France intercepts dozens of migrants trying to cross Channel

LILLE, France: French authorities on Tuesday intercepted more than 40 migrants, including 11 children, trying to cross the English Channel to Britain, police said.

The migrant intercepts, combined with dozens of others earlier in January, reveal a continued sharp increase in dangerous crossing attempts to the United Kingdom. Of the total, 35 were taken into custody after their boat ended up on a beach in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France. “Among them were 18 adults of Iranian nationality, six of Iraqi nationality, and 11 children aged three to 14” whose nationalities were not known, local police said in a statement. There were no injuries among the group, who received medical care at a nearby harbour. Another six migrants were spotted, their boat in trouble, off Cap Blanc-nez also near Pas-de-Calais, the maritime police office said. They were approached by a patrol vessel but were “not cooperating” and had to be rescued against their will, it added. Since the end of 2018, attempts by migrants from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia to make the dangerous crossing via the icy and choppy waters of the English Channel have multiplied, according to official data. Rights groups have linked the sharp increase in crossings to a police crackdown aimed at preventing the establishment of migrant camps near Calais, home to a busy ferry port and the Eurotunnel, and other areas along the French coast.