Three wreaths of white flora had been positioned into the ocean, and 3 blasts of foghorn had been heard off the French coast of Dunkirk to bear in mind the 27 migrants who tragically drowned looking to move the English Channel twelve months in the past.
Rescuers and elected officers took section in a rite on Thursday afternoon as different demonstrations and tributes had been held in Paris and cities around the nation.
At least 27 migrants died on 24 November final 12 months after their inflatable boat sunk in the course of the night time, within the English Channel.
The tribute was once organised via the native National Sea Rescue Society, the SNSM, along the townhall of Grande-Synthe, a the town close to Dunkirk from the place many migrants are based totally.
“This is a tragedy that we expected, and there will undoubtedly be others,” Alain Ledaguenel, SNSM president mentioned.
Mayor of Grande-Synthe Martial Beyaert added, “it is not on the other side of the world, it is here, on our doorstep, in the North Sea”.
Other tributes to the sufferers, elderly between 7 and 46, had been paid in Dunkirk and Paris.
In an editorial revealed via Le Monde, 65 French, British and Belgian humanitarian associations have known as for the hole of “safe passage routes” to Great Britain to keep away from extra deaths.
The tragedy has now not deterred migrants from braving the ocean from the northern coast of France, with greater than 40,000 achieving the English coast since January.
At the similar time, French coastguards have mentioned greater than 7,000 other people had been rescued.
