Priti Patel To Hold Talks With French Counterpart After 60 Migrants Tried To Cross The Channel
23 August 2019, 11:15 | Updated: 9 September 2021, 09:57
The Home Secretary is going hold talks after four boats were intercepted in the channel yesterday.
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Priti Patel has announced that she will be holding talks with the French Home Secretary after 60 migrants attempted to cross the Channel on Thursday.
Four boats were intercepted by Border Force yesterday, as well as two dinghies being picked up by French authorities.
At 2:30am, a group of eight men and one woman, who all said they were Iranian nationals, were found crossing the Channel and taken to Dover.
At 5am, another boat carrying 11 men was intercepted and the men were taken to Dover. The group contained men from Iran, Guinea, Kuwait and the Ivory coast, as well as two children.
At 7am, a boat containing six men who said they were Iranian nationals was stopped and the men were taken to Dover.
At 11:30am, a group of 11 Iranian nationals, including four children, was intercepted.
The two dinghies found by French Border Forces contained 19 adults, 10 children and a baby.
UK Border Force and other law enforcement agencies were also "dealing with a number of other incidents" on Thursday, the Home Office said, without providing further details.
More than 900 people, including 80 children, have crossed the channel in small boats this year.
A Home Office spokeswoman said crossing the Channel in a small boat is a "huge risk" and "the criminal gangs who perpetuate this are ruthless and do not care about loss of life."
The attempted crossings came on the day that official figures were published on immigration to the UK from the EU.
On Thursday, the Home Office said 37 migrants, six "claimed minors", were found in the Channel and medically assessed.
Another 24 people, including four children, were detained by police and transferred to Border Force after arriving by boat at Winchelsea Beach in East Sussex.
The Home Office said 65 people who arrived illegally in the UK in small boats have been returned to European countries this year.
