The mayor of the French seaside resort where five people died off the coast trying to reach the UK has blamed the British immigration system for the crisis that engulfed the town at the weekend.
“What’s happening today is their fault,” said Jean-Luc Dubaële, the mayor of Wimereux, claiming Britain was offering “monts et merveilles”, a French expression meaning they were promising the world.
“We have to go to them and change their reception regulations a little,” he told a local radio station, Delta FM.
“They are taking the border from us and we have got to stop it,” Dubaële said. “I am angry because nothing is changing.” The mayor said he was “touched” by the tragedy over the weekend in which dozens of people were rescued off the coast of Wimereux, in Pas-de-Calais, and 182 were saved in five different incidents along a 5-mile stretch of coast popular with holidaymakers from Lille.
He told BFM TV there was “anger towards the British” and sadness in the town, and that it was imperative for British and French leaders to “rework the Le Touquet agreements”, accords signed in 2003 that provide for the strengthening of border controls.
“If migrants want to go to England, it’s for a good reason, it’s because they’re welcomed, they can work without a contract, they can work illegally. That’s why we have such a big migration problem here. As far as the English are concerned, I hold them responsible for what happened in my commune this weekend, and the smugglers too.” Dubaële described the smugglers as “criminals, murderers” who exploited vulnerable people.
The maritime prefecture said it had been on alert since Friday and at least four rescue operations had been carried out, with five people dying in the early hours of Sunday off the coast of Wimereux.
“In all, 182 people were rescued offshore by French resources during the night of 13 January to 14 January 2024 and during the day on 14 January,” the prefecture said in a statement.
The maritime prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, Jacques Billant, told reporters it was a “very intense episode” but the authorities would continue to be on alert until Wednesday when the sub-zero temperatures were expected to give way to snow and squally waters.
“Faced with this situation, we will not give up. Law enforcement is fully mobilised to fight against maritime crossings and save lives,” he said.
There are heightened concerns that more people will try to make the journey in the cold weather, risking death within minutes if they fall into the sea.
Billant said: “Criminal smuggler networks place migrant populations at unnecessary risk by resorting to ever more dangerous methods, including in winter. The water temperature is 7C. In the event of sinking, the lifespan is limited to 10 minutes.”
On Monday, kite surfers rescued two people stranded by the tide at Sainte-Cécile beach near Calais. One was suffering hypothermia and the other could not be resuscitated. Authorities did not identify either of the two victims involved.
Apart from the fatal incident off the shore of Wimereux on Sunday in which 32 people were rescued, there were five other rescue operations near Boulogne over the weekend taking the number of people trying to cross to the UK to well over 200 in two days.
About 15 miles (25km) south of Wimereux, 59 people were rescued from a boat in difficulty off the coast from Neufchâtel-Hardelot during the day on Saturday.
On Saturday the patrol boat the Abeille Normandie was called to another boat in difficulty and 58 people were rescued off the coast of Ambleteuse, about 3 miles north of Wimereux while a further 20 were rescued off the coast of Pointe aux Oies, 2 miles north of Wimereux,
On Sunday a further 43 were rescued near Pointe aux Oies while two more were rescued from a cliff.
Pictures of those rescued after the fatal incident in Wimereux showed several small children wrapped in thermal blankets. La Voix du Nord, the local paper, reported a baby was among those rescued.
