The French Coastguard has rescued 223 migrants from distress in the English Channel within 48 hours, the maritime prefecture reported on Saturday. On their way to the United Kingdom, several of the usually overcrowded small boats carrying migrants ran into trouble, the maritime prefecture reported. Rescue ships brought the shipwrecked individuals to the northern French ports of Boulogne and Dunkerque. Some of the migrants were already drifting in the water or were trapped on sandbanks by the tides. Others refused assistance from the coastguard because they wanted to continue the dangerous cros…