LILLE: French security forces rescued almost 400 migrants seeking to take advantage of good weather and make the perilous crossing across the Channel to England in a weekend that also saw several fatalities, authorities in northern France said on Monday.
Crossings have been continuing in good weather conditions despite intense efforts by French and British authorities to stop the flow, including a deal involving sending some migrants who reach England back to France.
Rescue forces were deployed on Saturday and Sunday at some 24 departure points where migrants were seeking to board the boats, the regional maritime prefectures said.
On Saturday, approximately 220 people were rescued notably in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dieppe, and Calais. Two Somali women, who had suffered cardiac arrest, died despite resuscitation attempts. Five people were slightly injured, and several suffered from hypothermia.
On Sunday, at least 176 migrants were rescued, including several injured. A teenager died after being found unconscious on Ecault beach outside Calais.
Meanwhile the body of a migrant was also recovered Saturday morning in Gravelines east of Calais although prosecutors believe his death could have occurred several days earlier.
This brought the number of deaths during these attempted illegal crossings of the Franco-British border to at least 27 since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
But some 32,000 people have managed to make the English coast so far this year, a record, while 895 people arrived on Saturday alone aboard just 12 small boats, according to the British government.
Under a recent Franco-British scheme, the UK can return them after arrival if they are deemed ineligible for asylum, including those who have passed through a “safe country” to reach UK shores.
In return, London will accept an equal number of migrants from France who are likely to have their asylum claims granted.
Earlier this month, four migrants were removed from the UK to France while a family of three were the first migrants to arrive in the UK under the deal after their right to stay was recognized. Critics say, however, that the numbers being affected by the deal is minute compared to the numbers still crossing.
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French officials say almost 400 UK bound migrants rescued
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French officials say almost 400 UK bound migrants rescued
- Rescue forces were deployed on Saturday and Sunday at some 24 departure points where migrants were seeking to board the boats, the regional maritime prefectures said
- Under a recent Franco-British scheme, the UK can return them after arrival if they are deemed ineligible for asylum, including those who have passed through a “safe country” to reach UK shores
’We’ll bring him home’: Thai family’s long wait for Gaza hostage to end
NONG KHAI: Two years after Thai worker Sudthisak Rinthalak was killed by Hamas militants, his family in northeastern Thailand is preparing to welcome his remains home and hold a Buddhist ceremony they believe will bring his spirit peace.
Sudthisak was among 47 hostages whose bodies Hamas has returned under the current ceasefire agreement. The handover of deceased hostages was a key condition of the initial phase of the deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
Sudthisak’s elder brother Thepporn has spent the past two years fulfilling promises he made to his younger sibling, using compensation money to build a new house, buy pickup trucks for their elderly parents and expand their rubber farm.
But the 50-year-old farmer says none of it matters without Sudthisak there to see it.
“Everything is done but the person I did these things for is not here,” Thepporn said, walking through the rubber plantation in Nong Khai province near the Laos border.
Israel identified Sudthisak’s remains on Thursday after Hamas handed over his body as part of a ceasefire deal. The 44-year-old agricultural worker was captured by Hamas at an avocado farm during its October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and later killed at Kibbutz Be’eri.
The last image his family has of Sudthisak came from a video sent by friends that showed him lying face down with militants pointing guns at him.
“I feel sad because I couldn’t do anything to help him,” Thepporn said. “There was nothing I could do when I saw him with my own eyes. He was hiding behind a wooden frame and they were pointing the gun at him.”
For months, the family waited through multiple hostage releases, hoping Sudthisak would be among those freed alive. Each time brought disappointment.
“Whenever there was a hostage release, he was never included,” Thepporn said.
Sudthisak had gone to Israel to earn money to support his father, Thongma, 77, and mother, On, 80, who live in a farming community from which young people commonly go abroad for work.
His sister-in-law Boonma Butrasri wiped away tears as she spoke about the family’s loss.
“I don’t want war to happen. I don’t want this at all,” she said.
Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country.
Thepporn said his brother’s death serves as a warning to other Thai workers considering jobs abroad.
“I just want to tell the world that you’ve got to think very carefully when sending your family abroad,” he said.
“See which countries are at war or not, and think carefully.”
Sudthisak was among 47 hostages whose bodies Hamas has returned under the current ceasefire agreement. The handover of deceased hostages was a key condition of the initial phase of the deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
Sudthisak’s elder brother Thepporn has spent the past two years fulfilling promises he made to his younger sibling, using compensation money to build a new house, buy pickup trucks for their elderly parents and expand their rubber farm.
But the 50-year-old farmer says none of it matters without Sudthisak there to see it.
“Everything is done but the person I did these things for is not here,” Thepporn said, walking through the rubber plantation in Nong Khai province near the Laos border.
Israel identified Sudthisak’s remains on Thursday after Hamas handed over his body as part of a ceasefire deal. The 44-year-old agricultural worker was captured by Hamas at an avocado farm during its October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and later killed at Kibbutz Be’eri.
The last image his family has of Sudthisak came from a video sent by friends that showed him lying face down with militants pointing guns at him.
“I feel sad because I couldn’t do anything to help him,” Thepporn said. “There was nothing I could do when I saw him with my own eyes. He was hiding behind a wooden frame and they were pointing the gun at him.”
For months, the family waited through multiple hostage releases, hoping Sudthisak would be among those freed alive. Each time brought disappointment.
“Whenever there was a hostage release, he was never included,” Thepporn said.
Sudthisak had gone to Israel to earn money to support his father, Thongma, 77, and mother, On, 80, who live in a farming community from which young people commonly go abroad for work.
His sister-in-law Boonma Butrasri wiped away tears as she spoke about the family’s loss.
“I don’t want war to happen. I don’t want this at all,” she said.
Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country.
Thepporn said his brother’s death serves as a warning to other Thai workers considering jobs abroad.
“I just want to tell the world that you’ve got to think very carefully when sending your family abroad,” he said.
“See which countries are at war or not, and think carefully.”
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