Suspected migrants rescued in dinghy off Dover coast

The authorities were alerted to a dinghy with two people on board in difficulty in the English Channel, during the early hours of this morning.

The two Iranian men on board were assisted by a Dover RNLI lifeboat crew and then handed to immigration officials by Kent Police for questioning.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘Where someone is found to have no right to remain in the UK, we will take action to remove them.’

The spokesman said: ‘The security of our border is paramount, and we always work with our partners to detect and deter people who attempt to reach the UK illegally.
‘We have invested tens of millions of pounds to further increase security at our controls in France, while targeting the criminal gangs behind illegal attempts to enter the UK.’

A RNLI Dover Lifeboat station spokesman said: ‘At 1am this morning Dover Coastguard was alerted to a small dinghy in difficulty in the Dover Strait and a search took place involving Dover and Dungeness RNLI lifeboats.

‘At 3.30am this morning an incoming ferry spotted the dinghy a mile offshore from the Port of Dover and two men on board were taken safely onto the lifeboat and brought ashore and checked over by Southeast Ambulance Service.’