Up to 120 migrants have been brought ashore in Gosport after crossing the English Channel from Normandy, as around 100 protesters gathered near Haslar Marina.
The group arrived on Sunday evening aboard two RNLI lifeboats after the small boat they had been travelling in reached UK waters off Hampshire.
The exact number of people involved has not yet been officially confirmed, although French media reports cited by national newspapers put the figure as high as 120.
Crowds gathered near Haslar Marina as the lifeboats entered Portsmouth Harbour, with protesters heard chanting “send them back” as the vessels approached.
Migrants taken to Fort Blockhouse
Those brought ashore were being taken to Fort Blockhouse in Gosport, with coaches expected to transfer them onwards to the migrant processing centre at Manston in Kent.
Police had been preparing for the arrival throughout Sunday after reports emerged that a small boat had departed the Normandy coast and was heading across the Channel.
Haslar Bridge was closed as part of the operation, with a significant police presence deployed around the marina and Fort Blockhouse.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said officers had been sent to Gosport to support partner agencies in the event of an emergency at sea and to facilitate peaceful protest.
Additional public-order powers were introduced, including a dispersal order and restrictions concerning face coverings during protest activity.
Ambulance crews were also deployed as a precaution.
Protesters surround police vehicles
Tensions increased as the boats arrived, with demonstrators surrounding police vehicles and chanting “shame on you” and “deport the lot”.
Police maintained a cordon while the operation to bring those aboard the vessels ashore continued.
Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage had earlier called on the Home Secretary to have any vessel intercepted in the Channel taken directly to Dover rather than Gosport.
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.”
The Home Office 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.”
The crossing is reported to be the third departure from the Normandy area in around a month, an unusual route compared with the more frequent departures from northern France.
The provisional number of people recorded crossing the Channel in small boats so far this year stands at 19,451, according to figures cited by officials.
