French businessman jailed for selling 39 inflatable boats to migrants crossing the English Channel

A Frenchman was jailed for selling dozens of boats to migrants eager to reach Britain across the Channel.

Emmanuel Desreux, 45, sold 39 motorized rubber boats to people trying to illegally travel between France and the United Kingdom.

He was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, with another 18 months suspended for incitement to illegal migration between October 2018 and March 2019.

More than 30 migrants have been returned to Europe until this year after being caught trying to enter the country by boat.

Iraqi, Iranian and Iraqi nationals traveling to the United Kingdom in recent months have risen sharply, prompting border authorities on both sides of the Channel to step up their patrols.

Jean-Claude Demeyer, 54, was sentenced by the same court in Boulogne-sur-Mer to a one-year suspended prison sentence, with the taxi driver who organized the transport of boats and migrants to visit The beaches.

Police opened an investigation into crossing points after arresting four Iranians and two taxi drivers in January on a beach near Calais.

The information collected by those arrested led them to Desreux and his company Fluvialys, located in the town of Deulemont, on the Belgian border.

The period of sale of the boats by his company corresponds to the significant increase of the arrivals of illegal migrants.

The migrants turned to the clandestine seaway after abandoning their attempts to climb trucks across France to Britain via the Channel Tunnel or on ferries.

The authorities of the North of Pas-de-Calais declared that nearly 500 migrants on more than 60 boats had managed to reach the English coast between October and March.

Some of the vessels were stolen fishing boats, while others were purchased by the migrants.

The police found 14,000 euros in cash in Desreux's car when he was arrested.

None of them expressed remorse for the risks faced by migrants in crossing one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, clogged with strong currents and bad weather.

"It all depends on the weather," said Desreux in court. "In bad weather, I told them (to the migrants) to call back later.

On Friday, a group of 18 migrants – including children – were found stuffed on a small inflatable boat off the Kent coast.

Their rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) was intercepted by a Border Force cutter and the migrants were taken ashore in Dover.

The group, consisting of men, women and children, said to be Iraqi or Iranian.

They were interviewed by immigration officers after undergoing a medical examination.

The migrant crisis exploded at the end of last year, with hundreds of people risking their lives to travel from France to Britain.

This led Interior Minister Sajid Javid to declare a "major incident" at the end of December 2018, and he recruited additional Border Force cutters to try to end the crisis.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Anyone who crosses the Channel in small boat takes a huge risk with his life and that of his children.

Since the Interior Minister declared a major incident in December, two cutting vessels have returned to British waters after overseas operations, we have agreed to a joint action plan with France and increased activity from the Joint Coordination and Information Center in Calais.

"The principle that people in need of protection must apply for asylum in the first safe country they are traveling to and, since January, more than 30 people illegally arrived in the UK on board small boats have been sent back in Europe."