France rescues 107 migrants trying to cross to UK on Christmas Day

LILLE, France: French authorities said they rescued 107 migrants trying to cross the Channel from France to England on Thursday. Over the course of Christmas Day, 12 rescue operations were staged along the coast of northern France, including of a boat experiencing engine trouble, France´s Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture said in a statement.

In the morning, 30 passengers were rescued from a boat near Dunkirk, while the others onboard wished to continue onwards and were taken into British custody once they reached British waters, the maritime authorities said.

Another boat experiencing engine damage was spotted later in the day, also near Dunkirk, and all 51 passengers were rescued.

Later, 26 people were taken off a boat experiencing difficulty near Calais.

The English Channel is “a particularly dangerous area, especially at the height of winter for precarious and overloaded boats,” the statement said.

At least 73 migrants have died trying to cross the Channel to Britain this year, according to the Pas-de-Calais authorities, making 2024 the deadliest year on record for the crossings.

Tens of thousands more have reached Britain, where the government has vowed to crack down on people-smuggling gangs.

In November, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for greater international cooperation against the gangs, which he described as a “global security threat similar to terrorism”.