Record number of migrants intercepted in English channel over bank holiday weekend, Home Office says

‘Coronavirus has made a bad situation life-threateningly worse,’ charity says about French camps

A man thought to be a migrant is processed by Border Force officers after being brought to shore in Dover over the bank holiday weekend (PA)

Hundreds of migrants have been found crossing the English Channel over the bank holiday weekend – with a record number intercepted in one day.

An estimated 227 people were picked up by authorities on Friday and Saturday after making the perilous journey.

While the nation celebrated VE Day on the May bank holiday, 145 migrants – including 51 packed on a single inflatable boat – were brought to Dover, according to the Home Office.

This is believed to be a new single-day record after 102 people were discovered making the crossing by police and Border Force in early February.

On Saturday, the Home Office said it intercepted a further 82 migrants. Seventy of these were aboard inflatable boats, while 12 men were found at Dungeness on the Kent coast.

Pictures taken at the busy trade port on Saturday showed people wearing face masks being processed by UK authorities.

The 145 migrants dealt with by Border Force on Friday were found aboard eight inflatable boats between 2am and 9am, and said they were Iranian, Iraqi, Kuwaiti, and Afghan nationals.

A humanitarian charity said it is “little wonder” that so many people are risking their lives to cross the dangerous Dover straits because of “awful conditions” in French refugee camps.

Earlier this week, Priti Patel, the home secretary, acknowledged that a recent increase in the number of migrant boats making the dangerous crossing of the English Channel is linked to the lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak.

Since lockdown was announced in Britain in mid-March, at least 836 migrants have been intercepted by UK authorities and brought ashore.

“Coronavirus has made a bad situation life-threateningly worse,” the founder of charity Care4Calais said about life in refugee camps across the Channel.

“People are squeezed into tiny areas, they can’t social distance, and the support they relied on for survival is drastically reduced.”

Clare Moseley added: “These people are fleeing terrifying situations in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. They aim for the UK because they want to be safe.”

Press Association contributed to this report