Body of young migrant found on French beach as crossings to UK rise
PARIS (AP) – The French authorities announced the discovery Sunday of a body on a beach used as one of the launch points for migrants attempting the perilous crossing in the sea of the north of France in the United Kingdom on fragile inflatable boats.
Crossing attempts and deaths have increased in recent days. The prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais region of the north of France had previously pointed out that two women died on Saturday before, also saying that the body of a young man, “most likely” a migrant who had tried the crossing during the night, was found on Sunday morning on the long sandy beaches south of the port city of Boulone-sur-Mers.
In less than 48 hours since Friday evening, the authorities have counted 41 attempts to cross, some of which thwarted, along the Pas-de-Calais coast that the police patrol day and night, the prefecture said in a statement.
“The pressure along the coast is intense with an extremely high number of departures. The police are involved in particularly difficult conditions, marked by the hostility and sometimes the violence of the migrants determined to leave at all costs,” the statement said.
But French police were also observed using knives to reduce and pour the inflatable migrant boats that have implemented little or no resistance.
The two women who died on Saturday morning were found in a cardiac arrest following a failed attempt to cross the English chain on a boat that has derived after its engine will not start, said Pas-de-Calais prefecture. He said that rescuers’ efforts to relaunch them failed.
