As many as 25 migrants intercepted in English Channel

There has been a surge in people attempting to cross to the UK in small boats

 A cargo ship sails along the Channel past the White Cliffs of Dover (background) seen from the Tardinghen beach near the northern French port city of Calais on April 4, 2019. 
 Since the end of October 2018, the French and British authorities have been facing an upsurge in illegal Channel crossings from France to Britain by migrants and refugees. A plan by the French government implemented at the start of the year which stepped-up police patrols around ports, as well as surveillance of beaches where dinghies have been launched from, has seen a drop in crossing attempts according to the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais on April 4, 2019.  / AFP / DENIS CHARLET
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As many as 25 suspected migrants, including eight children, have been rescued off the coast of Dover in Kent, UK.

According to fisherman David Catt, who witnessed the incident on Sunday, “some of them couldn't have been more than two years old”.

"It's a nice sunny day and conditions are calm, so it would have been a good time to make the crossing. But it's still very cold out there and the poor children were soaked through and so cold," he told Sky News.

The migrants were in two boats. It is currently unclear what country they are from.

"After the lifeboat picked them up we were heading back out to go fishing and we saw another small vessel with about 10 to 12 men in it heading in the direction of Folkestone."

It comes only a day after 16 people were stopped in the English Channel trying to cross to the UK. Reports said they were believed to be from Iran or Iraq.

Last year home secretary Sajid Javid declared that the rising numbers of migrants trying to cross the English Channel was a “major incident”.

Authorities regularly intercept small, often inflatable boats bound for the UK.

Charlie Elphicke, MP for Dover, said British and French authorities ”need urgently to get a grip on the situation”.