Eight migrant cases with 118 people including a baby off Kent, Sussex and France
17:27, 23 August 2019
updated: 18:31, 23 August 2019
There have been a staggering eight migrant incidents in 36 hours on both sides of the Channel.
Updated details from French and British authorities show these instances involved a total 118 people including a baby.
There were seven incidents within 12 hours yesterday, six on the British side and one in French waters.
The eighth case was in the early hours of today, again on the French side.
This comes just after Home Secretary Priti Patel said she would discuss the continuing migrant crisis with her French counterpart.
These are the latest incident in detail to date:
1. The first of yesterday's alerts on the British side of the Channel was at 2.30am and involved nine people, eight men and a woman who said they were Iranian.
2. The next was at about 5am and involved 11 people, nine men and two boys, who presented themselves as being from Iran, Guinea, Kuwait and the Ivory Coast.
3. The third alert was at 7am and six men, who said they were Iranian, were picked up.
4. The next call out was at 11.30am and there were 11 people including four claimed minors. They presented themselves as Iranian nationals.
In all these cases the small craft occupants were brought to Dover after they were intercepted by Border Force.
On arrival they were taken for medical assessments and interviewed by immigration officials.
5. Another call out was at about 11.30am after reports of people seen on the beach at Winchelsea, East Sussex.
A total 11 people were found and taken to Rye Police Station. They presented themselves as Iranian nationals.
6. The sixth alert yesterday was at noon when a small boat was seen crossing the Channel towards the UK coast. The boat was escorted to Dungeness by Hastings RNLI and 16 people were taken to Rye Police Station.
They said they were Iranian and Vietnamese nationals.
In these last two cases the migrants were again dealt with by Home Office officials.
7. Another incident yesterday was a double, when French authorities found two fishing boats 48km (30 miles) west of Le Touquet.
This was first reported at 11.50am (10.50am BST).
One boat had 14 migrants, eight men, two women and four children.
The other had 16, five men, four women, six children and a baby.
A helicopter pinpointed their exact location and the occupants were brought aboard the coastguard vessel Jacques Oudart Fourmentin.
They were taken ashore to France and handed to border police.
8. The last known incident was at 2.30am (1.30am BST) today when a semi-rigid boat was seen 4km (2.5 miles) north of Dunkirk.
The vessel had 24 migrants including seven children and a woman.
Again a helicopter pinpointed their location and by 4.30am (3.30am BST) they were put onto a rescue vessel, brought back to French soil and dealt with by border police.
These cases are the latest in a trend over the last year of migrants trying to reach the UK by crossing the Channel in small vessels.
KentOnline's count of cases, included these latest known ones, adds up to a net of 46 since last November 8 involving 407 people.
This is for migrants who have landed onshore in Kent or nearby or been rescued and brought in by British authorities.
Incidents have happened in the areas of Dover, Deal, Folkestone and Romney Marsh.
There is a gross figure of 57 incidents over this time involving a total 540 people.
This also includes migrants stopped by French authorities and returned to France, including this morning's case.
Details of incidents on the British side of the Channel have come from the Home Office.
And the Prime Minister says anyone who enters the UK illegally on a boat across the Channel will be sent back.
Boris Johnson insists that despite the nice weather forecast this weekend, the journey is still very hazardous.
Those on the French side come from the maritime authority Préfecture Maritime de la Manche et de la Mer du Nord.
Read more: All the latest news from Deal
Read more: All the latest news from Dover
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