Seven boats filled with migrants are escorted into British waters by French coastguards as smugglers take advantage of the calmer weather

• It comes days after two migrants drowned when a boat capsized in the Channel

Seven boats believed to be carrying migrants were escorted into British waters by French coastguards after crossing the Channel on Sunday.

The small boats, which can carry more than 50 people, were seen travelling into British waters during a rare lull in the tempestuous winter weather, which can make the passage potentially deadly.

But people smugglers took advantage of the unusually calm seas to send dozens across, with multiple boatloads of asylum seekers picked up by a Border Force vessel.

It means that up to 350 migrants could have landed on the south coast today, the first such asylum seekers to do so since Wednesday, and the largest number to do so since November 16 when 356 made the crossing.

It comes days after two people died in the Channel when the boat they were on capsized close to the French coast, with 57 other people from the water. Last night police across the Channel arrested four men in connection with the deaths.

People believed to be migrants disembark a Border Force vessel in the Port of Dover on Sunday

The BF Hurricane carried multiple boatloads of people into the south coast port during a busy day for the authorities

Migrants wearing high-visibility lifejackets are seen sitting in the rear of a Border Force boat as it comes into port

Video taken from in the English Channel on Sunday shows a French coastguard vessel shadowing boats of believed to contain migrants, before those in the inflatable ribs are helped onto the BF Hurricane.

Pictures taken in the Port of Dover the same day show dozens of people believed to be migrants wearing inflatable life jackets disembarking the Border Force vessel.

READ MORE HERE:  French police arrest four men after two migrants died trying to cross the Channel on a small boat 

The arrivals bring the total number of Channel migrants to land in Britain this year up to around 28,000, a similar amount to 2021, but well below the near 44,000 seen this time last year.

Despite the deaths of two migrants last week, one person who has tried to make the crossing five times has said asylum seekers won’t be deterred by the dangers posed. 

Computer science student Hikmatan, who studied in Afghanistan, said he had been waiting a month to make the crossing and that government policies and fatalities would not change his plans.

On the first three attempts the people smugglers failed to deliver the boat, and on the fourth attempt French police confiscated the vessel.

On his last attempt, Hikmatan said he found himself crammed inside a dinghy with 86 other people – despite the boat only being designed to hold up to 55 people.

Speaking from a migrant camp in Northern France, he told BBC South East: ‘I have tried five times in a month, three times the boat hasn’t arrived, the fourth time the police tore down the boat, the fifth time the boat was for 55 people, we were in the boat with 86, but I didn’t have [a] life jacket.’

The government is still hoping to deter migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats by sending them to Rwanda, despite the Supreme Court ruling it would be unlawful.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will introduce emergency legislation confirming the east African country is ‘safe’, after a judge said there was a ‘real risk’ people could be sent back to the places they fled from.

He also confirmed that a new treaty with Rwanda – which would protect asylum seekers from being removed to their home country – is in its ‘final stages’.

The BF Hurricane is seen carrying dozens of migrants as it makes its way into the Port of Dover

The Border Force vessel is believed to have been called to seven small boats which attempted to cross the Channel on Sunday

A chart showing the number of Channel migrants to arrive in Britain this year and how it compares to previous years. It does not include the latest arrivals from Sunday

Hikmatan says government policies such as the Rwanda scheme will not deter people from trying to cross the Channel

Nearly 28,000 people have entered Britain on small boats since the start of 2023, despite regular claims of government action (file photo)

But Hikmatan says this will not deter him from trying to cross the Channel again.

He added: ‘The people don’t take any interest in these decisions, they want to cross the ocean and go to the UK. They don’t think about Rwanda.’

This comes as French authorities continue to investigate the deaths of two migrants, a man and a woman aged in their 30s, who lost their lives when their dinghy got into difficulty off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer on Wednesday.

Around 1.30pm, a small-boat carrying 60 people left from a beach between Equihen-Plage and Hardelot.

READ MORE HERE: Two migrants drown in the Channel after French police fail to stop small boat packed with 60 asylum seekers

It capsized a few hundred metres from the shore, and despite rescue efforts, two people – a man and a woman aged in their 30s – drowned.

According to French newspaper Le Monde, a further three people – including two pregnant women – were hospitalised, and a seven-year-old child was also rescued, some in a state of hypothermia.

On Saturday night French police swooped in and arrested two Iraqis and two Sudanese men on suspicion of involuntary murder, endangering lives, assistance in illegal entry and being involved in an organised crime gang.

The identity of the two dead has not yet been established and an autopsy is yet to take place.

Patrick Leleu, deputy prosecutor of the Boulogne public prosecutors office said: ‘A judicial investigation is open for assistance in illegal entry and stay in an organised gang, involuntary homicide, involuntary injuries and endangering the lives of others.

‘These people are clearly blamed for these two deaths.’

Sources say detectives analysed mobile phone call data after the tragedy to establish links with the organised crime gang and find those responsible.

One said: ‘A painstaking investigation will now continue to see if more people are responsible and how the boat was transported.

‘No stone will be left unturned. There are likely to be more people involved.

‘Work is also ongoing to establish the identities of the victims in the case.’

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