08 July 2021
At approximately 4am this morning, Jersey Coastguard were alerted by their French counterparts following a French fishing boat sighting a possible migrant vessel.
The six metre vessel, containing 27 migrants which included 10 children, was heading north from the Brittany coast, and subsequently broke down south west of the Minquiers Reef.
Following the sighting, a French naval ship and patrol boat were routed by the French authorities to intercept the migrant vessel, whereby they were rescued at 5:30am and repatriated to St Malo where they are currently being processed.
Subsquent to the report being received by Jersey Coastguard, both Jersey Customs and Immigration Service (JCIS) and the States of Jersey Police (SoJP) were alerted and a multi-agency response to deal with such incidents was put into place.
All relevant stakeholders met earlier today to assess the situation, and to put in place any necessary actions in light of the incident.
Jersey authorities are in continuing close contact with relevant colleagues in Guernsey, France and the UK.
gov.je