West Flanders governor seeks help from UK, contemplates closure of French border

Governor Carl Decaluwé of West Flanders Province is seeking extra help from the UK, French and federal police to get human trafficking on the Flemish coast under control. Last night, 19 migrants were rescued from a rubber dinghy that was sinking off the seaside resort of De Haan. It was the first time a small boat with transmigrants had been intercepted so far east of the French border. ‘It is not just on the west coast, but in all coastal police zones that support from the federal police is needed to bring the situation under control,’ Decaluwé told VRT News.

‘The Easter holidays are almost upon us and I don’t want to see small boats carrying migrants sailing among the surfers,’ the governor insisted. ‘The problem posed by people-traffickers trying to dispatch migrants from our beaches to Britain in ramshackle boats is spreading to the entire coast.’

'We had expected a shift, as there are numerous checks on the west coast. Federal police have been assisting the local police in the resorts of De Panne, Koksijde and Nieuwpoort for a few weeks now. People traffickers are likely aware of this and are now trying to drop people off in the sand dunes and on beaches further away from the French border. There have already been recent attempts in Lombardsijde and Westende, and last night, for the first time, beyond Ostend, in De Haan. Help will therefore also be needed in the other police zones along the coast. I will ask for federal support to be scaled up; otherwise, we will no longer be able to keep the situation under control.”

Closing the border with France an option

The governor will also ask Interior Minister Bernard Quintin (Francophone liberal MR) to close the border with France or at least to have  systematic checks carried out there. 'Yesterday we saw how 80 migrants had travelled by public transport from Dunkirk in France to our coast. So border controls are urgently needed.'

Governor Decaluwé is also looking to the UK for help. 'They have high-tech detection equipment to locate migrants on the beach and at sea. It would be good if they could make that innovative equipment available, so that we can prevent as many people as possible from entering the water and putting themselves in danger. I will ask Minister Quintin to contact our British colleagues to see what support we can get from them. We will need it.'