The UK Border Force has seized a yacht in the English Channel this morning, which was carrying a group of migrants attempting to cross illegally from France, GB News can exclusively reveal.
Hundreds of other small boat migrants have also launched from the beaches of northern France on Saturday, the third busy day of illegal crossings in a row.
GB News filmed early this morning as the small 18-foot yacht was towed into Dover harbour by the Border Force vessel Hurricane.
GB News' Kent producer counted as many as 86 migrants on board the Hurricane were landed at the harbour quayside.
The small 18-foot yacht was towed into Dover harbour by the Border Force vessel HurricaneGB NewsIt is unclear how many migrants had been on the yacht, and how many were from another small boat which was also intercepted the by Hurricane.
The yacht has now been tied up in Dover harbour and Border Force have painted the number M308 on the deck of the vessel, signifying the total number of migrant boats recovered by UK authorities so far this year.
Investigations are continuing to establish whether the yacht was stolen by people smugglers.
GB News can confirm that more than 150 migrants have been taken to Dover so far on Saturday after being intercepted by Border Force in the Channel.
Several other small migrant boats are also currently attempting the illegal crossing.
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It is unclear how many migrants had been on the yacht
GB News
Yesterday, 413 migrants arrived in UK waters in seven small boats. And on Thursday, 317 people crossed into UK waters on six migrant boats.
Today’s arrivals take the total number of small boat migrants to more than 2,000 in just over two weeks since the new Labour government came to power.
Around 15,600 people have crossed to the UK so far this year, 13 per cent up on the same period last year.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, another migrant drowned after their boat got into difficulties near Calais.
The woman, believed to have been from Sudan, was the sixth migrant to drown while attempting to cross the Channel in just a week.
Investigations are continuing to establish whether the yacht was stolen by people smugglers
GB News
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to see an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.
“The new Government is taking steps to boost our border security, setting up a new Border Security Command which will bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror-style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and overseas, to smash the criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit.”
Although Labour has scrapped the Tory government’s Rwanda deterrent scheme, the Prime Minister has signalled he might be prepared to look again at the possibility of the offshore processing of migrants.
At a news conference after the European Political Community summit in London on Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer said he would "look at what works" when asked about the agreement between Italy and Albania.
Under that agreement, thousands of migrants picked up in Italian waters will be transported to Albania to have their asylum claims heard there.
