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Sporting Goods Store Stops Selling Kayaks to Prevent Migrants From Using Them

Days after three migrants were reported missing while attempting to cross the English Channel, a French sporting goods retail store has decided to stop the sale of kayaks, canoes, and other small boats. The decision was confirmed by company officials, and it affects stores in Dunkirk and Calais.
Decathlon inflatable kayak 20 photos
Photo: Decathlon website
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According to numerous reports, 1,185 migrants managed to make their way from France to the UK in a single day, last Thursday. The next day after that, three migrants were reported missing after they left France for the UK on water.

As you may be aware, this is not the first time when migrants attempt to cross bodies of water using makeshift boats or watercraft of various kinds. This time, French retail store Decathlon has decided to prevent people from endangering their lives, so it has decided to stop selling kayaks for an undetermined time in its Calais and Dunkirk stores.

Representatives of the French retail chain have noted that they still sell kayaks online and that the company still offers safety devices in all its stores, as Euronews reports. In other words, that means that people can still buy life jackets and thermal protection gear at any of the chain stores.

The stop-sale of kayaks was decided after it was determined that many of those articles were "diverted from their sporting use," and used as small boats to cross the English Channel. Representatives of the sporting goods store noted that those products are not designed for such a journey.

As we found on the company's website, the most affordable kayak (an inflatable one) can be bought for 180 euros (ca. $204). While it may be suited for a lake or similar conditions, attempting to cross the English Channel in such a craft is incredibly dangerous. Along with the risk of drowning, there is also a danger of hypothermia if someone falls into the water while attempting to cross the Channel.

Previously, migrants attempted to reach the UK by concealing themselves into trucks that were legally crossing the border through the Channel Tunnel. It is worth noting that the latter situation has been curbed, but tensions exist between France and the UK on the matter.
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Editor's note: For illustration purposes, the photo gallery shows images of Decathlon's most affordable inflatable kayak, the Itiwit, priced at EUR 180 in France.

About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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