More than 70 migrants, including a dozen children, arrested on the Picardy coast, in the Somme

More than 70 migrants, including a dozen children, were intercepted on Monday August 5 in Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, in the Somme, on the Picardy coast, France Bleu Picardie learned from sources close to the case, confirming information from the Courrier Picard.

The exiles were intercepted at different times of the day. A man was first spotted in a field in the morning. Then, around 1:30 p.m., the mounted brigade spotted a second group, in the woods of a private estate. The soldiers then joined them as reinforcements a few hours later to arrest 56 people. Finally, around 5:30 p.m., 15 migrants were found near a gîte, still near Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont.

Among all these people were a dozen children, of Afghan, Sudanese, Iranian, or Iraqi nationality. All the migrants were taken to the Abbeville gendarmerie company. They were seen by the Red Cross and taken care of administratively by the Somme prefecture, according to information from France Bleu Picardie.

The weather conditions were rather favourable for attempting the crossing and the police were expecting attempts to leave. However, they did not discover any boat, equipment or engine that could have allowed an attempted crossing. The system to combat illegal immigration will remain reinforced in the coming days.