Border Force catch migrants trying to cross Channel in three rubber dinghies

Border Force catch migrants trying to cross Channel in three rubber dinghies as trafficking gangs start using ‘surge’ tactics in bid to overwhelm UK authorities

  • Officials were seen giving the migrants blankets this morning as they arrived
  • It is thought they came overnight and were intercepted earlier this morning 
  • Comes as trafficking gangs employ new tactics to get around border officials 

Border Force officials in Kent this morning intercepted three rubber dinghies carrying migrants.

Pictures from Dover harbour showed an empty boat and officers processing the migrants, as trafficking gangs continue so-called ‘surge tactics’, in a bid to overwhelm UK authorities. 

Officials were seen giving the migrants blankets to wrap around themselves this morning.

It is believed the migrants had arrived overnight and were caught by officials this morning. They were pictured at around 9am, processing the arrivals.

Officers were seen giving migrants blankets to wrap around themselves as they got off boats in Dover

The image above shows an empty rubber dinghy after three boats were intercepted by border force officials

The image above shows an empty rubber dinghy after three boats were intercepted by border force officials 

The National Crime Agency this week said that migrants trying to reach the UK from France are using ‘surge’ tactics to overwhelm patrols.

Steve Reynolds, who works at the agency told the BBC that if a large number of migrants depart on the same day then they are ‘more likely to get through’.

In 2019 around 1,900 people tried to cross the English Channel in a small craft. 

The majority are recorded to have been from Iran. 

The Coastguard confirmed it helped Border Force (pictured) with 'three incidents off the Kent coast' in December

The Coastguard confirmed it helped Border Force (pictured) with ‘three incidents off the Kent coast’ in December 

On 31 December 43 people were detained by Border Force officers off the coast of Kent after they crossed the busiest shipping lanes in the world.In another incident on the same day six men were spotted off the French shore and returned to the Port of Calais. 

The first boat was carrying 12 Iranian nationals and was intercepted by Border Force off the coast of Dover at 3.35am. 

The second boat had 22 men on board, claiming to be from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, and was intercepted at 4.25am. 

The third boat was intercepted at 7.50am and had seven men and two women on board, who all said they were from Iran. 

On December 29 more than 60 migrants were rescued by the French and British authorities. 

MailOnline has contacted Kent Police and Border Force regarding the incident in Dover this morning.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk