On board the EU spy planes helping to stem the tide of Channel migrants

Heat-monitoring aerial surveillance enables border patrols to keep refugees at bay whilst tackling the smugglers

Officers look at control screens aboard the Bombardier 604 jet
Officers monitor the situation on the ground or seas below from control screens aboard the Bombardier 604 jet Credit: Michel Spingler/AP

Even before daybreak, some 200 migrants were spied from 3,000 feet above the English Channel.

With only moonlight to see by, the would-be asylum seekers were attempting to start the treacherous journey in makeshift boats to England.

Under the cover of darkness, they dodged detection by the French authorities, arriving on the Calais coast with inflatable rafts, foot pumps and even a kayak.

But many were spotted by a new aerial surveillance mission launched by Frontex, the EU’s border and coastguard, after the death of at least 27 migrants last month when their makeshift boat capsized in the Channel.

After border control negotiations broke down with the UK, Europe decided to begin sending spy planes along the coast to stem the flow of people onto the icy December waters.

A flight along the French and Belgian coast on Thursday observed at least part of what is believed to be the highest number of migrants crossing the Channel since the tragedy.

“This has been the busiest morning so far,” First Lieutenant Tim Wezelenburg, a Danish airman, told The Telegraph after piloting the five-and-a-half hour operation.

At least three boats, including the one-man canoe, made it into the icy cold waters.

Later, dinghies and a kayak, carrying 60 migrants, were brought ashore in England in the early hours of Thursday morning after a coastguard helicopter and RNLI lifeboat were scrambled to rescue an injured woman.

A group of people brought ashore from small boats in the Channel wait at Dungeness Lifeboat Station
A group of people brought ashore from small boats in the Channel wait at Dungeness Lifeboat Station Credit: Gareth Fuller/PA

Seven more boats were stopped from entering the water thanks to the team on board the Frontex spy plane, a specially modified Bombardier Challenger 604 jet supplied by the Danish Air Force, which tipped-off French police on the ground.

The Bombardier CL Challenger 600 returns from its dawn mission
The Bombardier Challenger 604 returns from its dawn mission

“On the water we saw really, really small boats, we're talking people in a kayak, trying to cross the Channel without life jackets,” First Lieutenant Wezelenburg said.

“On the beach, we could see that people were hiding while pumping up a bigger life raft. We were able to coordinate with local police to get them.”

One witness said the kayak, with three migrants on board, had been at sea for nine hours before a rescue alert was sent out.

In a dramatic operation, a paramedic was winched onto a lifeboat from the helicopter to treat a woman who was said to have spinal injuries and a man with hand injuries after the pair had been rescued by an RNLI vessel.

There had been concerns that the injured woman might need to be airlifted to hospital but coastguard officials said the paramedic had assessed she could be treated on board.

She was later seen walking up a gangway after being brought ashore at Dover. Among the 60 migrants who were rescued overnight were a baby and child aged six or seven.

Paramedics return from the rescue operation
Paramedics return from the rescue operation Credit: UkNewsinPictures

Forty more migrants landed on the beach at Dungeness, Kent at 1.30pm after being brought to shore on a RNLI lifeboat. The group, mainly consisting of men but also including a handful of women and children, walked up the shingle, below, escorted by Immigration Enforcement.

Migrants arrive at Dungeness

On Wednesday, 36 migrants crossed the Channel in a single boat, the first crossing after a week of bad weather. The group of men were brought into the harbour at the Port of Dover in Kent on board the Border Force vessel Hurricane.

They were the first to make the crossing since December 5 due to bad weather conditions in the Channel. 

More than 26,000 migrants have so far crossed the Channel to reach the UK this year, more than triple the numbers in 2020.

Aerial surveillance over the Channel has become a favoured operation by both the UK and EU to help monitor migrant crossings.

In a separate operation on Thursday morning, a coastguard aircraft also circled the 21-mile straight, but did not communicate with the Frontex-led mission.

The Danish aircraft's crew were buoyed after they were able to snare what they believe is their first smuggler.

The alleged criminal was spotted dropping off a boat on a beach near Calais and – using high-tech radars and heat cameras – was tracked back to a nearby apartment, allowing a French police officer, who travels on the plane, to tip off colleagues.

“We were even able to guide patrol cars on the highway passing the perpetrator,” said First Lieutenant Wezelenburg.

The spy plane, fitted with cutting-edge radar and high-definition cameras, has also been able to give French authorities a better understanding of crossing attempts.

Close-up of the Frontex camera systems, on the underside of the jet itself
The EU's Frontex aircraft is equipped with cutting-edge radar and high-definition cameras Credit: Michel Spingler/AP

By identifying a pattern in how camps spring up on the French coast, border guards are more likely to spot potential short-term bases being used by migrants soon to attempt the crossing.

First Lieutenant Wezelenburg added: “We're getting to the point where we can see the pattern and very quickly see if a camp is interesting or not. We've built a whole target pack of whether a camp is interesting or not.”

Tents near the dunes on the French side of the Channel. The encampments can be spotted from the air by the Frontex plane
Tents near the dunes on the French side of the Channel. The encampments can be spotted from the air by the Frontex plane

While the mission's official aim is to “prevent another loss of life” in the Channel, Frontex is under pressure to help the French clamp down on people smuggling operations in Europe.

At a summit of European leaders in Brussels on Thursday, the Netherlands and Belgium raised concerns over gangs enticing migrants to Calais. Their asylum facilities are under significant pressure because of so-called “secondary movements" by people travelling to the French coast.

A senior EU diplomat told The Telegraph: “There are the recipients of secondary migration – mostly Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. There is a particular problem in Calais.”

Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, told allies that the influx of migrants meant asylum infrastructure is reaching “the limits of what it can do to take care of all those people coming in”.

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has told colleagues he will use his tenure of the EU's rotating presidency, to overhaul the bloc's migration policy in order to tackle the Calais crisis.

“Criminal networks and smuggling have been an issue here since 2015. That’s not something new but we've continuously seen new forms of smuggling by these criminal networks, so we have to try and be ahead of the curve,” the diplomat added.

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