Channel migrants: 13 boats carrying 159 people intercepted

Children were among those pictured aboard a Border Force vessel in Dover

Thirteen boats carrying more than 150 migrants were intercepted while attempting to cross the Channel in a six-hour period.

The Home Office said there were 159 people on board the small boats which were intercepted on Tuesday.

Pictures show Border Force officers lifting children out of boats at the Port of Dover.

More than 3,000 migrants have reached the UK in about 230 small boats this year, according to BBC research.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Of the 159 people who arrived, 136 were male and 23 female."

The Home Office no longer discloses the numbers of child migrants arriving on small boats.

More than 3,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year

The first boat to be spotted was intercepted at about 06:20 BST, with the last boat picked up at 12:25, the Home Office said.

Those on board presented themselves as Kuwaiti, Iranian, Syrian, Palestinian, Yemeni, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Afghan, Libyan, Sudanese, Moroccan, Turkish and Chad nationals.

Last week more than 350 people made the crossing, with 137 on Friday alone.

Some 180 reached the UK on 12 July - the current single-day record for the year.

Earlier this month, Home Secretary Priti Patel said no new target date has been set for when the crossings would become an "infrequent phenomenon".

Less than a year ago she vowed "urgent action" on the dangerous journeys, aiming for them to be virtually eradicated by spring this year.

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