Channel migrants: 17 people enter UK on two small boats

The UK authorities dealt with two incidents involving 17 people

Seventeen migrants reached the UK after crossing the English Channel on two small boats, the Home Office said.

A further 78 people were picked up by the French authorities on Thursday after trying to make the cross-Channel journey on four boats.

One woman was found unconscious on one vessel spotted by a ferry.

Immigration minister Chris Philp said migrants "should be claiming asylum in the first safe country they reach".

The French authorities stopped nearly 80 people from crossing the English Channel in four boats

It is thought a drop in wind speeds overnight led to the attempts to reach UK shores, after bad weather had made crossing the Channel by small boat impossible for more than a week.

Mr Philp said: "Overnight, our intelligence sharing with our French counterparts through the new operations centre helped place maritime and beach patrols in the right place at the right time, preventing more than 130 people from making it to the UK.

"The government continues to undertake substantial steps to tackle the unacceptable problem of illegal migration, including legislative changes so crossings of this nature are treated as inadmissible where migrants have travelled through a safe EU country."

Last year, at least 8,400 people made the crossing, compared with less than 2,000 in 2019, according to Home Office figures.

Officials said those who arrived on Thursday will be screened for Covid-19 and kept in isolation for 10 days.

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