(AFP) Over 2,300 migrants had to be rescued attempting to cross the English Channel in 2019, four times the number for 2018, local authorities in northern France said on Tuesday.
In total 261 cases of crossings or attempted crossings were recorded by the French and British authorities, mainly in small, often overloaded, inflatable boats, the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea told AFP.
Some 2,358 people had to be rescued compared to 586 in 2018.
Over the past year, growing numbers of migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia have taken to the treacherous waters of the Channel in small fishing boats or inflatable dinghies.
