You literally couldn’t make up a story about illegal immigrants in an overcrowded boat telling Belgian coastguards that they don’t want to be rescued until they get to the UK.
This was reported by Belgian TV station VRT News on the morning of Monday April 15 as no less than 57 men and women were spotted on a large dinghy in the North Sea.
As reported by VRT, Belgian Coastguard press officer Peter Van Camp explained that following reports to police of sightings of the boat, “The emergency services immediately set sail from the ports of Nieuwpoort and Ostend 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.”
Coastguard escort to UK waters
For these reasons and the obvious determination of those on board, the authorities decided to escort the dinghy to British waters and to the hand over the rescue duties to the UK coastguard who they had previously alerted.
As UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised to stop illegal immigrants arriving in the UK by boat, time will tell what will happen to these 57 men and women.
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