Channel crossing migrants return to UK shores as 600 arrive in 12 boats
Channel crossing migrants return to UK shores as 600 arrive in 12 boats
GBNEWS
The English Channel has seen a huge surge in small boat arrivals on Saturday, after bad weather prevented Channel migrant crossings for almost a week.
GB News can reveal that around 600 Channel migrants made it to UK waters in 12 small boats.
Several Border Force vessels and the Dover lifeboat have attended multiple small boat sightings since the early hours.
Criminal people smuggling gangs took advantage of a short improvement in the weather and a very high tide, to push the boats off from a huge stretch of beach.
Huge numbers of migrants are still coming to Britain via small boats PAThe boats were launched from Dunkirk in the north, to Boulogne around 60 miles further south.
Saturday's arrivals are the first migrant boats to make the illegal crossings since 300 people crossed in 5 dinghies on Tuesday.
Tuesday's arrivals took the number of Channel migrants so far this year to more than 20,000.
GB News can now reveal that the number arriving so far this weekend has taken that total for the year to more than 20,700.
A record number of migrants arrived in the UK in 2022PAPoor and unpredictable weather conditions in the Channel over recent months have reduced the number of potential crossing days this year.
GB News has also witnessed increased French police patrols around Dunkirk and Calais, which has forced criminal gangs to launch increasing numbers of boats much further south along the French coast.
It has meant that over all, the number of migrants crossing to the UK so far this year is around 20% down on the same period last year.
Those who arrived today were taken initially to the Border Force facility at Dover harbour, before being moved to the migrant processing facility at Manston airbase in Kent.
A picture of Channel crossing migrants arriving in KentPAGB News can confirm that the first small boats were launched from French beaches around 2am on Saturday and were picked up by Border Force around dawn.
Our Kent producer said that the short weather window in the Channel had now "closed for the day."
He added: "Winds are picking up again to around 20 mph, which is impassable for the small boats.
"Things should die down a little again by Sunday, so there's a chance a few more boats might try to make it then."
As well as the Dover lifeboat, the Border Force catamarans Ranger, Volunteer and Defender were all involved in responding to Saturday's small boat sightings, which continued late into the afternoon.
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