By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-04 10:45:53 | Updated at 2026-10-04 11:20:50
50 minutes ago
A migrant dinghy is heading in the direction of the Hampshire coast this morning after launching from a beach in western Normandy.
It is one of multiple dinghies making the crossing on Sunday, as hundreds of illegal migrants head for UK waters.
The dinghy set off from a beach near Cherbourg around 6am as part of a shift in tactics which has seen criminal gangs increasingly launching their boats around 150 miles further west than the more regular launch points around Dunkirk and Calais.
The vessel is currently heading due north, escorted by a French border patrol ship and two French lifeboats.
It is still several hours away from reaching UK waters, where British vessels will be there to pick up those on board.
It is unclear where British authorities will take the illegal immigrants once they are picked up.
There have been several anti-small boat protests around Portsmouth and elsewhere in Hampshire in recent weeks.
The protests were sparked by the arrival of a mega dinghy into the Channel south of the Isle of Wight in early September.
Criminal gangs are increasingly launching their boats around 150 miles further west than the more regular launch points around Dunkirk and Calais
GB NEWS
There were angry scenes and attempts to block buses carrying the migrants, after a controversial decision to offload them in Eastney, near Portsmouth.
An attempt to land more migrants in Hampshire in the days that followed had to be abandoned because of further protests.
Those illegal migrants were instead taken by Border Security Command vessels to Dover harbour.
Already today, more than 200 illegal immigrants have arrived in UK waters and have been taken to the Border Force processing centre at Dover harbour.
Already today, more than 200 illegal immigrants have arrived in UK waters and have been taken to the Border Force processing centre at Dover harbour
GB NEWS
Several other migrant dinghies, including the boat out of Cherbourg, are still in French waters and heading towards the UK.
Since Friday, close to 500 migrants have arrived across the Channel.
So far this year, around 19,700 illegal immigrants have made it to the UK by dinghy.
That figure is around 40 per cent lower than the number who arrived in 2025, which was an exceptionally busy 12 months of illegal arrivals, when more than 41,000 crossed to the UK by the end of that year.
