Gunfire near a migrant camp in northern France killed one person Saturday, a prosecutor said, after authorities rescued almost 100 people trying to cross the Channel to Britain in two days.<\/p>\n
The shots near the Loon-Plage camp outside Dunkirk also wounded five people, two seriously and three others lightly, including a child,\u00a0the northern city’s prosecutor Charlotte Huet said.<\/p>\n
An adult and a 17-year-old were arrested following the shots, she said. Their nationalities were not immediately clear.<\/p>\n
An aid worker told AFP that more than 1,500 people live in and around the camp.<\/p>\n
Many migrants with ambitions of reaching Britain gather on the shores of northern France hoping to make the perilous sea crossing.<\/p>\n
France and Britain have pledged to crack down on people smugglers who charge steep fees for migrants to board often overloaded and unseaworthy boats.<\/p>\n
French maritime authorities said that, on Thursday and Friday alone, they rescued 99 people from dinghies that were carrying too many people, adrift or taking in water.<\/p>\n
British authorities said that, on Friday, 919 people landed on its shore after crossing the Channel in 14 small boats.<\/p>\n
Fifty-two people, all travelling on the same boat, had disembarked on the English coast the day before, they said.<\/p>\n
Since the start of the year, at least 15 migrants have died at sea while trying to reach England, French authorities say.<\/p>\n
Last year, more than 36,800 people crossed the Channel, up 25 percent from 2023, according to British figures.<\/p>\n
According to French authorities, 78 migrants died in 2024 while trying to reach England aboard small boats, a record since the start of the trend in this area in 2018.<\/p>\n
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