The head of the RNLI has defended lifeboat crews for helping during the migrant crisis, saying “decent people” deem it “humanitarian work of the highest order”.Mark Dowie, RNLI chief executive, took the unusual step of commenting on the sea charity’s role in the English Channel after volunteers reported being heckled for helping bring migrants to safety.
It comes as record numbers of migrants try to cross the potentially treacherous waterway to get to the UK, despite vows from the Home Office to make the route from mainland Europe “unviable”.
