French rescuers have pulled seven Syrian refugees from the sea near Calais after they tried to swim to a boat heading across the Channel to England.



“At around 10pm on Monday four migrants, all adults of Syrian nationality, tried to swim across the port of Calais to reach a boat,” the local authorities in Calais told Agence France-Presse. They were rescued by emergency services and taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia.



Three other Syrians were pulled from the water at around 4am on Tuesday but did not need hospital treatment.

After a tightening of security and fencing at Calais port, and around Channel tunnel train services, migrants and refugees are taking more risks in their efforts to reach the UK. Since 26 June, at least 13 people have died trying to stow away on lorries or trains to cross the Channel, with several being hit by freight trains at the tunnel entrance.

Attempting to swim the 21 miles (34km) from Calais to England is not a typical option for migrants, and has previously ended in tragedy. Last month, a Moroccan migrant in his 30s was pulled from the waters of one of the busiest shipping channels in the world. He had been accompanied by another migrant who was never found.

At least 3,000 people from Syria, east Africa and Afghanistan are currently sleeping rough in squalid and insanitary conditions in a makeshift camp in Calais known as the New Jungle, a situation that aid workers have deemed a humanitarian crisis.

New security fences erected around the tracks have led to a drop in the number of attempts to break through it to the Channel tunnel entrance.