{
    "title": "Five boats carrying around 200 migrants spotted off Belgian coast",
    "modified_at": "2026-04-18 14:56:27",
    "published_at": "2026-04-18 14:56:00",
    "url": "https://www.belganewsagency.eu/five-boats-carrying-around-200-migrants-spotted-off-belgian-coast",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/PECd",
    "culture": "en_BE",
    "language": "EN",
    "slug": "five-boats-carrying-around-200-migrants-spotted-off-belgian-coast",
    "body": "<p><strong>Five small boats carrying at least 200 migrants were spotted off the Belgian coast on Saturday morning, authorities have said. The vessels were escorted towards French waters.</strong></p><p>The boats were seen between Oostduinkerke and Middelkerke, with one intercepted earlier in the morning and four more detected shortly before 8am. Officials say this is the first time such a large number of migrants have been at sea in the area at once.</p><p>Emergency services were deployed to guide the boats safely away. Several had already reached French waters, from where they are expected to continue towards the UK.</p><p>West Flanders governor Carl Decaluw&eacute; triggered a precautionary phase of the provincial emergency plan, allowing authorities to respond quickly if needed. He warned that many people on board were not wearing life jackets and called the situation &ldquo;extremely dangerous&rdquo;.</p><div id=\"bookmark-cc1cba4b-92a4-417a-a983-064b097b5496\"\n     class=\"release-content-bookmark release-content-bookmark--horizontal\">\n\n            <a class=\"release-content-bookmark__thumbnail\"\n           href=\"http://prez.ly/f6Bd\"\n           rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\n           target=\"_blank\"           style=\"background-image: url(https://prezly.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.uc.assets.prezly.com%2F72d82093-07b1-4565-9af6-3f1743be5ae6%2F-%2Fpreview%2F600x600%2F?ar=1%3A1&amp;fit=crop&amp;s=a38079746e375fc7bc506841e4bf0078)\"\n        ></a>\n    \n    <div class=\"release-content-bookmark__details\">\n\n                    <a class=\"release-content-bookmark__title\"\n               href=\"http://prez.ly/f6Bd\"\n               rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\n               target=\"_blank\"               data-type=\"bookmark\"\n               data-track=\"Story WebBookmark Click\"\n               data-placement=\"content\"\n               data-id=\"cc1cba4b-92a4-417a-a983-064b097b5496\"\n           >\n                28 migrants intercepted in Knokke-Heist as people smugglers increasingly use Belgian coast            </a>\n        \n                    <div class=\"release-content-bookmark__description\">\n                On Wednesday, 28 transmigrants were apprehended by the police in the dunes near the Zwin Nature Park at Knokke-Heist, close to the border with the...            </div>\n        \n        <a href=\"https://www.belganewsagency.eu/\"\n           target=\"_blank\"\n           rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"\n           class=\"release-content-bookmark__provider\"\n        >\n            <img class=\"release-content-bookmark__provider-icon\" src=\"https://avatars.prezly.com/favicon?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.belganewsagency.eu%2F28-migrants-intercepted-in-knokke-heist-as-people-smugglers-increasingly-use-belgian-coast&newsroom=6b71e247-a9ba-4732-aaa3-88be14c119db\" aria-hidden=\"true\" />\n            belganewsagency.eu        </a>\n    </div>\n</div>\n<p>Officials believe smugglers are increasingly launching multiple boats at the same time to make interception more difficult. This tactic was also seen recently in France.</p><p>The number of crossings appears to be rising. Authorities recorded 14 departures from Belgian beaches in March and 12 so far in April, VRT NWS writes. A meeting of security services is planned next week to consider further measures.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><sup>#FlandersNewsService | Illustration Sameer &copy; Al-DOUMY / AFP</sup></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>",
    "header": {
        "large": "https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/2dfd314e-b382-450d-bc85-7d1ac65843c1/-/preview/1200x1200/-/format/auto/",
        "release": "https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/2dfd314e-b382-450d-bc85-7d1ac65843c1/-/preview/1200x1200/-/format/auto/"
    },
    "links": [
        {
            "description": "28 migrants intercepted in Knokke-Heist as people smugglers increasingly use Belgian coast",
            "url": "http://prez.ly/f6Bd"
        }
    ],
    "author": {
        "first_name": "Flanders",
        "last_name": "News Service"
    },
    "format_version": 5
}