Sports equipment retailer Decathlon has said it will no longer sell canoes in the north of France to prevent migrants from attempting to use them to cross to England.
Speaking on Tuesday, the group said: "The purchase of canoes will no longer be possible in Decathlon stores in Calais and Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk, given the current context."
According to Decathlon, the items were not being used for their original sporting purpose, but "could be used to cross the Channel," adding that in such cases "people's lives would be endangered."
The stores in the region had decided to stop selling the canoes and Decathlon's management approved the decision, however the canoes will continue to be available for online purchase and in other outlets.
Other safety equipment, such as life-jackets and thermal protection will still be sold in the Calais and Grande-Synthe stores.
Decathlon limits selling canoes because of migrants - https://t.co/G2nDFafLHv -
— kashco.co.uk (@Kashco_co_uk) November 17, 2021
Sports goods retailer Decathlon has said it won't be selling canoes in its stores in northern France anymore because the light vessels are increasingly being used by migrants trying to cross int... pic.twitter.com/a8DgT0LuuT
On Friday, three migrants were reported missing after trying to cross the Channel to Britain in canoes, as the number of crossings soars.
Two canoes were found adrift off Calais on Thursday and two people were rescued from the water.
This comes as French police cleared a major migrant camp on Tuesday that was home to around a thousand people hoping to reach Britain.
- France, UK to step up curb on Channel crossings as major migrant camp cleared
- French and British interior ministers meet as tension over migration simmers
Tensions between London and Paris
A record number of migrants crossed the Channel in small boats last Thursday - 1,185 according to British figures - which the UK government has described as "unacceptable".
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin spoke to his British counterpart Priti Patel on Monday, but only after giving a blunt interview in which he said Britain should "stop using us [France] as a punch-ball in their domestic politics".
Meanwhile, the French authorities said they carried out 10 separate operations on Tuesday in which they rescued 272 migrants who were trying to cross the Channel aboard makeshift boats, some of them in difficulty.
Maritime officials said they were taken to the ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer where they were looked after by the border police and firefighters.
Maritime Prefect Philippe Dutrieux said around 15,400 migrants have tried to make the Channel crossing between 1 January and 31 August 31 this year, with some 3,500 of them rescued from boats in distress and brought to French shores.
In 2020, some 9,500 people crossed the Channel or tried to do so, compared to 2,300 in 2019 and 600 in 2018.
