French fishing boats and two coastguard helicopters have joined the Border Force, lifeboats, and a Royal Navy patrol vessel in the operation off the coast of Kent near Dungeness. The UK coastguard received emergency calls reporting a migrant boat in distress shortly before 3 a.m. Several passengers were airlifted from the boat. Their current conditions are unknown. The Kent, Sussex, and Surrey air ambulances, as well as two land ambulances, arrive at Dover Harbour. The rescue comes less than a day after the Prime Minister announced a slew of new initiatives aimed at stemming the illegal flow of migrant boats and reducing the 150,000-case asylum backlog. The plans include establishing a Small Boats Operational Command comprised of Border Force, the Military, and the National Crime Agency. It is hoped that the new Command structure will help provide a more coordinated approach to addressing the crisis, which has seen approximately 45,000 people arrive by small boat this year. The Prime Minister admits that spending £5.5 million per day on hotels for asylum seekers is “enough. Authorities in the United Kingdom and France have long warned of the dangers of attempting to cross the Channel in flimsy inflatables, particularly during the winter, when conditions are far more unpredictable. Last November, 27 people died when their small boat capsized in the middle of the Channel.