The Mail on Sunday can confirm that chaos erupted in the English Channel last night when a British rescue boat was seen entering French waters in an apparent attempt to help migrants.
At 8am yesterday, radar detected a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) boat on the “wrong” side of the maritime boundary.
It is thought that during a hectic month of arrivals, it was attempting to save migrants who were risking their lives by crossing the Channel to the UK.
Boats are only permitted to enter other countries for search and rescue missions, according to maritime law.
DRIVEN TO SAFETY: Following yesterday’s rescue by another RNLI lifeboat, over 40 migrants are brought ashore at Dungeness in Kent.
Close to Calais, a French patrol boat
The 43-meter Fourmentin, a French law enforcement vessel, was also seen yesterday at 9.04am on ship monitoring software approaching British waters. If the two boats were cooperating is unclear.
By the conclusion of the Bank Holiday weekend, a record 25,000 migrants are anticipated to have traveled in tiny boats over the English Channel. 24,231 individuals have crossed this year as of Thursday.
2,818 migrants have crossed the English Channel from Calais to Dover alone since Monday.
According to recent data that The Mail on Sunday has received, Albanian migrants may be abusing current anti-slavery rules to evade deportation.
The number of Balkan citizens reporting being victims of trafficking has increased by over 320% over the last ten years, according to statistics from several Government agencies analyzed by Migration Watch UK.
600 Albanian migrants pleaded for assistance in 2015, while 2,511 did so in 2021.
This month, Chris Philp, a former minister of immigration, said that when he held the position between 2019 and 2021, he saw Channel migrants claim they were not slaves before changing their statements after meeting with attorneys.
Close to Calais, a French patrol boat
The 43-meter Fourmentin, a French law enforcement vessel, was also seen yesterday at 9.04am on ship monitoring software approaching British waters. If the two boats were cooperating is unclear.
By the conclusion of the Bank Holiday weekend, a record 25,000 migrants are anticipated to have traveled in tiny boats over the English Channel. 24,231 individuals have crossed this year as of Thursday.
2,818 migrants have crossed the English Channel from Calais to Dover alone since Monday.
According to recent data that The Mail on Sunday has received, Albanian migrants may be abusing current anti-slavery rules to evade deportation.
The number of Balkan citizens reporting being victims of trafficking has increased by over 320% over the last ten years, according to statistics from several Government agencies analyzed by Migration Watch UK.
600 Albanian migrants pleaded for assistance in 2015, while 2,511 did so in 2021.
This month, Chris Philp, a former minister of immigration, said that when he held the position between 2019 and 2021, he saw Channel migrants claim they were not slaves before changing their statements after meeting with attorneys.
As a group of individuals believed to be migrants are carried into Dungeness, a mother holding a kid is there.
Following a small boat mishap in the Channel yesterday, a number of individuals believed to be migrants are transported to Dungeness, Kent, aboard the RNLI Lifeboat.
Women and children were among a separate group of persons carried ashore by a different lifeboat, according to RNLI reports from yesterday.
A coach was used to transport around 40 persons to a Home Office processing facility from Dungeness in Kent.
Rescue services are required by international maritime law to conduct search-and-rescue operations in all waterways, regardless of territorial boundaries.