The Home Secretary has ordered an urgent review after a second small boat in as many days reached the Kent coast without being intercepted.
Border Security Command officers and Kent Police responded after a dinghy arrived at Samphire Hoe, near Dover, on Tuesday afternoon.
A total of 21 people were detained following what the Home Office described as a swift enforcement response.
Officials have not confirmed whether searches are continuing for any other people believed to have been aboard the vessel.
The incident came just one day after another small boat reached The Warren in Folkestone undetected — the first officially recorded unescorted landing on the UK coast for more than a year.
People crossing the Channel in small boats are normally intercepted and brought ashore by Border Force or RNLI vessels.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has instructed Border Security Command to carry out an urgent review into the two landings.
A government spokesperson said: “Border Security Command officers alongside Kent Police have been responding to an incident in Dover.
“Twenty-one individuals have already been detained under a swift enforcement response.
“There is a thorough investigation ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
The latest landing coincided with the discovery of a man’s body on a beach in northern France.
French authorities said the body, believed to be that of a young migrant, was found at Neufchâtel-Hardelot on Wednesday morning.
The Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation, including enquiries into whether the death was connected to an attempted Channel crossing.
Around 17,480 people have reached the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats so far this year. The total is reported to be 46% lower than at the same point in 2025.
