About 200 migrants cast shadows in the faint early sunshine across the dunes of Gravelines beach in northern France, anticipating a police chase as they attempted to cross the waters before them to England. At least 7,610 people have been detected in small boats off the UK’s coast so far this year, according to British government figures, amid a political push to stop the flow.
For three weeks a “strong northeast wind” has halted English Channel crossings, along with the activity of smugglers who negotiate the voyage, said a French police source, who asked not be named.
The fragile boats, overloaded with migrants, cannot withstand the strong swells and currents.
Photo: AFP
However, now, the wind has died down and the weather is ideal.
In nearby camps, the flux of new arrivals has grown and the smugglers are determined to move quickly, the police source said.
Dozens of officers are staked out between the dark alleys, the camp and the beach, in a game of cat-and-mouse along the coastline that offers many hiding places.
The journey across the Channel waters can be deadly. Since the shipwreck that saw 27 die in November 2021, surveillance of crossings has been reinforced.
However, the number of those desperate enough to make the journey continues to climb, with a record 46,000 landings in England last year and 8,000 rescued in French waters.
Earlier this month, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the purchase of more barges to house asylum seekers, as backlogs in processing their applications has put the government under pressure on where to accommodate them in the interim.
The country also signed a new multimillion-euro partnership with France to prevent small boats crossings in the first place.
French Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin is meeting British Home Secretary Suella Braverman in London this week in a bid to further tighten cooperation.
Away from the corridors of power, the red sun glowed over the glassy waters, and only the seagulls and the hum of a nearby nuclear power plant disturbed the silence.
The CRS, a special mobile French police force, patrol the forested coastline where smugglers tend to hide their equipment.
“They know we’re here, it won’t go through tonight,” one officer said.
Fifteen silhouettes suddenly emerged from the dunes, dressed in black and walking calmly — accomplices of the smugglers who perform a well-rehearsed dance of scouting and retreating to evade law enforcement.
Once the officers appear to have left, dozens more silhouettes appeared on the beach, looking more nervous. About 80 migrants, mainly young men, ran toward the power station to hide. They were followed by two more groups, some men carrying life jackets, others parts of the very boats they intend to sail, with some children stumbling alongside. A group of women, couples, children and elderly people positioned themselves in the center.
An hour later, without a sound, they began their descent to the water carrying on their shoulders two “small boats,” partially inflated. Families ran into the sea, children in their arms.
Two police vans swept across the beach, interrupting the effort. Mothers stopped, seemingly lost, with some continuing their futile mission to the water, while others turned around for the dunes in confusion. Police did not arrest them, but rather turned them inland. One woman threw her life jacket to the ground in rage. Others, who said they came from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq or Vietnam, looked defeated.
They were ready to do anything to get to England, despite the perilous voyage and its high price tag of 2,500 euros to 3,000 euros (US$2,697 to (US$3,236), they said.
The money is entrusted to a third party and paid out once the migrants reach Britain.
“I already tried four times,” one young Afghan said. “We’ll try again.”
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