Migrant chaos as 183 cross Channel with 68 rescued from sinking boat

A total of 68 migrants have been rescued from a small boat which was in difficulty off Calais, French authorities have said.

The incident, which took place on Friday, was caused by engine failure, they added.

The French coastguard patrol boat Jacques Oudart Fourmentin (JOF) had located the vessel in the area off the old Walde lighthouse near Calais, the country’s Maritime Prefect confirmed, as per MailOnline.

Two rigid inflatable boats were launched by the JOF to get the people onboard to safety, the outlet reported.

A spokesperson for the Maritime Prefecture, the French government’s representative at sea, said: “The JOF then retrieves on board 68 migrants present on the boat and then drops them off at the dock in Calais where they are taken care of by the land rescue services.”

They added: “The Maritime Prefect of the English Channel and the North Sea warns anyone who plans to cross the English Channel about the risks involved.

“This maritime sector is one of the busiest areas in the world, with more than 600 merchant ships transiting there per day and weather conditions are often difficult (120 days of wind greater than or equal to force 7 on average per year for example), it is therefore a particularly dangerous sector, especially in the middle of winter for precarious and overloaded boats.”

It comes as the Home Office confirmed that 183 people from three boats were brought ashore to the UK yesterday.

The latest recorded arrivals bring to the total for the year to 890, compared to 621 by the same point last year, 150 in 2023 and 771 in 2022, as per the outlet.

A total of 36,816 people crossed the English Channel last year, a 25% increase from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to the Home Office.

However, it was down by 20% on the record 45,774 arrivals seen in 2022.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice,” they added.