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Migrants try to cross Channel to country in lockdown

The move comes despite the escalating Covid-19 crisis in the UK where cases are rising every day.

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Border Force operations

More migrants have tried to cross the English Channel on Wednesday despite Britain living in a state of lockdown due to the coronavirus.

Fourteen people – including two children – were discovered in a boat in cold waters after an emergency helicopter search.

Meanwhile, Border Force is dealing with “ongoing small boat incidents” off the Kent coast, the Home Office said.

It comes despite the escalating Covid-19 crisis in the UK where cases are rising every day.

Border Force
More than 100 people attempted to make the crossing last week (Gareth Fuller/PA)

French authorities were alerted at 2.14am to a call about a boat in difficulty off the coast of Berck.

A helicopter was dispatched to search for the boat in distress, which was found four nautical miles west of Le Touquet.

The migrants were rescued at 4.05am and taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer where they were handed over to border police.

Last week, more than 100 migrants risked their lives to make the treacherous crossing to the UK.

Bella Sankey from Detention Action last week called for migrants to be given “safe accommodation, instead of indefinite detention”, and the means to self-isolate if they need to.

Fears have been raised that 3,000 migrants living in northern France in desperate conditions are at high risk of contracting Covid-19.

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