In the cold sea, the migrants set off for England from a French beach by Reuters

By Forrest Crellin and Clotaire Achi

WIMEREUX, France (Reuters) – Wrapped in black woolen hats and swollen coats from the cold, some wearing red life jackets, a rubber boat on their shoulders and head under a steep November sky, over the dunes to the beach.

France says it is doing a great job to prevent migrants from crossing dangerously in freezing temperatures along one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors to England, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) across the Channel.

But it didn’t stop the group of more than 40, including six children, from leaving the beach near Wimereux in northern France on Wednesday day.

About fifteen men were carrying the gray boat, walking toward the sea. Families chased after their children, and behind them the men drove an outside motorbike.

A man walked in holding a young boy by the hand. The other two carried smaller children on their shoulders, while the women carried things.

Suddenly, a French police truck set off towards the group, apparently turning on the lights and surrounding the migrants to obstruct the way to the sea.

A woman carrying a small child stepped on the front of the vehicle and let out a groan. The police vehicle stopped. Shortly afterwards, he ran to patrol another part of the beach.

With the disappearance of the police, the migrants were loaded from the sand to the shore, loaded onto the boat and pushed into the sea. When a woman came out in the icy water, she confirmed where they were going: “Go UK,” she shouted at Reuters again, drying a bag of garbage she had in her head.

Surfing to the waist, more people rose to power, aided by those already on the boat. Eventually, the small boat was full. Some migrants gestured as they left the shore.