Iranian migrants rescued while crossing English Channel in small dinghy
LONDON — Two Iranian men were rescued by lifeboat volunteers off the Kent coast on Thursday after they attempted to cross the English Channel in a small dinghy.
The men were spotted by a local ferry at 3:30 a.m. shortly after they made an emergency call to the police from a mobile phone.
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The Kent Coastguard coordinated the search and rescue operation to find the men, who were then located one mile off the coast, Kent Police told Mashable.
They were pulled from the sea and found to be "extremely cold." They were given first aid and brought to shore by on a Royal National Lifeboat Institution boat from Dover, where they were turned over to police.
A lifeboat volunteer told The Guardian that the two men, in their 40s and 50s, were rescued after the captain of the ferry spotted a light coming from the migrant's phone gleaming through the fog.
The Home Office told Mashable: "Where someone is found to have no right to remain in the UK, we will take action to remove them."
They added, "The security of our border is an absolute priority and we take all necessary steps to prevent migrants from entering the UK illegally."
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