40 Migrants Head to UK on Christmas Day Dash Across English Channel

Forty migrants were picked up in the English Channel in five separate incidents on Christmas day, believed to be the highest number of illegals and boats intercepted in one day. The first vessel was spotted at 2:40am local time after a boat containing eight migrants alighted in Folkestone, reports the BBC. The second incident occurred at 4:30 am when 13 migrants were spotted in a boat by the British lifeboat service and a coastguard helicopter off the coast of Deal. At 5:50 am, eight migrants in a dinghy were intercepted by UK Border Force cutter in British waters in the English Channel. French maritime authorities released images of the rescue operation captured from helicopter observation cameras. [#operation #migrant] ➡️https://t.co/Ef53ddwmPl Huit migrants secourus ce matin dans le détroit du pas de #Calais sous la coordination du CROSS Gris-Nez. pic.twitter.com/uKd4YtXCtw — PREMAR Manche (@premarmanche) December 25, 2018 By 9:20 am, two more in a rowing boat were picked up by a lifeboat eight nautical miles from Dover. And for a reason not made clear, nine migrants whose engine failed in French territorial waters were brought to England and have been transferred to the British Coastguard to be assessed. The majority are understood to