Government says it now has “contingency plans” after 149 migrants brought ashore in Gosport
Migrants were brought ashore on Sunday
The government said it has established “contingency plans” after 149 migrants were brought ashore in Gosport on Sunday evening.
The asylum seekers arrived in Portsmouth Harbour at Fort Blockhouse at 10.20pm on two RNLI boats before being placed on coaches and taken to Kent to be processed.
The migrants had left France early on Sunday morning on a mega-dinghy before arriving in Gosport where there was a huge police presence as protesters gathered.
Haslar Bridge was closed and blocked by police, while a dispersal order was brought in for the whole town.
The government has now confirmed a “small boat” of 149 individuals had launched from Normandy, France, before it “successfully disembarked” at Gosport.
A government spokesperson said: “The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border. We have established contingency plans to make sure we can securely disembark, check and process all small boat arrivals.
“Migrants will be transported to short term holding facilities in Kent where they will be processed as normal and undergo stringent health, security and biometric checks.”
The government would not say what its contingency plans were when asked by The News or whether Gosport was now a designated location to disembark migrants of more westerly French sailings.
Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage had said on Sunday she had had no answer from the Home Office about what the plan was for the migrants, and Hampshire’s police and crime commissioner Donna Jones repeated her call - one also made by Ms Dinenage - that all migrants on boats should be taken by sea to Dover, regardless of where on the south coast they arrive.