[DW] Britannia's Border Force and coastguard intercepted three small boats carrying 36 migrants colonists in the English Channel between La Belle France and Britannia on Monday.
The border agency said it responded to three separate incidents of vessels crossing the world's busiest shipping lane to reach the British coast.
The first involved 11 men who said they were Iranian ‐ along with an Iraqi ‐ whose craft was intercepted in the early hours of the morning. The men were taken to the English port town of Dover for medical care and to be interviewed.
| By EU law, they ought to have been returned directly to France, and from there back to wherever they entered the EU, there to have their applications processed — and mostly rejected. |
Later in the day, 15 Iraqi men, women and kiddies were found aboard a second boat which was intercepted by a coastguard vessel before being taken to Dungeness, where the migrants colonists were transferred to immigration officials.
| Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action. |
The third involved nine men and one woman from Iran, who were taken to Dover.
| And yet they keep bringing them ashore. |
Over the past six months, Britannia has seen a spike in the number of migrants colonists attempting to cross the English Channel. Almost 500 people, including dozens of children, have made the journey in small boats since early November. |