A commemorative flotilla of ‘little ships’ was forced to divert because of migrant ‘small boats’ being escorted in the opposite direction.
Marking the 85th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation, Operation Dynamo, 66 official Little Ships set off from Ramsgate, Kent, England for Dunkirk, France, at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, May 21st. Unfortunately, UK Border Force and the French navy diverted the flotilla to create a one-nautical-mile exclusion zone for a migrant ‘small boat.’
As the British historical flotilla was being escorted by ships from the Royal Navy and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, France deployed a warship and the navy vessel Oyapock in the Channel at the time to make things safer for dinghies used by human traffickers—the ‘gangs’ Keir Starmer has, to date, failed to ‘smash.’ The British volunteers were obliged to make way and take a longer, less historically significant route.
The disruption undermined the plans of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, whose Channel crossing—the first since 2015—is designed to ensure that the story of the Dunkirk evacuation “continues to inspire future generations.”
At least two of the migrants coming in the opposite direction died in the last 48 hours, with the total arriving to date having set new records compared to last year’s figures. As the same day drew to a close, a further 848 individuals were recorded as having crossed the Channel.
