Lille, France: More than 160 migrants were pulled from freezing waters in the Channel on Friday night trying to reach England, according to French officials, just days after a deadly shipwreck.
About 50 people aboard a boat "in difficulty" off the coast of northern France were rescued by a navy ship and taken to the port of Calais, according to local maritime authorities.
31 more migrants, who had been shipwrecked nearby, were rescued by another navy vessel, which then carried them to the port of Boulogne.
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After reporting distress in Calais, the Coast Guard brought 45 more people ashore, while a lifeboat assisted another 40. Rescuers treated everyone.
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This year, a record number of migrants - more than 40,000 - risked their lives to cross one of the world's busiest shipping lanes by boat from northern France to England, often in dangerous weather.
At least four people were killed in a shipwreck on Wednesday off the coast of Dover in southern England. The tragedy occurred just a year after another incident that killed at least 27 people in the English Channel.
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The UK government is attempting to introduce new legislation, such as making any such arrivals ineligible for asylum claims, to prevent record numbers of refugees attempting to cross the Channel.