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Boat with nine suspected migrants, eight men and a teenager, brought by Border Force to Dover

17:43, 24 April 2019

updated: 12:10, 03 October 2019

Nine more suspected migrants have been picked up in the Channel today.

A Border Force cutter stopped a RHIB (rigid-hulled inflatable boat) off the Kent coast as it travelled towards the UK.

The small vessel, found at around 6am, contained eight men and a teenager who presented themselves as Iraqi.

An earlier case of migrants being picked up in the Channel, in November. Picture: Abeille Languedoc
An earlier case of migrants being picked up in the Channel, in November. Picture: Abeille Languedoc

A Home Office spokesman said: "The nine people on board were transferred to the cutter and brought to Dover.

"All were medically assessed and passed to immigration officials for interview."

A count by KentOnline adds up a net of 53 suspected or confirmed migrant cases, including today's incident, since November 8 involving a total 472 people.

These are people who have used small craft and landed on Kent shores or been picked up from the sea by British authorities and brought in.

There have also been incidents in the Deal, Folkestone and Sandwich areas.

There is a gross figure for that period of 65 cases involving 573 people, which also includes people stopped in the Channel by the French and brought back to France.

That number now also includes the isolated case of a man who was found dead underneath a coach at the Channel Tunnel Terminal at Folkestone on November 18.

A coroner at an inquest last Thursday gave a verdict of misadventure.

This is the one formally known and confirmed death in the list.

Read more: All the latest news from Dover

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