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Migrants brought to Dungeness from boat in Channel Channel migrants: Four boats stopped in three hours
(about 4 hours later)
A group of migrants crossing the Channel have been intercepted and passed to immigration officials. Four boats carrying 39 migrants have been intercepted in the Channel in the space of three hours, the Home Office has confirmed.
Officers were called just before 07:30 GMT to a report of suspected migrants on board a vessel, Kent Police said. The first boat carrying nine people was seen at 04:40 GMT, followed by a vessel carrying five at 06:00 GMT.
Their boat was taken to Dungeness lifeboat station, where the group were handed to officers. At 07:00 GMT a boat with 11 on board was seen and half an hour later a Border Force vessel and Kent Police dealt with a boat carrying 14 people.
It was one of a number of attempted Channel crossings reported off Kent and Sussex, but the only one confirmed by authorities. All 39 presented themselves as Iranian nationals, a government spokesman said.
Earlier, coastguards said they had co-ordinated a number of incidents off the Kent coast, working with police and the Border Force. Coastguards said search and rescue helicopters from Lydd and Lee-on-Solent were deployed to incidents off Kent and Sussex, along with RNLI lifeboats from Dover, Dungeness and Hastings, as well as two Border Force vessels.
Search and rescue helicopters from Lydd and Lee-on-Solent were deployed, along with RNLI lifeboats from Dover, Dungeness and Hastings, as well as two Border Force vessels, a spokesman told the BBC. Kent Police said its officers were called just before 07:30 GMT to a report of migrants on board a vessel and the boat was taken to Dungeness, where the group was handed to immigration officials.
The coastguard said it was unclear how many incidents had been dealt with and exact numbers could not be confirmed. The Home Office spokesman said: "Crossing the Channel in a small boat is incredibly dangerous.
Kent Police said they attended only one incident on Sunday. "Anyone attempting the journey is taking a huge risk with their life and the lives of their loved ones."