Emergency services in the Pas-de-Calais seaside town of Neufchâtel-Hardelot mounted a large-scale rescue at 10:15 a.m. on 21 September when a group of roughly 45 migrants tried to board a makeshift “taxi-boat” for the UK but were pushed back by heavy surf. Fire-fighters and a coastal-rescue craft from Boulogne-sur-Mer pulled several people from the water; a 27-year-old pregnant Somali woman was evacuated to hospital with head and abdominal pain. The incident illustrates the growing role of local pleasure-craft and small commercial vessels in people-smuggling, a trend that complicates policing because such boats blend in with legitimate coastal traffic. According to Préfecture maritime data, 18 taxi-boat cases have been recorded so far this quarter, double the figure for the same period last year. For companies moving staff through Channel ports the operational concern is sudden beach or port closures while rescue operations unfold. During Wednesday’s rescue the access road to Hardelot’s south beach was cordoned off for two hours, delaying shuttle-bus transfers for a corporate conference at a nearby hotel. On the policy side, French lawmakers are debating whether to extend existing prison terms for operators of unlicensed passenger craft. Cross-Channel ferry operators also advocate tougher controls on fuel-dock sales to small vessels. In the meantime, security advisers recommend that expatriate families avoid late-night beach walks in known embarkation zones and that corporate drivers carry alternative GPS routes in case of police road-blocks.
Source: Radio 6 Calais
