Dutch authorities have rescued 38 men from an inflatable boat found drifting without a motor off the coast of Zeeland province, in one of the first such cases in Dutch waters, Al Jazeera reports.
A spokesperson for the Dutch military police said nobody on board was wearing a life jacket and that it was not yet clear whether the boat had set off from France, Belgium or the Netherlands, or where it was going. According to news agency reports, 36 of the men were from Afghanistan and two were from Sudan.
The two Sudanese men are suspected of people smuggling and have been arrested. Small-boat crossings towards the UK are common from France and Belgium, but the spokesperson said such boats were rarely seen in the Netherlands. An investigation is due to begin on Sunday.
Source: Al Jazeera
