In Calais, shipwrecks do not deter migrants from attempting to cross the Channel

A thin bouquet of faded flowers placed on the seafront of Ambleteuse (Pas-de-Calais) recalls the tragedy that took place here a few days earlier. On the night of Saturday 14 to Sunday 15 September, eight people lost their lives not far from the coast after their boat sank. A tragedy that occurred less than two weeks after the worst shipwreck of the year in the English Channel. Twelve people, including six minors, died on 3 September while attempting the crossing.

However, the day after the Ambleteuse sank, Lucky* tried to reach the United Kingdom on a makeshift boat. “Of course I think about the shipwrecked, but it’s nothing new for me: death has been in my life for so many years that I’m used to it,” says the 28-year-old Syrian. “My father died in the bombs, my sister was shot dead. My friends died too,” he unrolls, his gaze turned towards the open sea, with, on the horizon, the British coast, seen more as the end of an ordeal than as an El Dorado.

Installed on the edge of the Calais quays, the young man isolated himself from the rest of the group who had come to charge their mobile phone using the mobile installation set up by the association l’Auberge des migrants. He says he left Syria in 2015, then lived in different countries before settling in Germany. “There, I experienced racism”he relates. Having arrived in France at the beginning of September, Lucky has no desire to linger there. In two weeks, he has tried to cross the Channel five times.

His latest attempt, on Monday, once again failed. “There were about 70 people on the boat: children and women, whose high-heeled shoes were damaging the plastic covering,” he recalls. The overloaded boat quickly crashed against the rocks, without causing any casualties. The fatal shipwrecks that have occurred in recent days have not dissuaded him from trying his luck again: “II’m stuck. What else do you want me to do?” Determined to reach England, Lucky now plans to board a truck that will travel through the Channel Tunnel or board a ferry.

To understand this determination despite the mortal danger, we must measure the weight of the trauma suffered by these exiles.. “Europe then appears as a haven of stability, where the noise of bombs does not resonate”summarizes Yves-Pascal Renouard, deputy mayor of Ambleteuse.

“These are people who took two years to come to France, who experienced death in their country, torture, and sometimes rape on the way.”

Yves-Pascal Renouard, deputy mayor of Ambleteuse

to franceinfo

Sitting in his town hall in front of an oval table “no bigger than a makeshift boat”Stéphane Pinto, municipal councilor and former fisherman, is reeling from the blow. He was on deck from 1:50 a.m. on Sunday, September 15, to coordinate the various services that took charge of the 53 migrants that night. Three days after the tragedy, the mayor’s grief is as great as his dark circles are deep. “People who are trying to have a better life come to end their day on my beach, it’s something that I swallow dry, it’s shocking”he asserts.

Mohammed, 16, is one of the survivors of this shipwreck. Originally from Kuwait, he was on the night of Saturday to Sunday in the support vessel – a “small boat” according to the name of the authorities – which ran aground, killing eight people. The boat, which left from the Slack, the coastal river near Ambleteuse, came torn on the rocky point before breaking up under the pressure, he describes, mimicking with his hands the trajectory of a boat that is sinking in the night. “There were families on that boat. I think about it every day,” “breathes the one who was then attempting his first crossing. Not knowing how to swim, the teenager remained an hour, he estimates, in the icy water of the Channel, before being rescued by fishermen. “Now I don’t know what to do,” he continues.

“The day after shipwrecks, survivors try their luck again, they don’t give up,” confirms Mathilde Bequart, coordinator of the “Channel info project” set up by the association l’Auberge des migrants, in particular to allow migrants to access telephone credit and recharge their electronic devices. “There is sadness among them after these tragedies, but they no longer have a choice: for the most part, their asylum application has been refused,” she explains.

Aware of the inexorability of departures, Mathilde Bequart provides advice on “risk reduction at sea” : what number to call in an emergency, how to share your location even when there is no network, but also make sure that the boat has an engine and check the weather conditions. “At each awareness session, there is a crowd. The candidates for the crossing are worried and want information”she emphasizes.

“People conceive of the possibility of dying, it is a reality for them.”

Nikolai Posner, member of the humanitarian association Utopia 56

to franceinfo

According to a study by the Institute for Research and Documentation in Health Economics (IRDES) published in 2022, one in six people without a residence permit suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder in France. “For people without a residence permit, migration may have given rise to traumatic experiences on the migration route or in the host country, which may be added to older traumas that occurred in the country of origin”describe the researchers.

Talkative and sociable with his companions in misfortune, “Lucas”, the first name he has chosen during his stay in Denmark, carefully avoids every question about his relationship with death. Having left Kuwait in 2009, the 30-year-old went through Iraq, Turkey, Greece, Sweden, then Denmark where he stayed for three years, before arriving in France with the hope of joining his big brother in England. “I can’t stand being alone anymore, I need to be reunited with my family”he confides. His decision is made, he will try his luck “in the next few days.” With, deep down, the hope that the crossing will end under better auspices. A few meters from him, his friends are dancing the Syrian dabke. A burst of life in the middle of a sea of ​​sadness.

*The first name has been changed and chosen by the person concerned.