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Home Romney Marsh News Article
A group of eight migrants attempting to enter the UK were discovered this week, after a small boat washed ashore.
Border Force discovered the men and women in a RHIB (rigid-hulled inflatable boat) at Dungeness in Romney Marsh yesterday - just one of three incidents that day.
The group were medically assessed and found to be well before being taken into custody for interviews.
It is not known where they are from.
Yesterday, a total of 38 people were intercepted by officials from Border Force.
A further two vessels were stopped off the Sussex coast, this included a group of 12 and 18 made up of men, women and children. They were transported to Dover and received medical checks.
All 38 people were handed over to immigration officials for interview.
In another shocking case a man was plucked from the water after trying to swim across the Channel yesterday.
The suspected migrant was spotted three miles north of Calais by a fishing boat at about 5.30am wearing flippers and a float.
He was found to be suffering from slight hypothermia and taken back to the Port of Calais and dealt with by border police.
Speaking of the incident, Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe: "People will almost certainly die trying to do this. I don't want to see people dying trying to make this crossing.
"We have got to do more to spot these people and stop them making these journeys before leaving the French coast."
These incidents are just four of more than 100 cases in the last nine months of migrants trying to reach Britain by small vessels, such as dinghies and RHIBs over the last year.
Since November 8 Kent Online has counted a total 92 incidents involving a total 807 people.
This figure covers people who have landed by themselves on Kent shores or who have been rescued mid-sea by British authorities and brought back here for interview and processing.
There is a gross figure of 120 cases since November 8 involving 864 people. These usually included situations where migrants have been stopped early on by French authorities and brought back to France.
A Home Office spokesman said: "Anyone crossing the Channel in a small boat is taking a huge risk with their life and the lives of their children.
"Since the Home Secretary declared a major incident in December 2018, two cutters have returned to UK waters from overseas operations, we have agreed a joint action plan with France and increased activity out of the Joint Coordination and Information Centre in Calais.
"It is an established principle that those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and since January more than 50 people who arrived illegally in the UK in small boats have been returned to Europe.”
The KM's community podcast this week is about a woman who wants to change the perception of migrants.
