On a late October day, a rubber dinghy with no engine was found drifting off Zeeland, the far southwestern edge of the Netherlands, carrying thirty-eight men who wore no life vests. Most of them were Afghans, while two Sudanese men believed to have run the crossing were taken into custody. Few such boats have ever reached Dutch waters, and the sea has not yet revealed where this one began or where it hoped to land. The episode sits within a longer story of people crossing dangerous water in search of safety, and of the states that must decide what to do with them once the water gives them back
Dutch Authorities Rescue 38 Adrift in Rubber Boat Off Zeeland Coast
38 men, mostly Afghan migrants, were found adrift at sea without life vests and face possible detention following the rescue.
A boat with no motor, no life vests, and 38 men adrift off Zeeland
Mark
Why is a single dinghy off Zeeland getting this much attention?
Mimi
Because the Dutch military police themselves say they rarely see this. Spokesperson Doron Wallin said it's something you usually see in France and Belgium.
Mark
What do we actually know about the people on board?
Mimi
Thirty-eight men. According to AFP, 36 were Afghan and two were Sudanese. The two Sudanese men were arrested on suspicion of people smuggling.
Luke
Careful with that, though. The two are described as suspected smugglers, and Wallin said they are thought to be smugglers. That's an assessment, not a finding.
Mark
And the boat had no motor and no life vests?
Mimi
Right. It was drifting, and nobody was wearing a life vest.
Luke
Which makes the origin question wide open. Wallin said they don't know if it came from France, Belgium or the Netherlands, or where it was going.
Mark
So can we say this is part of the Channel crossing route?
Luke
No. The reporting notes those crossings are commonplace, but it does not say this boat was part of that. That link is context, not evidence.
Mimi
The investigation opening Sunday is meant to start answering that.
Luke
And we don't yet know the men's condition or what happens to them next. The source is silent on that.
O Pulso
- Thirty-eight men were found adrift in an engineless rubber boat with no life vests, a sight Dutch authorities say they rarely see.
- Two Sudanese men suspected of smuggling were arrested, leaving the chain of responsibility only partly understood.
- Investigators cannot yet say whether the boat launched from France, Belgium or the Netherlands, or where it was bound.
- A formal investigation opens Sunday to trace the route, a search that could reveal whether this was a lone incident or the first sign of Channel-style crossings reaching further north.
On a late October day, a rubber dinghy with no engine was found drifting off Zeeland, the far southwestern edge of the Netherlands, carrying thirty-eight men who wore no life vests. Most of them were Afghans, while two Sudanese men believed to have run the crossing were taken into custody. Few such boats have ever reached Dutch waters, and the sea has not yet revealed where this one began or where it hoped to land. The episode sits within a longer story of people crossing dangerous water in search of safety, and of the states that must decide what to do with them once the water gives them back.
A rubber dinghy with no motor was found drifting off Zeeland, the Dutch province in the far southwest, carrying 38 people. None of them wore a life vest. Dutch authorities brought them in, and by Saturday the military police were calling it one of the first interceptions of its kind in the Netherlands.
All 38 were men, 36 of them from Afghanistan according to AFP. The two others, both from Sudan, are suspected of being the smugglers and have been arrested. Military police spokesperson Doron Wallin told The Associated Press that the pair were thought to have run the crossing while the rest were migrants.
What remains unknown is considerable. Authorities cannot say whether the boat set out from France, Belgium or the Netherlands, nor where it was heading. An engineless boat adrift offers few clues.
The route is familiar from the small-boat crossings from France to the United Kingdom, which are associated with the French and Belgian coasts. Wallin noted that such sights are usually seen there, and rarely here. That rarity is why the case stands out, and why a dinghy turning up in Zeeland raises the question of where it began.
Dutch prosecutors open a formal investigation on Sunday. Its first task is to trace the boat's route and origin, which will show whether this was an isolated case or an early sign of crossings reaching further up the coast.
A rubber dinghy with no motor was found drifting off the coast of Zeeland, the Dutch province in the country's far southwest, carrying 38 people. None of them was wearing a life vest. Dutch authorities brought them in, and by Saturday the military police were describing it as one of the first interceptions of its kind in the Netherlands.
All 38 on board were men. According to the AFP news agency, 36 of them were from Afghanistan. The other two, both from Sudan, are suspected of being the smugglers. Military police spokesperson Doron Wallin told The Associated Press that those two are thought to have been running the crossing while the rest were migrants. The two Sudanese men have been arrested on suspicion of people smuggling.
What investigators do not yet know is considerable. Wallin said plainly that authorities cannot say whether the boat set out from France, Belgium or the Netherlands, and they do not know where it was heading. A craft with no engine, adrift, offers few clues about either question.
The context is the small-boat crossing route from France to the United Kingdom, which has become commonplace in recent years. That route is associated with the French and Belgian coasts, not Dutch waters. Wallin put it directly: these are things usually seen in France and Belgium, he said, and the Netherlands rarely saw them before this day.
That rarity is why the case stands out. Zeeland sits north of the Belgian border, and a dinghy turning up there raises the question of whether it started farther along that coast, drifted, or had a different destination altogether. The source does not answer that, and officials have not either.
The human picture is limited to what the authorities have released: a group of men, overwhelmingly Afghan, found at sea in an overloaded-looking, unpowered inflatable boat without life jackets. Nothing has been said about their condition, or about what happens to them next beyond the arrests of the two suspected smugglers.
Dutch authorities are due to open a formal investigation on Sunday. Its first task will be to trace the boat's route and origin, and what it finds will show whether this was an isolated incident or an early sign of crossings reaching further up the coast.
Citações Notáveis
We don't know where they came from – France, the Netherlands or Belgium – and we don't know where the boat was heading.— Doron Wallin, Dutch military police spokesperson
These are things you usually see in France and Belgium. We rarely see it here in the Netherlands before today.— Doron Wallin, Dutch military police spokesperson
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