THIS is the moment migrants scramble onto a Kent beach today amid a wave of more than 270 people descending onto Britain in just a week.
The group of at least 54 migrants were detected at first light this morning – now being quizzed by Border Force in Dover.
It is understood they arrived in a number of small boats.
Several search and rescue operations have been taking place along the Kent Coast.
A Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: "HM Coastguard has been co-ordinating a search and rescue response to a number of incidents on the Kent coast, working with Border Force, Kent Police and other partners."
Today's arrivals are just the latest amid the migrant crisis, which has seen more than 220 people, including at least 40 children, intercepted by UK and French authorities between Thursday last week and yesterday.
And it's barely a day after Home Secretary Priti Patel said she and her French counterpart are working to clamp down on migrants who try to make the perilous trip across the Channel.
A staggering 1,451 migrants are thought to have crossed the Channel so far this year – almost three times the number throughout the whole of 2018 – despite millions being spent on security measures to prevent crossings.
Of that figure, more than 200 have made it from France to Britain in August alone. Most of the migrants claim to be either Iran or Iraq nationals.
Only a handful of them – 65 – have been deported back overseas since January.
Two migrants are known to have died trying to cross the Channel in August, with a 48-year-old Iraqi man found dead after trying to swim over.
Worryingly, migrants are threatening to jump into the Channel to avoid being towed back to France.
Border Force sources claim immigrants are so desperate to reach Britain they are willing to risk their lives instead of being “rescued” by French boats.
The UK has already sent officers from Immigration Enforcement and the National Crime Agency to a centre in Calais to try and tackle the gangs running the cross-Channel trafficking.
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