Fisherman tells of rescuing migrant boats carrying children and pregnant women

10 August 2020, 09:33 | Updated: 10 August 2020, 10:16

A fisherman called LBC to reveal how he is regularly forced to rescue migrant boats filled with children and pregnant women.

Border Force officials intercepted a boat carrying 20 Syrian migrants off the coast of Dover this morning.

It comes after more than 677 people took advantage of calmer conditions to get to the UK between Thursday and Sunday.

David called in from Maidstone to tell how he see dinghies crossing The Channel every day during the summer when he is out in his trawler - and he always makes sure that none of them die during the trip.

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Speaking to LBC, he said: "I've rescued five boats in the last year or 18 months.

"I've got a boat out of Dover and we fish in the middle of the English Channel. We see boats on quite a regular basis.

"The first one I saw, last May at 6am, we were fishing in the middle of the shipping lanes, there were five ships coming down the channel and we could see something about a mile uptide from us, bobbing about in the water.

"We went to have a look and there was a 10-foot rubber dighy - not even a RIB - with 2hp motor on the back doing two knots across the English Channel.

"In this boat, there were eight children below seven, five pregnant women and three men. It was the most horrendous sight I've ever seen."

David revealed what happens there - he's not allowed to let them on to his boat, except for the occasions he's scooped them out of the water.

And he also revealed what he told them about why they are making the treacherous journey to make it to England.

Watch the video at the top of the page for his full interview.