Small boat migrants charged after crossing Channel as over 1,100 make journey during heatwave

Migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats over the bank holiday weekend have been charged with illegal immigration offences.

More than 1,000 people have made the journey from France in recent days during the good weather and calm conditions at sea.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Wednesday that six men had been prosecuted with immigration offences after making the perilous trip.

Turkish national Osman Yesil, 47, and Algerian Tawfiq Boubazine, 33, who arrived in Britain on May 22, admitted coming in to the UK without entry clearance and were each sentenced to eight months in prison.

Elidjon Cota, 29, an Albanian national who arrived on May 23 pleaded guilty to the same offence three days after his arrival and was also jailed for eight months.

Three other men were charged with endangering the lives of others during a sea crossing and remanded in custody.

Sudanese nationals Kueth Gatkuoth, 31, and Jiechlat Buom, 25, who arrived in a small boat with 78 others on May 23 appeared in court on May 26.

A plea hearing has been scheduled for June 29 at Canterbury Crown Court.

Mehdi Najafi, 42, an Iranian national arrived in a small boat with 21 others on May 22 is due to next appear at the same court on June 22.

Sarah Dineley, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Many of these cases were charged within hours over this bank holiday weekend which meant defendants were brought before a court within days of arriving in the UK.

“We charged the pilots of these boats with endangering the lives of others. These boats are overcrowded and people’s lives are being put at risk in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

“The CPS continues to work with international partners to disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups, who are ultimately responsible for small boat crossings.

“We will use the laws available to us to prosecute where there is sufficient evidence, and it is in the public interest to do so.”

Some 1,128 migrants have made the small boat journey from France over the last five days.

It comes following a fortnight without any crossings, with the Home Office saying it was “bearing down” on small boat crossings and had stopped more than 42,000 migrants trying to cross the Channel since the 2024 election.

A Home Office spokesman added: "We have removed or deported almost 60,000 people who were here illegally and are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country.”