Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Young children brought ashore as migrants cross English Channel

Pictures show the small youngsters being carried as they reached Dover, while men and women were also in warm clothes amid colder weather conditions.

Anahita Hossein-Pour
Wednesday 04 December 2024 09:04 EST
A group of people thought to be migrants, including young children, are brought into Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA)
A group of people thought to be migrants, including young children, are brought into Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Young children wearing woolly hats and coats were among migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel.

Pictures show the small youngsters being carried as they reached Dover, Kent, with men and women also wrapped up in warm clothes to brave the colder weather conditions as they were brought ashore by a Border Force boat.

Before Wednesday, the latest arrivals of 122 people in two boats were recorded on Sunday, bringing the provisional total for the year to 33,684.

The Home Office figures also marked more than 20,000 people arriving since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister in July, with the milestone coming on his 150th day in office.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vowed to “restore order” to the migration system following the data, and blamed the Conservatives for a “collapse in controls”.

She told the House of Commons on Monday: “We have the chance now to turn that around, to fix the chaos, to bring net migration down, to tackle the criminal gangs and prevent dangerous boat crossings, to restore order, control and fair rules properly enforced, not through gimmicks but through hard graft and serious international partnerships.”

Wednesday’s crossings also come as more than 500 officers were involved in a series of police raids targeting people smugglers who bring migrants to the UK in small boats in Germany.

UK authorities are understood to be supporting the action, but all the operational activity is taking place in Germany, and the investigation is being led by France.

The action is targeting gangs who take migrants from the Middle East and North Africa to France, before embarking on potentially deadly Channel crossings to the UK in flimsy inflatable boats.

No crossings have been recorded in the last two days, while Sunday’s arrivals were the first since November 16 after a 14-day hiatus in activity amid bad weather.

So far the total arrivals for the year are up 16% on this time last year (29,090) but down 24% on 2022 (44,174), which was a record high year for crossings.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in