Protesters scuffle with police as migrants brought ashore on south coast
BBC News 2026-10-05 04:23:08
Context: A group of around 150 anti-migrant demonstrators gathered in Gosport, Hampshire, on the south coast of England, to protest against the arrival of migrants who had crossed the English Channel in a small boat. The migrants, totaling 149, were brought ashore by the RNLI and taken to a processing center in Kent. The protest, which lasted into the early hours of Monday morning, was marked by scuffles with police, flares, and a police cordon.
Key Facts
- 149 migrants were picked up in a mid-Channel rescue operation by the RNLI alongside a French vessel and taken to a processing center in Kent.
- The migrants' small boat appeared to have set off from near Utah Beach in Normandy on Sunday morning, according to ship tracking data.
- 19,451 people are recorded as having crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, which is 43% lower than this time last year and 23% below the figure at this stage in 2024.
- The protest in Gosport, which involved around 150 demonstrators, was the second known landing of large numbers of migrants this far west along the south coast in recent years.