In the cold sea, migrants cast off for England from a French beach

A group of more than 40 migrants with children get on an inflatable dinghy, as they leave the coast of northern France to cross the English Channel, near Wimereux, France, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

WIMEREUX, France (Reuters) - Bundled from the cold in black woolly hats and puffy coats, some in red life jackets, they hauled the rubber dinghy on their shoulders and heads under a steely November sky, over the dunes towards the beach.

France says it is working hard to prevent migrants from attempting the dangerous crossing in freezing temperatures through one of the world's busiest shipping corridors to England, some 30 km (20 miles) across the Channel.