Rescuers and the coast guard of Britain on Tuesday night intercepted in The English channel boats with several dozen illegal migrants. Among the passengers were children.

At about four o’clock in the morning in Greenwich on Christmas night, rescuers using a coast guard helicopter intercepted a boat with 12 migrants and a child in British territorial waters off the coast of Kent.

Another girl was among the eight passengers of the boat, moored on Tuesday night in the port of Folkestone.

According to the British Ministry of internal Affairs, among the migrants were immigrants from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Later, around six in the morning, a border boat intercepted a small rubber boat with seven men and a woman in The English channel. The French coast guard tweeted a photo of the interception.

Another boat intercepted in French waters and escorted to Britain, as it stopped working motor. Thus, only on Tuesday on the way to Britain intercepted 40 people.

All adult migr

ants underwent medical examination and were sent to the migration service. The children were handed over to social workers.

Organized crime

“Everything points to the fact that behind the attempts of illegal migration on small boats across The English channel are organized criminal groups,”-said the representative of the British interior Ministry.

“We are working closely with French law enforcement and other partners to neutralize these gangs, endangering the lives of people”, — added in the Home-Office.

The coast guard service stressed that the main purpose of their operations is to prevent danger to the lives of migrants.

“We care only about the preservation of lives — we save those who are in a difficult situation, accompany them to the shore and give either colleagues from other emergency services or the authorities,” — said in a statement service.

Migrants have been trying to get to Britain by boat for several months — boats with migrants, many of whom claim to have come from Iran, were intercepted in January and December. The BBC was able to learn that from 3 November by sea to Britain arrived at least 101 Iranian citizens, including four children.

Last Saturday, the French coast guard intercepted a boat with 14 adult migrants and two children on their way to Britain.

Some experts associate the influx of migrants from Iran with the abolition of the visa-free regime between this country and Serbia. During the period of this regime, the path to Europe through Belgrade became the main one for Iranian refugees.