Migrants crossing: Baby rescued after nine hours at sea – man says French police are watching them leave | UK news

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RNLI has rescued a newborn baby after surviving a nine-hour trek across the canal by a group of migrants on Saturday.

Sky News has seen the newborn, named Ayan and wrapped in a blanket, handed over to a police officer on the beach in Dungeness, Kent, after making the potentially perilous journey.

Asked by Sky News if the French police had tried to stop them, a man who spoke some English said: “No, they don’t say anything.” He also said that the officers watched them leave.

Photo: Record numbers of migrants landed on the Kent coast this year

The man also translated for the baby’s mother, who said that Ayan was doing well and that she too was delighted to have arrived in Britain – willing to risk her safety and that of her child to get to England for the “best life”.

Ayyan’s lifespan is believed to range from two weeks to a month.

Despite record numbers of migrants crossing the Channel this summer, Sky News’ analysis of the past three years of full Home Office data shows that those arriving in small boats are just a small fraction of the number of migrants arriving in the UK each year.

Who seek asylum in general – are only a small part of the number of migrants who arrive in the UK each year.

Sky News correspondent Ivor Bennett said: “There was just as much exhaustion and exhilaration.

“After nine hours at sea, their treacherous journey has finally come to an end. Many of the migrants were shivering when they were taken from the lifeboat to the pebbly beach of Dungeness.

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Sky News has seen people trying to reach UK shores while French police fail to intervene.

Those who spoke said they were from Iraq and Iran, including a man who said it was his ‘dream’ to live here. Some lost coats and even shoes, and some were submerged in water.

“The most impressive photo ever – a newborn baby wrapped in a blanket. The little girl is only weeks old and yet she has gone through a journey that few can understand.

“Her mother, too tired to speak, told me her name was Ayyan. Why would she risk her child’s life to reach these shores? Because ‘England has the best life.'”

Photo: Migrants arrive at the beach in Dungeness

Sky News filmed dozens of people arriving in the UK on Saturday, as France’s interior minister announced plans to visit Calais to inspect efforts to combat illegal immigration in the channel.

The Home Office said it would raise the footage with its French counterparts – after the UK signed a £54m deal with France to increase patrols again in July.

She described the record rise in migrant crossings into the UK through the Channel this year as “unacceptable”.

Locals have expressed outrage at “how easy” it was to cross the Canal into the UK as records hit the Kent coast this year.

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