Migrants from 13 boats have been picked up today off the UK coastline

Nine migrant boats were intercepted off the coast of the UK this morning on the hottest day of the year.

Border force agents were called to Winchelsea Beach on the Kent/Sussex border to deal with dozens of people.

The number of boats is a daily record and politicians said the UK now needed to ‘get a grip’ on the issue of people travelling to the UK from mainland Europe.

Border Force have since said they found 74 migrants including men, women and children who have all undergone medical examinations.


Their nationalities are yet to be determined and a criminal investigation is underway.



Charlie Elphicke, MP for Dover and Deal, said: ‘This crisis was meant to have been dealt with at Christmas, yet numbers continue to rise.

‘It looks set to surge to record levels through the summer.

‘The Home Office needs to get a grip on this crisis.

‘This is about much more than simply border security. It is about the exploitation of vulnerable people by criminal trafficking gangs – gangs that Britain and France must work together to catch and bring to justice.

‘These journeys are incredibly dangerous. Overcrowded boats with men, women and children aboard. The risk of tragedy in the middle of the English Channel resulting in loss of life is very real.

‘This is why the Home Office and France must act now to bring this crisis to an end.’

Migrants have landed on the beach on the south coast (Picture: Twitter)

These men, women and children were picked up a mile from the UK/French territorial borders in the Channel

The incident on Saturday began at 6.20am when the first boat was spotted just a mile inside UK waters.

Images from the scene showed the migrants, mainly men, being given blankets by emergency service workers once they landed on the beach.

A major incident was declared by Home Secretary Sajid Javid last year because of the numbers of people making the perilous journey from France to the UK.

He ordered clipper boats to be brought back to the UK from the Mediterranean and set up extra patrols in the English Channel after 138 people arrived in December.

Mr Javid said the number of migrants attempting to cross the Channel was ‘deeply concerning,’ and says he was speaking with his counterparts in France about it.

He added: ‘Those who choose to make this dangerous journey across one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world are putting their lives in grave danger and I will continue to do all I can to stop them.’

The total number of migrants to arrive in May exceeded that at 140 and is set to grow as the weather gets warmer and sea conditions calmer.

Last year former immigration chief David Wood warned that human traffickers were using the UK coastguards as a ‘taxi service.’

He said: ‘They know they don’t have to get right across the Channel and land, they can get half way across and the migrants will be taken the rest of the way.



‘Britain’s border force, coastguards and lifeboats are being used as a taxi service for the migrants.

‘There will be a hue and cry when a boat full of 12 migrants sinks and they die.’

The number of landings on Saturday were a record for one day

The groups will be processed by border officials

The UK has a coastline of 7,000 miles to monitor. The majority of migrant boats land on the south coast but there have been several making longer journeys to land as far north as Humberside.

It is not known which countries the latest arrivals came from but in the past migrants often present themselves as being from Sudan, Libya or Iran.

Smuggling gangs exploiting their desperation to come to the UK are known to charge thousands of pounds for a place on a boat.

Last year, France and Britain launched a new joint intelligence centre in Calais to intercept migrants making their way across the perilous waters.

Today, the UK Coastguard, Kent Police and the border force were all involved in the operation.

The Coastguard said in a statement that they were ‘committed to safeguarding life around the seas and coastal areas of this country.’

The migrants will be taken to centres to have their cases processed.

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