Channel migrants: Border Force find boats carrying 28 people

Leon Neal Border Force patrol boat on previous missionLeon Neal
A Border Force coastal patrol vessel was deployed

Twenty-eight migrants have been found attempting to cross the Channel in two small boats.

One boat was carrying twenty people, with eight in the second vessel.

All those on board, who told authorities they were from Iraq and Iran, were taken to Dover and passed to immigration officers, the Home Office said.

More than 970 people, including at least 80 children, have crossed the Channel in small boats this year.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi man drowned while attempting to swim to the UK, Belgian authorities have said.

A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.