Two boats carrying up to 120 migrants dock at UK town after crossing Channel as protesters chant ‘send them back’

TWO boats carrying up to 120 migrants have docked at a UK town after crossing the English Channel – as protesters chant “send them back”. The vessels reached UK waters in Hampshire after appearing to set off from the Normandy coastline in France early on Sunday. Hundreds of furious anti-migrant protesters watched from behind a police cordon as two RNLI boats carrying an estimated 120 asylum seekers docked in Gosport at 10.15pm. The demonstrators shouted “send them back”, “you’re not welcome”, and “we don’t want you, f*** off back home” as the vessels arrived. Around 300 across all ages were contained by a riot police cordon on Haslar Road, near to the harbour. Around 20 minutes after the migrants arrived, tensions flared amongst protesters. Read more News Red flares were let off as they pushed the line of officers backwards. In scenes of chaos, a fight appeared to break out amid chants of “stop the boats” and “deport the f****** lot” as police officers stood poised with pepper spray in their hands. Cops placed nails on the road to prevent protesters from driving to the barricade after one car appeared to drive towards police at a slow speed. Toby, 26, a chef who lives just streets away, said: “I was at home having a few drinks and then I saw on Twitter that this was happening so I thought I’d come down. Most read in The Sun “I hadn’t been to the last ones. There are a lot of people that take it too far, but how can you trust the police when they’re doing this? “They’re hiding the entire process from us because they know it’s wrong. “You see all these people in France and they’ve just been let in. We’ve seen what they’re capable of. It’s affecting the whole country but Gosport is getting the worst of it.” The migrants were taken from the boats and formed a long queue before they could be processed, with some appearing to wear orange rescue clothing. They were then taken into a large building and two white coaches were seen next to the building, believed to be their transport. Dave, a construction worker who lives in the area had been shouting for the crowd to join him in pushing back the police. He said: “If we all did it, they wouldn’t be able to stop us. If it’s just me I’ll get nicked. “I’ve worked all my life, paid all this tax, for it to go to people who have never lived or worked here. “I’ve built houses that go straight to people that never worked. They are houses I couldn’t have.” Another man, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “If we were calm they would nick us. We have to be aggressive for our own protection.” Authorities had been preparing for the arrival on the south-coast after the migrants were shadowed by the French coastguard. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said it had deployed officers to Gosport to “support our partners in the event of an emergency at sea”. The force has imposed conditions under the Public Order Act as well as powers prohibiting the wearing of face coverings. On Sunday evening, Conservative MP for Gosport Caroline Dinenage called on the Home Secretary to divert any illegal vessels “directly to Dover by water”. “The Home Office proved just two weeks ago that this can be done,” she said. “Gosport is not a safe or suitable location to disembark small boats. Our transport network is extremely constrained, we have no acute hospital, and our emergency services are already under pressure.” A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Border Security Command works around the clock to monitor the Channel and protect our border. “It is vital we continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.” This is the third crossing from Normandy in the space of the last month – which has led to a series of protests and arrests. Last month, British rescue boats collected the passengers of a migrant dinghy which had spent around 30 hours at sea after setting off from Normandy. The 51 migrants, who refused help from the French coastguard, arrived in Dover after being transferred to Border Security Command boats. It was expected the migrants would be taken to Gosport, with hundreds of protesters gathering after coaches and ambulances were spotted in the area – six people were arrested by officers during the evening. The provisional total for Channel crossings this year is 19,451. This is down 43% on this time last year and 23% below the figure at this stage in 2024.