More Illegal Migrants brought to UK after being picked up in the English Channel

More illegal migrants have today been brought into the UK today after being rescued from the English Channel while crossing in small boats.

Pictures show groups being brought to Dover on board vessels of the Border Force and the RNLI in the early hours of this morning.

It is understood a French vessel was also dispatched to the scene as the tiny inflatable crafts made the perilous crossing of the busy shipping lanes.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

More than 28,300 people crossed the Dover Strait aboard small boats in 2021, triple the number for 2020.

Last year’s record number – an increase of about 20,000 on 2020 – came despite millions of pounds promised to French authorities to tackle the issue.

Appearing in front of the Home Affairs select committee Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “France are intercepting more boats than they did this time last year, that’s because numbers are so high.So we’ve doubled the number of patrols around French beaches and improved surveillance, technology and intelligence.”

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