Overview
- A small dinghy was stopped less than a mile from Dover on Wednesday after someone on board dialled 999, and Border Security Command vessels with RNLI lifeboats brought the 32–33 occupants ashore for medical checks and processing at Dover.
- Officials are investigating how the craft travelled from the French coast into UK waters without earlier detection, a question that comes as the Home Secretary has ordered an urgent review of Border Security Command.
- Recent crossings have surged, with almost 1,300 arrivals reported over four days and this year’s total now above 20,000, putting heavy demand on reception centres such as Manston and Dover.
- Rescue and policing resources are stretched by longer, harder‑to‑predict crossings that appear to use westward Normandy launch points, and localised landings have provoked large anti‑migrant protests and multiple arrests.
- Criminal probes and cross‑channel co‑operation are increasing after separate incidents produced fatalities in French waters and after an attack on an inflatable dinghy led to arrests and charges in Britain.