Around a hundred migrants broke through a barrier in the northern French ferry port of Calais on Saturday evening and occupied a ferry. The police searched the ship on Sunday morning – in total, there have been 63 arrests, according to authorities.
The refugees had obtained after breaking through a barrier at the port with a ladder access to the ferry operator DFDS Danish. Two refugees had fallen into the water and been rescued by firefighters, said the spokesman for the prefecture Jean-Philippe Vennin.
Many of those who had boarded were evidently hiding. After the ship was searched from top to bottom, the fire department on Sunday evening could persuade the last migrants to leave the ferry.
Due to the incident, there were delays in the ferry service between Calais and Dover during the night. Two ships had to wait a long time on the English Channel until they were allowed to enter the harbor.
Again and again, refugees try to cross the English Channel from France to the UK. Mostly they use small boats for that. The crossing is dangerous because of heavy shipping traffic, strong currents and low temperatures. Both states had recently strengthened controls at sea.
