British life-savers responded to ‘frantic’ calls from more than 70 migrants crammed onto a dinghy in a notorious stretch of the North Sea, a newly-released Coastguard log shows.
The group called Kent Police to say that ‘they could only see water’ from the sinking vessel stranded in one of the world’s busiest shipping straits.
The dinghy, which had children on board, was judged to be in ‘grave and imminent danger’ as the Border Force (BF) and RNLI reacted.
One of the occupants told police ‘hello hello help me please’, according to the incident log obtained by Metro.co.uk.
The report also shows that responders were made aware of ‘migrants in the water’ during the emergency on September 14 last year.
The danger of making crossings between the French beaches and British coast was tragically highlighted today when at least five people died trying to make the journey after a boat left the town of Wimereux.
As local police operated at the beach, the French coastguard said there were several ‘lifeless bodies’ on a ‘busy’ morning for crossings.
The tragedy comes with the government’s stalled Rwanda plan — which will deport some migrants arriving in the UK via small boats to the east African country — set to become law after finally clearing parliament.
Co-ordinates in the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) document place the boat in the strait between England and France, just north of the established Channel route used by people-trafficking gangs.
The location is given as five nautical miles east off East Goodwin Lightvessel, a little over half-way towards the Kent coast, the log shows.
The Lightvessel warns mariners of the notorious Goodwin Sands, home to numerous shipwrecks from the centuries before accurate charts and GPS.
The BF’s Ranger catamaran, supported by a drone, three sister vessels and an RNLI lifeboat raced to the scene as UK emergency services started receiving mobile calls from migrants in ‘windy and frantic’ conditions.
A log of a police message passed on to the responders states: ‘They can only see water, 80 POB, come from France, water coming into boat.’
A ‘distress phase’ was initiated by the Coastguard as the small boat was believed to be in the UK search and rescue zone and in ‘grave and imminent danger’, according to the document. Moving towards the dinghy, the Ranger sent a message saying the ‘target’ was ‘dead in the water’.
The crew rescued 72 people and transferred them to Ramsgate Harbour before sister ship Blue Norther moved in to retrieve the dinghy.
Few details are given about the persons in the water but all those making the crossing were said to be ‘recovered safe and well’.
The report is among logs obtained by Metro.co.uk showing the perilous journeys undertaken by people who are packing into small boats in attempts to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Released by the MCA after a Freedom of Information Act request by Metro.co.uk, they show large groups facilitated by people-smuggling gangs have continued to attempt crossings despite the government’s multi-million partnerships with France aimed at stemming the flow.
In total, the agency released 28 reports of rescues involving 70 people or more attempting to make the journey to the UK from France last year.
The prime minister has made ‘stopping the boats’ a key part of his premiership and said on Monday that the first flights relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda under the controversial plan will take off in 10 to 12 weeks. Preparations including an airfield and secured charter plane have been made, he told a press conference. The flagship bill is now set to become law after being passed at Westminster last night.
Asli Tatliadim, head of campaigns at Refugee Action, said: ‘People continue to squeeze into unsafe boats to cross the Channel because the government refuses to open safe routes for people to reach the UK to seek asylum.
‘No amount of expensive, unworkable and hostile deterrence policies such as its grim deal with the government of Rwanda will change that fact.’
The Home Office maintains that 550,000 people have made safe and legal passage to the UK since 2015 and a wide range of measures has been taken on all fronts to tackle the crossings since Rishi Sunak took office.
A spokesperson for the department said: ‘The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible.
‘We continue to work closely with French police who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.
‘We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, in order to save lives and stop the boats.’
The RNLI has also been involved in rescues as an independent charity that answers emergency calls from Her Majesty’s Coastguard.
In turn, the latter is part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
An MCA spokesperson said: ‘HM Coastguard works with the French Coastguard in the English Channel to ensure people are recovered as safely as possible. HM Coastguard will continue to respond to those in distress at sea and in coastal areas of the UK, in accordance with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.’
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