“Uh, we just passed by, uh, migrants, uh finally, corpses. They are dead.
– Okay sir, so the migrants are in a boat? They look like you Delta Charlie Delta [décédés] ?
– No no no. They’re in the water, they’re in the water but, uh, they’re dead. »
It is 1:49 p.m. on November 24, 2021, when the skipper of the boat Scallops 2 warns by radio the Regional Operational Center for Maritime Surveillance and Rescue (Cross) Gris-Nez (Pas-de-Calais), composed of soldiers, and under the authority of the maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea. While fishing in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, in French waters, but in the immediate vicinity of English waters, he discovered about fifteen bodies scattered over a few hundred meters, lying on the surface of the water. . Beside them, a boat that has become unusable, a deflated “sausage”.
That day, twenty-seven bodies will be recovered, including those of six women and a girl; only two survivors will be rescued. It is the most serious shipwreck since migrants set out to reach England aboard makeshift inflatable boats. At the time, this disaster had aroused a lot of emotion. Despite the tragedies, the phenomenon of Channel crossings continues to grow. Since the beginning of 2022, 40,000 people have reached England by “small boat”.
“A big night of migrants”
One year after the opening of the judicial investigation aimed at shedding light on the tragedy of November 24, 2021, The world took note of the investigations carried out into the circumstances of the sinking. These restore all the communications between the Cross and the shipwrecked boat, and reveal that the occupants of the boat called many times French relief in the space of about three hours. British rescue services have also been contacted, although an account of their activities has not yet been attached to the investigation.
At this stage, it appears that no rescue means were sent to help the boat. At no time does the Cross seem to have taken the measure of the danger that the passengers of the canoe would incur, despite their multiple alerts. On the contrary, in a context of economy of means faced with numerous crossings, and taking into account the trajectory of the boat which was approaching British waters, the Cross favored a handover to the English.
November 24 was shaping up to be “a big night of migrants”, remembers Clément G., shift manager at the Cross, during his hearing by the investigators of the research section of the maritime gendarmerie of Cherbourg (Manche). That night, about twenty boats called. “Contacts are multiplied by ten depending on the number of calls from the same boat”told the gendarmes the officer Frédéric J.. A boat in particular “didn’t stop calling us that night”, reports to the investigators the head of the watch Pauline M.. It is this boat that will be shipwrecked. During their hearings, the two survivors reported that the boat had started to deflate and sink a few hours after leaving a beach around Dunkirk (North).
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