First migrant boat to arrive in UK 'without interception' for almost 3 years sparks investigation

Migrants making the hazardous Channel crossing are normally located and brought ashore by Border Force or RNLI vessels but one evaded detection on Saturday, the Home Office confirmed to Bloomberg.

This would make the first time a migrant boat landed without intervention from the authorities since December 2022.

Just under 100,000 people have made the perilous crossing since that date and more than 1,000 were recorded on Saturday.

The news came as a woman was confirmed dead by Kent Police after a small boat incident in the English Channel on Tuesday.

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Officers said they were alerted to an incident in the Channel just after 1pm on Tuesday and airlifted a woman back to shore, where she was pronounced dead.

Enquiries have been launched to establish the circumstances around the woman's death.

On Saturday, police said five people were detained in a village north of Dover and passed to immigration authorities.

A Kent Police spokeswoman said: “At 7.50pm on Saturday September 6, Kent Police was called to a report of suspected migrants near Kingsdown, Deal.

“Patrols attended and five people were detained and passed to Border Force officers.”

The Home Office declined to comment as the investigation is ongoing.

Asked about the incident on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “My understanding is the circumstances of their arrival are being investigated, that all five people were placed under immigration control.

“We obviously have significant arrangements and technology in place to prevent uncontrolled landings. But look, whilst the investigation is ongoing, it’s not possible to provide any more detail on this specific instance.”

The crossings comes as the prime minister’s new cabinet met for the first time on Tuesday, including newly-appointed Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood who is tasked with ramping up the UK’s response to the record arrivals.

Since starting her role just days ago, the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel topped 30,000 for the year so far.

It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 30,000 mark has been passed since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.

Ms Mahmood said the numbers were “utterly unacceptable” and that she expected migrant returns under a deal agreed last month with France to begin “imminently”.

The “one in, one out” agreement with France detained the first migrants under the scheme on August 6, but has not yet seen sent anyone back to the continent.

Asked why no returns have taken place so far, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I’m not going to get into the operational detail of it but, as I say, we’ve said that we’re expecting returns to begin this month.”

He said the political turmoil in France was not to blame for the length of time the process has taken.