Haunting boat graveyard where migrants' flimsy and battered dinghies are kept after perilous Channel crossings to UK 

• Dinghies used by migrants and refugees were pictured being stored at a secure facility in Whitfield, in Dover
• Images taken on Friday show the vessels stacked on top of one another, while many of them are deflated
• It comes after 27 people died, including children, when their dinghy capsized in the Channel on Wednesday 

The flimsy and battered dinghies used to ferry migrants and refugees across the English Channel have been pictured in a haunting boat graveyard near Dover. 

The vessels lay piled on top of one another, many of them deflated, next to woodland outside a high-security government compound in Whitfield - just half an hour's drive from where they landed after making the perilous crossing from Calais in France. 

It comes after 27 people, including seven women, one of whom was pregnant, and three children, perished when their boat capsized in the Channel on Wednesday.

At least 14 others have died attempting to make the journey this year. 

The two sole survivors – an Iraqi and a Somalian – told police their poorly made dinghy was hit by a container ship, puncturing its thin rubber hull.

Five people have been arrested in France over the 27 deaths, including one man held overnight driving a German-registered vehicle packed with inflatable ribs, although there is 'no provable link' with the sinking, according to prosecutors, despite French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin insisting all were 'directly linked' to the drownings.

Images today show how the dinghies which land on English shores are being kept at a locked storage site in nearby Whitfield as pieces of evidence. 

They show rows of and rows of boats, many of them deflated, and piles of motor engines.  

A man wearing a high-vis jacket can also be seen keeping an eye on the vessels.  

A picture of the boat that carried the doomed migrants on Wednesday looked similar to those found outside the high-security compound. 

The Home Office said in July the boats are stored to use as evidence in people-smuggler prosecutions.

Those wanting to make their way to the UK are willing to pay thousands of pounds to people smugglers who can buy the vessels for a very small fraction of their takings.

Last month in Hull, Nzar Mohamad, 34, was jailed for his part in a people-smuggling plot, in which he arranged to bring 21 people to the UK. He had bought a dinghy for £6,500.

Mohamad had arrived in the UK in a lorry in 2019 and had himself paid £2,000 to a people smuggler for the journey.

Some of those living in Calais' camps described what life would be like compared with what they had left behind in Iraq, Iran and Belarus.

Ali, 23, from Iraq, said: 'We don't have a life. We want to live like you in the UK. 

'You only have one life. People are trying and they die or have a chance to get past (the Channel.)'

He said the news of Wednesday's deaths had not put him off getting into the small boats, adding: 'They had no chance to pass but maybe we do.'

Another man, who did not want to be named, said he was due to board a boat on Wednesday, and he had even gone to a boat to meet smugglers, but his attempt was stopped by police.

He said: 'There were two boats and one had already gone.'

The man was among those who said the news of Wednesday's drowning had 'scared' them, but added that they would still be attempting to make their way across the Channel.

It comes as furious Tories today warned Emmanuel Macron's 'petulance' could cost lives in the Channel after the French president lashed out at Boris Johnson and uninvited Priti Patel from a crisis summit.

Mr Macron delivered a furious rant after the PM sent him an open letter demanding action on the migrant flows, branding Mr Johnson 'not serious' during a press conference on a visit to Italy. 

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the president said the premier's 'mediocre' proposals 'don't correspond at all' with discussions the leaders had on Wednesday. 

'We are sick of double-speak,' they swiped - adding that 'you wonder whether Boris Johnson doesn't regret leaving Europe'. 

The bitter score-settling came as Storm Arwen rolls in towards the Channel - with MPs pleading for migrants not to risk more devastating tragedies by attempting to cross.  

Despite the furore No10 flatly insisted the PM had no regrets about sending the letter, saying it had been written 'in the spirit of partnership and cooperation'. 

'The public rightly want to know what we are looking at in terms of solving this problem,' a spokesman said. 

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told counterpart Priti Patel this morning that she is no longer welcome at the crisis meeting on Sunday, after UK condemnation of lax patrolling at French beaches where migrants are launching boats in a desperate bid to reach Britain. 

The Elysee Palace had already warned Mr Johnson not to 'exploit' the disaster that saw dozens of migrants drown off the French coast earlier this week for political gain, but the premier penned a letter overnight with a five-point plan for cooperation. 

Mr Macron could not contain his anger when asked about the developments. 'I'm surprised when things are not done seriously,' he seethed. 'We don't communicate between leaders via tweets or published letters, we are not whistle-blowers.'  

A spokesman for Mr Darmanin, who yesterday accused Britain of 'bad immigration management' and enticing migrants with benefits and slack labour rules, said: 'We consider Boris Johnson's public letter unacceptable and in opposition with discussions between counterparts. 

'As a consequence, Priti Patel is not invited anymore to the meeting on Sunday.' 

Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who is running for the French presidency in looming elections, also waded into the spat accusing Mr Johnson of being 'in a state of mind of confrontation on all subjects'.  

The summit with other European interior ministers will go ahead without the Home Secretary, whose aides had already travelled to Paris by Eurostar last night.

The decision sparked fury from British MPs. Tory backbencher Jacob Young tweeted: 'Ridiculous behaviour from the French government seeming to forget that two days ago 27 people died crossing the Channel. Stop the boats - as simple as that.'

Fellow Conservative Nicola Richards said: 'It's truly childish behaviour being shown by France, becoming more and more evident they don't want to stop these boats leaving France. 27 people died a matter of days ago, but they would rather to be petty than help find a solution.'