Children saved as migrant ‘armada’ heads to UK
THREE young children were among dozens of migrants rescued from a dinghy that ran out of fuel while attempting to cross the world’s busiest shipping lane in the Channel yesterday.
Lifeboats scrambled to tow the vessel to safety before masked Border Force and police officers registered the group – which included a toddler wrapped in a blanket and another in an oversized life jacket – and took their temperature.
The 25 migrants were met by officials on Pett Level beach, near Hastings – the East Sussex port town, just 40 miles from France, which has emerged as the latest battleground between Border Force officials and migrants attempting to enter Britain illegally.
Those detained yesterday are among record numbers who have exploited the good weather to attempt the crossing, with Home Office officials describing the surge as being ‘like an armada’.
Last year, Home Secretary Priti Patel pledged to end the arrival of illegal migrants by this spring and invested £6 million in stepping up patrols along the French coast.
But this month saw a record number of people arrive in one day, with up to 150 intercepted on ten boats from France. Around 1,200 illegal migrants have crossed the Channel this year – more than 850 since Britain went into lockdown.
The latest arrivals come amid growing fears that migrants with coronavirus are infecting Border Force and Coastguard staff.
One Home Office insider told The Mail on Sunday: ‘ As far as we’re aware the French authorities are saying nobody in the camps, as they know it, has Covid-19. If that’s the case it would be a miracle. The weather has helped the people smugglers. Since the last week of March it’s been like an armada.’
Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the Immigration Services Union, warned that coronavirus symptoms have ripped through the team’ of staff trying to stem the flow of migrants. People smuggling sources have also told how migrants are becoming desperate to reach the UK. They say they fear being identified by the French authorities while under lockdown and forced to claim asylum in France first.