Small boat to be escorted to UK waters: “Migrants refuse to alter course”
A boat carrying 57 migrants was spotted off the coast of Koksijde this morning. It is believed to be a group of people that set sail from Dunkirk, in France, and are trying to cross the North Sea to seek a future in the UK. Police and emergency services immediately attended the scene, but the migrants did not want help. It was decided to escort the boat to British waters and hand over the people there.
Around 7am this morning, police received several reports about a boat with migrants that could be seen at sea. "It was a dinghy that was overcrowded," explains Peter Van Camp of the Maritime Services of the Coast, the MDK. At first it was thought there were 38 people on board, later it turned out to be 57.
"The emergency services immediately set sail from the ports of Nieuwpoort and Ostend (West Flanders) in an attempt to convince the people on the boat to turn back because the situation was too dangerous, but they had no intention of stopping."
"We talked to them, but we cannot force them to turn back. The boat is overcrowded, there are people sitting on the edge. If you intervene, the boat could capsize. Safety is the most important thing."
To British waters
Meanwhile, the British coastguard has also been contacted. "Our ships will escort the small boat to British waters and there the British coastguard will take over. What will happen then, I don't know yet," Peter Van Camp said.
The boat is said to contain both men and women. Whether there are also children on board is not clear. They are believed to be people of Asian and North African origins. The person in charge of the vessel is said to be an Asian, presumably Vietnamese.
More people on boat first
According to Governor Carl Decaluwé of West Flanders, originally there were more people on the boat. "But the boat turned out to be too heavily loaded so they could not make the crossing," Mr Decaluwé explained.
"So they sailed to the Belgian coast where they decided to disembark 15 people on the beach between Nieuwpoort and Oostduinkerke. Those people were stopped on a tram."
Still according to Mr Decaluwé, the incident shows that problems with migrants are on the rise again. "I call on the federal government to step up its game with regard to the problems caused by the issue of transmigrants."
