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An overcrowded mega-dinghy carrying around 50 migrants has set off for England from a beach near Bayeux in France - with a full escort.
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dinghy → see → escort
The oversized inflatable cast off from Port-en-Bessin, along the Normandy coast, on Monday.
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inflatable → cast → Monday
Ouest France reported that another 11 people boarded the boat at Cote Fleurie, 30 miles east along the coast before it then headed into the Channel.
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it → report → Channel
Under the authority of the French maritime prefecture, four lifeboats from the SNSM - France's answer to the RNLI - were dispatched to monitor the boats alongside the tugboat Abeille Liberté after it set off shortly before 10am yesterday.
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it → dispatch → 10
More than 24 hours later, it is still at sea - and still heading for Britain.
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it → head → Britain
'This dinghy is monitored by assets coordinated by MRCC Gris-Nez within its Search and Rescue Region, as part of its Search and Rescue mission and in response to the obligations of international law and the law of the sea,' a spokesman for the maritime prefecture told the Daily Mail today.
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spokesman → monitor → Mail
The authorities in the area provide full escorts because the voyage to the UK is far longer than it is from traditional launch beaches around Calais and Dunkirk: as much as 100 miles, four times the length of the stretch from Dover to Calais.
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it → provide → Calais
The departure from Port-en-Bessin - some 160 miles from Calais and 180 miles from Dunkirk, the traditional setting-off points for migrant journeys - confirms authorities' suspicions that people smugglers are moving west to avoid detection.
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smugglers → set → detection
Danny Tommo, the hard-right anti-migrant activist, claimed on social media he was heading into the Channel to find the boat.
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he → claim → boat
People smugglers are moving their activities further west to avoid detection
He posted a YouTube livestream on Tuesday of himself on a high-speed boat at sea, though the stream is not currently broadcasting.
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stream → move → sea
A spokesperson for local rescue services said of the migrant dinghy: 'The boat was in a very bad way, and very low in the water, with just a single small outboard motor to power it.
'
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boat → say → it
The sea was calm, and weather conditions were good, but the decision was taken to escort the boat, without intervening.'
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decision → take → boat
The source said the focus was on ensuring maritime safety, and not on preventing the boat reaching the UK.
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boat → say → UK
Because of currents and winds, the boat first began heading along the French coast, rather than out to sea, he added.
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he → begin → sea
'Gendarmes were also involved in monitoring the boat from the shoreline, and – at around 3pm – there was a movement towards English waters,' said the source.
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source → involve → waters
By first light on Tuesday morning, there were no more reports about the location of the boat, but it was believed to still be at sea.
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it → be → sea
Police are continuing to crack down on attempted migrant crossings: action yesterday saw officers slash a dinghy with a knife and drag its outboard motor from the water.
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officers → continue → water
As well as moving west, those putting migrants onto boats bound for Britain - charging around £2,000 to each one - have also turned to 'mega-dinghies'.
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those → move → dinghies
Efforts by law enforcement to disrupt the supply chain for smaller boats have forced smugglers to load more people onto bigger craft.
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Efforts → disrupt → craft
On Friday, a press briefing was held in which the prefect of Seine-Maritime and Normandy, Jean-Benoît Albertini, confirmed a 'significant' rise in dinghy departures along the north-west coast of France.
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prefect → hold → France
The migrants are most often from Sudan, Syria, Kurdistan and Iraq, BFM reported.
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BFM → report → Sudan
Additional resources are being allocated, funded by the bilateral agreement between Britain and France to fund French border policing along the coast.
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resources → allocate → coast
Smugglers' desperate searches for new routes in order to stay under the radar have consequences for Britons greeted by the unexpected arrivals.
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searches → stay → arrivals
Enforcement action along established casting off points around Dover and Calais has seen police slash dinghies to thwart migrants' journeys
Earlier this month, a mega-dinghy carrying 140 migrants reached the UK from Normandy after what was believed to be the longest-ever migrant Channel crossing.
The 46ft craft was shadowed by five French rescue boats and two helicopters in case it got into difficulty.
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it → establish → difficulty
It completed a then unprecedented 70-mile English Channel voyage to Britain in around 14 hours, before reaching Portsmouth.
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It → complete → Portsmouth
Scores of anti-migrant protesters tried to prevent the boat landing on Eastney Beach, but failed.
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Scores → try → Beach
The launch site, close to Utah beach, where thousands of Allied troops landed in France on D-Day in 1944, was some 170 miles from Calais as the crow flies.
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crow → land → Calais
Some 17,480 migrants have arrived after crossing the Channel by boat so far this year, including 5,011 since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.
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Burnham → arrive → 5,011
Yesterday, a dinghy carrying up to seven migrants evaded French and Home Office patrols in the Channel and landed on a rocky shoreline near Folkestone, Kent.
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dinghy → carry → Folkestone
There were unconfirmed reports that several migrants absconded before police and immigration officers arrived at the scene.
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police → be → scene
The Home Office has labelled it an 'isolated' incident.
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Office → label → it
The Aporia
