France rescues 63 migrants from Channel

LILLE (France) — France rescued 63 migrants from the Channel over the weekend as they tried to reach Britain in makeshift boats, maritime authorities said on Sunday (May 28). 

France's Channel rescue centre coordinated two rescue operations in the waters of the Pas-de-Calais region from Saturday night.

A boat "having lost its engine in the water" was rescued off the Pas-de-Calais region by a vessel belonging to the National Society for Sea Rescue, which brought 46 people ashore, the maritime authorities said in a statement.  

A support ship chartered by the state in April to reinforce search and rescue operations meanwhile picked up 17 shipwrecked on board a second boat off Oye-Plage in the north. 

The raids come days after five personnel were charged in connection with the deaths of 27 migrants when their boat sank in the Channel in late 2021. 

The five, three women and two men, were charged in Paris on Thursday with failing to assist a person in danger. 

French authorities are alleged to have been called to help 15 times on the night of the sinking and failed to go to the migrants' aid. 

Despite the dangers of crossing one of the world's busiest shipping channels, more people are seeking to make the crossing every year. 

Some 46,000 asylum seekers crossed the Channel in 2022, mostly Afghans, Iranians and Albanians. 

Around 8,000 people have been rescued in French waters. AFP