in the world”.
“The device will then see the arrival of aerial drones, which will contribute to a better real-time understanding of the maritime situation, in particular during attempts to cross several boats simultaneously.” The announcement comes a year after the death of at least 27 migrants in November 2021 during a shipwreck, the worst tragedy recorded in the Channel.