Migrants rescued after boat gets into difficulty in the Channel
Children were reportedly among those brought ashore after the incident.
Around 80 migrants are understood to have been rescued after a boat got into difficulty while crossing the Channel.
Some of the group are thought to have been pulled from the water, with the coastguard and lifeboat crews called to help Border Force with the search off the Kent coast on Thursday morning.
Three children – including a baby – were among those brought ashore during the incident, according to media reports.
No deaths or serious injuries were reported and no-one was taken to hospital, the PA news agency understands.
The coastguard later confirmed the search had ended with “all people accounted for and back on land”.
“HM Coastguard has been co-ordinating the response to a small boat incident in the Channel this morning. Coastguard helicopters from Lydd and Lee-on-Solent, RNLI lifeboats and Border Force were sent.
“The search has now concluded with all people accounted for and back on land,” a spokeswoman said.
The RNLI said lifeboats from Dover and Walmer were involved in the operation.
More than 125,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in the last six-and-a-half years as the recent crisis unfolded.
Since the Government struck the deal to send migrants to Rwanda more than two years ago – which has since stalled amid legal challenges – more than 80,000 people have made the journey.
The tally of crossings since Rishi Sunak, who pledged to “stop the boats”, became Prime Minister is edging closer to 50,000 while the number arriving since the General Election was called is nearing 1,000.
At least 300 arrivals have been recorded already this week.
This includes 34 people the Home Office said made the journey in one boat on Wednesday, taking the provisional total number of crossings for the year so far to 10,779.
This is up 42% on the number recorded this time last year (7,610) and 8% higher than the same point in 2022 (9,984), according to PA analysis of the figures.
The rescue comes as the latest hearing in a legal challenge against the Government’s Safety of Rwanda Act, brought by the FDA union representing senior civil servants, takes place at the High Court.
Earlier this week, amid a separate legal action against the deportation policy brought by charity Asylum Aid, the Government told a judge the first flight sending migrants to Rwanda is now not set to take off until July 24.
With immigration a key election campaign battleground, Mr Sunak has consistently pointed to the Rwanda plan to achieve this, describing it as an “indispensable deterrent”.
After admitting flights would not take off before the election, he pledged he would stick to the plan if re-elected.
Labour vowed to scrap the policy immediately if elected.
Amnesty International UK said the government “must come to terms with the fact that refusing to set up safe routes for people to seek asylum here, particularly where they have family and other connections, significantly adds to why these journeys continue”.
The charity said: “Whoever wins the election needs to radically revise the response to people seeking asylum – including making safe routes available, and abandoning the dangerous and illegal Rwanda scheme.”
Charity the International Rescue Committee UK said: “This is yet another completely preventable incident in the English Channel and a reminder that deterrence policies don’t work.
“People will continue to put their lives at risk if they feel they have no other choice.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “We continue to work closely with our French partners to prevent crossings and save lives.”
