Record 336 migrants cross Channel

MORE than 300 migrants were found crossing the Channel last month – a greater number than in the whole of last year.

On Saturday, boats containing 66 men, women and children were intercepted along the Kent coast – taking the tally to 336, a record monthly figure, according to the BBC.

In 2018, 297 people were caught attempting to cross the Channel.

One of the four vessels intercepted on Saturday was carrying 27 adults and eight children, the Home Office said.

Border Force officials were alerted to a small boat in the Channel at about 5.35am on Saturday. They deployed the cutter HMC Seeker, along with a coastal patrol.

The boat was found to contain 35 migrants – 29 males and six females – who told officials they originated from countries including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Kuwait.

French authorities made Border Force aware of a second vessel heading towards Kent at about the same time. This boat contained 16 people, including six men, five women and five children. Fifteen said they were Iranian, the other claimed to be Lebanese.

One of the women on board was taken to hospital for treatment but has since been discharged. Four hours later, at around 9.55am, Border Force was alerted to a rigid-inflatable boat in the middle of the Channel containing seven people – five men, a woman and a child who all claimed to be Iranian.

All three migrant vessels were taken to Dover.

Another boat reached Kingsdown, near Deal in Kent, where eight men were passed on to immigration officers after being held by police.

Coastguard and rescue teams were sent from Folkestone and Deal to assist operations.

A spokesman for the Coastguard said the crews were helping to rescue those in trouble and bring them to safety, where they would be “handed over to the relevant partner emergency services or authorities”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Crossing the Channel in a small boat is a huge risk.”

The record figure of migrants found crossing the Channel in August emerged following a meeting between Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, and Christophe Castaner, her French counterpart, in Paris on Thursday, which was arranged in response to the soaring rise in crossings.

They agreed to develop an “enhanced action plan” to prevent boats containing migrants leaving France.

The Home Office spokesman added: “This week the Home Secretary and her French counterpart agreed to intensify joint action to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel.

“This includes drawing up an enhanced action plan to deploy more resources along the French coast to intercept and stop crossings.”

Police said on Thursday that the body of a man who fell from a boat off Ramsgate on Aug 9 had been found.

The Iraqi migrant, who is believed to have drowned while trying to swim to Britain, was found at a wind farm off the Belgian coast on Aug 23.

The Home Office said since January it had returned to the Continent more than 65 people who had arrived after crossing in small boats.