40 migrants try to cross Channel on Xmas Day
two children were among around 40 migrants caught trying to reach Britain by boat yesterday as people smugglers took advantage of the Christmas holiday.
Five packed vessels, one of them a rowing boat, attempted the dangerous crossing under the cover of darkness in temperatures just above freezing.
Several of those rescued were found without lifejackets and suffering from hypothermia.
It follows a dramatic increase in the number of migrant boats attempting to make it across the world’s busiest shipping lane over the past couple of months.
the Home office said evidence showed that organised criminal gangs were involved. the Daily Mail recently revealed how ruthless people smugglers were charging desperate migrants up to £13,000 each to cross the Channel in inflatable dinghies.
In one of the busiest days for British coastguards, 31 migrants were stopped in four boats, while a further eight were dealt with after making it to British shores. of those who gave nationalities, there were 11 Iraqis, nine Iranians, and one Afghan.
there were reports that a further five migrants had handed themselves in to police at Dover, but the Home office said it was not currently a Border Force issue. It came after 16 migrants were foiled trying to reach Britain in a stolen French fishing boat in the early hours of Christmas Eve.
They included a mother and father, with their two-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter, who had paid people smugglers £4,000.
At 2.40am yesterday seven Iranian men and an Afghan girl were found on a beach in Folkestone, Kent. Then, at 5.50am, a Border Force cutter intercepted a dinghy in the Channel with seven men and a woman on board.
An hour later, a cutter and patrol boat found 12 adults and a child two miles off the coast of Walmer, Kent. At 9.20am, a lifeboat rescued two people in a rowing boat around eight miles from Dover. And in a joint operation between French and English coastguards, eight migrants were rescued in the Channel after the engine on their inflatable dinghy broke down and they began drifting. The vessel was returned to France while those on board were taken to the UK.
The Home office said: ‘Border Force has intercepted a number of boats containing migrants. The evidence shows there is organised criminal gang activity behind illegal migration attempts by small boats across the Channel.
‘We are working closely with the French and law enforcement partners to target these gangs, who exploit vulnerable people and put lives at risk.’
‘Organised criminal gang’