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Six men rescued from small boat off Kent coast Six men rescued from small boat off Kent coast
(about 3 hours later)
Six people, believed to be refugees, have been found in a small boat in the Channel. Six people, believed to be refugees, have been found in a small boat in the Channel. Coastguards were alerted to the vessel off the Kent coast at about 5.40am on Thursday.
Coastguards were alerted to the vessel off the Kent coast at about 5.40am on Thursday.
The Lydd-based search-and-rescue helicopter and the Border Force cutter, HMC Valiant, were scrambled. A Border Force spokesman said: “Six men were recovered from the boat and are due to be interviewed by Border Force officers.”The Lydd-based search-and-rescue helicopter and the Border Force cutter, HMC Valiant, were scrambled. A Border Force spokesman said: “Six men were recovered from the boat and are due to be interviewed by Border Force officers.”
The National Crime Agency revealed earlier this year that migrants trying to reach the UK are paying smuggling gangs up to £13,500 for their journey. Some of those are quoted five-figure sums to make the trip by air, while others are believed to have spent as much as £12,000 to travel from France in inflatable boats. The men, who have not been named, were rescued from the Varne, a sandbank between Dover and Calais, the BBC reported. Sky News broadcast footage showing a rubber dinghy being towed alongside the Border Force vessel to the port of Dover.
Investigators suspect that, as well as the main Channel crossing between Calais and Dover, criminals may be using less busy ports in the UK, including Tilbury, Purfleet, Hull, Immingham and Newhaven. Paramedics gave the men a medical examination at Crosswall Quay, in the port, and decided no further treatment was needed. A spokesman for the South East Coast ambulance service said there had been a precautionary call in which nobody was thought to need hospital treatment.
The rescue comes as fears mount that increasing numbers of people are attempting to enter the UK illegally via dangerous sea crossings. The National Crime Agency revealed earlier this year that migrants trying to reach the UK are paying smugglers up to £13,500 for their journey. Some of those are quoted five-figure sums to make the trip by air, while others are believed to have spent as much as £12,000 to travel from France in inflatable boats.
Investigators suspect that as well as using the main Channel crossing between Calais and Dover, criminals may be operating in less busy ports including Tilbury, Purfleet, Hull, Immingham and Newhaven.
Last month MPs on the home affairs select committee were critical of efforts to police Britain’s maritime borders in a report on the migration crisis, warning that people were increasingly using minor ports and airports to reach Britain. This summer, the Border Force has repeatedly intercepted boats bound for the UK.
In May, the UK’s former controller of borders warned that lives were at risk in such crossings after 18 Albanians, including a woman and two children, and two British citizens were rescued off the Kent coast. John Vine said: “We have seen the tragedies that have occurred in the Mediterranean. I am not a nautical person but I would have thought crossing the Channel ... is going to mean there is an equal chance of people losing their lives unless this is stopped.”