French Authorities Rescue Around 140 Migrants in Overnight Channel Operation in France

The operation began on Friday morning when the monitoring station in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer spotted a migrant boat heading toward Dieppe, a fishing port on the Normandy coast. Two patrol boats tracked the vessel as it moved north, French authorities said on Saturday. Late Friday, around 40 people were waiting in the water off the coast near Berck-sur-Mer for a so-called taxi-boat.

Lifeboats monitored them, fearing they would be stranded by the tide, the maritime prefecture explained. When they did become stranded, they were taken to shore and met by the fire and rescue service. The boat resumed its northward journey at around 1am and reached another beach where 82 people wearing life-jackets were waiting to board.

At that time, around 20 people were already on board the small vessel, the prefecture said. Those waiting decided against boarding due to bad weather and were again met by French rescuers on land. Eventually, those on board abandoned their crossing attempt at around 3.30am.