At least five dinghies washed up on Dutch beaches last week or were taken out of the sea by the KNRM. They have been used by refugees, but they had already been disembarked by coastguards from other countries. At least one boat still had diapers, photos, antibiotics and a necklace with the flag of Afghanistan.
The first zodiac washed on Monday on in Zeelandon Wednesday one floated at a wind farm near Borssele (Zeeland), last Thursday one washed ashore in Egmond and boats were found yesterday in Noordwijk and at Groote Keeten.
The boats were used by migrants, most likely to make the crossing from France to England and intercepted by the authorities at sea, the Coast Guard told NH Nieuws. This is evidenced by markings on the inside of the boat.
If refugees are found on a dinghy at sea, they are – depending on the location – disembarked by the local authorities. If there is no room to take the boat with them, they leave it behind.
‘Never washed up so much’
“They then write a code on the boat. As a result, if such a boat is found in the Netherlands, we immediately know that we no longer have to look for drowning people,” said a spokesperson for the Dutch Coast Guard.
Most dinghies sink to the bottom of the ocean, but sometimes the wind pushes them to our shores. The Coast Guard calls this number of migrant boats striking. “In recent months, we sometimes take a boat out of the sea, but never before have so many boats washed up in such a short time.”
Earlier this week, people on the Egmond boulevard warned the KNRM that they saw a Zodiac floating. “I was the first to be there and brought the boat to shore,” says skipper Werner Visser of the KNRM Egmond.
When he arrives at the boat in the dark, it turns out that it has been marked as a refugee boat by the French authorities. That indicates that the boat was intercepted in French territorial waters. There are still all personal belongings on board. “Shoes, clothes, diapers, a backpack, but also a few pumps and gas tanks.”
Several photos held by NH Nieuws show that there were also money, passport photos of a man and child, an outboard bracket, pills, antibiotic packaging and a chain with an Afghan flag in the boat.
The boat that was taken out of the water yesterday in the sea between Julianadorp and Groote Keeten was marked as a refugee boat by the British authorities, the KNRM of Callantsoog informs NH Nieuws.
“There were no more personal items on it,” says Cor Ranzijn. His team went for it. “Just some empty gas tanks.”