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On Sunday, an attacker threw Molotov cocktails at an immigration office that handles asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats, and was later found dead.
The attack comes as the government tries to curb record arrivals.
Two people were injured when “two or three incendiary devices” were thrown into a centre for migrants in the Channel port town of Dover in southern England on Sunday morning, Kent police said.
The BBC quoted the Home Office as saying the attack took place at the Western Jet Foil Border Force Centre in the main Channel port town, which is used to process asylum seekers.
Police said the suspect had been “identified and was quickly located at a nearby gas station and confirmed dead”.
They did not say how the person died, but Dover Conservative MP Natalie Elphick told LBC radio it was believed “the individual committed suicide”.
Police also said two people had “reported minor injuries in the house”.
The attackers arrived at the scene in a car, they said, adding that another “equipment was found in the car and confirmed to be safe”.
Local news site Kent Live posted pictures of police and fire services at the scene near the Port of Dover, with the BBC reporting that the fire had been put out.
‘Tensions are running high’
Interior Secretary Suella Braverman tweeted that there had been a “sad incident” and said she was “receiving regular updates on the situation”.
“My thoughts are with those affected, the tireless Home Office staff and the police,” she added.
Elphick tweeted: “I am deeply shocked by what happened in Dover today…My thoughts are with everyone involved.”
Local councillors said the attack took place at a centre where people initially arrived in small boats before heading to Manston, another processing centre in Kent.
The facility remains open, but police said about 700 migrants were moved to Manston during the initial stages of the investigation.
“We don’t yet know the motivations of the individuals involved,” Elphick told LBC.
“I think it’s fair to say that tensions have been high for some time,” she added. She cited a case in which migrants arriving by boat entered the homes of residents.
record numbers
Government figures show 990 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday, bringing this year’s record total to nearly 40,000.
The issue poses serious political conundrums for the British government, which has pledged to tighten border controls after it leaves the European Union.
Braverman supports a plan to send migrants who crossed the strait illegally to Rwanda, but currently faces legal hurdles.
Elphick wrote an article in the Daily Mail on Sunday with the headline: “When will the left admit it’s not a refugee crisis…but just illegal immigration”.
In their first phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation to “stop the deadly journey of organised criminals across the strait” “.
Sunak called for the strait route to be “not feasible” for human traffickers.
On Sunday, French maritime officials said they had rescued 224 migrants trying to cross the dangerous strait on makeshift boats to bring them back to France this weekend alone.
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