Young children among at least 100 migrants to arrive in Dover

Kit Heren2 September 2020

At least 100 migrants have arrived in Dover after being intercepted while making the perilous Channel crossing.

Border Force agents picked up the migrants, which included toddlers and other young children, on Wednesday and brought them into the east Kent port.

Some of the people were seen to smile and wave as they arrived at Dover, while others carried children too young to walk.

Multiple reports were also made of people arriving in separate boats elsewhere in Kent.

Migrants being helped ashore at Dover
PA

Improved weather since the start of September has seen Channel crossings resume after stormy conditions made crossing the Channel impossible for much of the last week of August.

​After waiting to be brought ashore on Wednesday – some for about an hour – the migrants were led up the gangway towards the Border Force processing centre.

Once ashore, the migrants were assessed for symptoms of coronavirus.

Border Force and the RNLI remain active in British waters with French marine patrol boats active on the other side of the Channel.

Migrants being helped ashore at Dover
PA

Wednesday's arrivals come after nearly 1,500 migrants made the crossing by small boat last month – despite Home Secretary Priti Patel vowing to make the treacherous route “unviable”.

The House of Commons debated the issue of migrant crossings on Wednesday afternoon, with Labour claiming the Government's stance lacks "competence and compassion".

Boris Johnson said that the UK was a "target and a magnet" for people traffickers taking people across the channel in dangerous boats.

He told the Commons: “I have a great deal of sympathy with those who are so desperate as to put their children in dinghies or even children’s paddling pools and try to cross the Channel.

Migrants being helped ashore at Dover
PA

“But I have to say what they’re doing is falling prey to criminal gangs and they are breaking the law. They’re also undermining the legitimate claims of others who would seek asylum in this country.

“That is why we will take advantage of leaving the EU by changing the Dublin regulations on returns and we will address the rigidities in our laws that makes this country, I’m afraid, a target and a magnet for those who would exploit vulnerable people in this way.”

But Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “Isn’t the truth that the Government’s approach to this whole issue has frankly been defined by a lack of compassion and a lack of competence.”

He queried why work last year had “proved so inadequate”, asking when the joint action plan would be available for scrutiny.

Migrants being helped ashore at Dover 
PA

He said: “The Government was warned including by the Foreign Affairs select committee that the collapse of safe routes would lead to growing numbers of people taking to the sea.”

He added: “The expectation around the Dubs amendment across the House was that 3,000 children would be accepted under the scheme.

"Does the minister now agree it was a profound error and frankly lacking in compassion to close down that scheme when only a 10th of that number had been accepted?”

Home Office minister Chris Philp replied: “This Government has provided almost 20,000 resettlement places since 2015, a number dwarfing the 3,000 mentioned.

"Since 2010, 44,000 children have been offered protection by the UK of one form or another.”

He added: “This Government certainly needs no lessons in compassion, our asylum system is extremely compassionate, extremely generous and those numbers speak for themselves.”

With additional reporting by PA

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