Around 140 migrants have been moved out of Portsmouth under a major police escort after hundreds of protesters blocked roads and clashed with officers following an unusually long small-boat crossing from France.
The boat was intercepted in the English Channel on Sunday, September 6, after apparently travelling from the Jobourg area of Normandy, significantly further west than the routes normally associated with crossings towards Kent.
Two RNLI lifeboats were involved in bringing those on board to Portsmouth, where a major emergency response was launched around Eastney Marina and Eastney Ferry Landing.
Hundreds of protesters subsequently descended on the area and attempted to prevent coaches carrying the migrants from leaving.
The stand-off continued for hours into Monday morning, with public-order officers carrying riot shields forming lines around the vehicles.
Police eventually dispersed the remaining demonstrators after imposing further restrictions, allowing three coaches to leave shortly after 4am with a large police escort.
The migrants were being transported out of Hampshire for processing, with the Home Office intending to take them to the Manston processing centre in Kent.
Hampshire Police had earlier imposed a dispersal order and warned that anyone refusing a direction to leave could be arrested.
The force said: “This evening, we have been working alongside and assisting our partners from Border Force, Maritime & Coastguard Agency and Portsmouth City Council at Eastney Marina following the arrival of a boat crossing the Channel.
“We have officers in the area to ensure the prevention of any disorder. We ask that people please avoid the area.
“A dispersal order is in place until tomorrow evening. Anyone who refuses to comply with the direction to leave the area is liable for arrest.”
Police added that Border Force had advised them those brought ashore would be “transported outside of Hampshire for processing in the normal way after they have been safely disembarked”.
Footage from the scene showed confrontations between police and demonstrators, including protesters entering the water near the marina.
Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, was among those leading the demonstration and livestreamed events from the scene.
At one stage, Thomas was filmed in the water telling officers: “If you put them back on the boats and take them back to France, we will get out of the water.”
Protesters also positioned themselves on roads leading from the marina in an attempt to prevent coaches from leaving.
Police reinforcements were eventually brought into Portsmouth from other forces as authorities attempted to regain control.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones said officers from forces across the country, including the Metropolitan Police, had been drafted in.
She said: “Last night we had mutual aid, public order police officers sent from police forces across the country including the Metropolitan Police Service.
“We also had a number of our own police officers, obviously, from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary trying to take back control of the roads, forming a line and holding a few hundred protesters back.”
Jones said many of those attending had been peaceful but warned the incident placed significant pressure on emergency services.
“Largely they were peaceful, they were making their point that they don’t want Portsmouth to become a destination,” she said.
She also raised concerns about the significance of the boat arriving so far west of the traditional Channel route.
Most small boats carrying migrants towards Britain have historically attempted to reach Kent after departing beaches around northern France.
Sunday’s vessel is reported to have travelled from Normandy before reaching waters off Hampshire, making the journey considerably longer than the more familiar route across the Strait of Dover.
Jones warned that a change in tactics by people-smuggling networks could create major challenges for authorities along the south coast.
“We have hundreds of miles of coastline across southern England, and if Dover is no longer the destination of choice, and instead there is going to be a spread across southern England, this is a significant issue for the Government,” she said.
“My concern now, as a police and crime commissioner, is that we don’t have this repeated.”
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said multiple resources had been sent in response to reports of the vessel.
A spokesperson said HM Coastguard deployed lifeboats, a Coastguard helicopter, a Coastguard aeroplane and Coastguard Rescue Teams.
Border Force, the Border Security Command, Hampshire Police and South Central Ambulance Service were also sent to the incident.
The Portsmouth protest came just a day after hundreds of anti-immigration demonstrators blocked roads around the Port of Dover.
That demonstration caused significant disruption despite no small-boat arrivals being recorded there that day.
The Government condemned the disorder in Portsmouth.
A spokesperson said: “We condemn the intimidating and thuggish behaviour we are seeing tonight.
“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder.
“We thank the emergency services who are working to safely manage this situation.”
Treasury Chief Secretary Emma Reynolds later repeated the criticism, describing the scenes as “thuggish and intimidating behaviour”.
She told LBC: “This is not peaceful protest.
“Obviously, as a politician, I absolutely support people’s right to peaceful protest. But this crosses a line and I just want to take the opportunity to thank the police and other emergency services who have brought this under control.
“We do not want to see this kind of behaviour anywhere, frankly.”
Reynolds acknowledged there were “legitimate concerns about immigration” and said smuggling gangs appeared to be adapting their operations.
She said gangs were moving towards larger boats and appeared to be shifting activity further west along the French coastline.
Conservative Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson also called the crossing “extremely concerning”.
He said: “We don’t know if this migrant boat was headed for the Isle of Wight but I’ll be contacting the Home Office first thing.
“We need to know exactly what happened and if new routes are being used for mega-dinghies by people smugglers.”
The Home Office said the Government was working with French authorities to prevent crossings and had seized boats and engines used by smuggling networks.
A spokesman said: “This Government is bearing down on dangerous small boat crossings and restoring control at our border.”
The department said joint operations had prevented more than 48,000 attempted crossings and resulted in the seizure of 1,100 boats and engines since the election.
It added: “But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40 per cent more boots on the ground on French beaches.”
By shortly after 4am, police had dispersed the remaining Portsmouth protesters and the coaches were able to leave the marina.
The immediate stand-off has now ended, but authorities face questions over whether the unusually far-west crossing represents a change in tactics by organised smuggling gangs and whether similar journeys towards other parts of England’s southern coastline could follow.