Refugees picked-up by the Dungeness Lifeboat come ashore

Increasing numbers of refugees are being trafficked across the Chanel from France during 2021. Their boats are often inadequate and dangerous and they are picked-up at sea by UK lifeboats. This is recording of the end of one such rescue. At around 1min40 the life boat engine is heard speeding towards the shore to rocket out of the water onto the shingle bank with an intense hiss of stones. It is brief and spectacular. From there it is hauled up by machines. The refugees, including several children, are met by police and immigration officials and walk up the beach to the lifeboat station. A pregnant woman is carried on a stretcher. Recently lifeboat men have received huge abuse on social media for this humanitarian work, although others have increased their donations to the lifeboat service.