Between the West Flemish resorts of Oostduinkerke and Middelkerke, five boats carrying a total of 200 migrants were intercepted last Friday night and Saturday morning. The police escorted the boats to French waters. Governor Carl Decaluwé of West Flanders activated the provincial emergency plan ‘as a precaution’.
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5 boats with 200 transmigrants intercepted off the Flemish coast: West Flanders activates provincial emergency
Colin Clapson
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Between 7.45 am and 8 am on Saturday morning, four small boats were spotted in the resorts of Oostduinkerke, Koksijde, Bredene and Middelkerke.
A boat had also been intercepted at 5 am on Saturday morning. “This is the first time we have had over 200 migrants at sea,” Governor Decaluwé said. “Most of them were not wearing life jackets either! That is a life-threatening situation.”
“As a precaution, we have activated the first alert level of the provincial emergency plan. This means that, if necessary, we can immediately scale up our response and call in further resources to intercept the migrants. For the time being, I do not think this will be necessary, as the boats have already been escorted to France. Getting the migrants off board is simply too dangerous."
The fact that the people smugglers took to the sea with several boats at once is no coincidence. “That is a new tactic, which the people smugglers were already using in France. You can compare it to the Huns back in the day; they too opted for a mass attack with thousands at once. Then it is almost impossible to stop them.”
Security meeting next week
The issue of the transmigrants eager to make their way to the UK from our shores remains a major concern. In March, there were 14 departures by boat from Belgian beaches, and in April there have already been 12. The federal police were initially due to assist local police forces for only a month to tackle the problem, but this cooperation has been extended.
“We are grateful to the federal police, but next week we will need to meet with all the security services to see how we can do even more,” Decaluwé said on Saturday.
“Certain local authorities will also have to invest more in tackling the efforts of transmigrants eager to reach the UK. I am also keeping a decision in reserve that would involve calling up additional personnel within the province.”