A large-scale rescue mission was launched – involving a coastguard helicopter from Lydd with two lifeboats from Dungeness and Littlestone – and the boat was located at 2am on Sunday.
Advertisement
A Coastguard statement said: ‘The UK Coastguard has co-ordinated an incident off Dymchurch to rescue the occupants of a rhib overnight.
President of the French coastguard, Bernard Barron, told Sky News the suspected smuggler craft was unsuitable for crossing the Channel.
Initial reports were that 19 people were on board, but the United Kingdom border Force has since said that 20 people are being questioned.
Adding that the French authorities were then alerted and contacted the United Kingdom coastguard.
‘This all confirms our fear that the smugglers are willing to take extreme measures.
Those on board on the boat were later being looked after by the Border Force.
A Home Office spokesman confirmed that there was one woman and two children aboard the boat. Two British nationals were onboard together with the 18 migrants. It is not yet clear if the people were migrants trying to enter Britain from France or other parts of Europe.
The English Channel is just 20.6 miles at its shortest distance between France and the Kent coast.
“It’s a sea filled with danger, with strong currents, storms and heavy traffic of larger vessels”.
Kent Online website described the people as migrants.
The incident comes after 17 suspected Albanian migrants and a British man wanted on suspicion of murder in Spain were detained after a catamaran arrived at Chichester Marina in West Sussex last Tuesday.
Mary Lawes, councilor with the anti-mass migration UK Independence Party, accused the government of “not doing enough to control our coastline”.
The vessel was stopped only because officers from Hampshire Constabulary Marine Unit were searching for a missing person.
Advertisement
The 55-year-old man, who was the subject of a European Arrest Warrant, was also detained on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration.
