// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Dozens of migrants taken to Dover after more than 30 hours at sea
Protesters gathered in the Hampshire town of Gosport
Dozens of migrants who spent more than 30 hours at sea have been taken to Dover by water, the Conservative MP for Gosport has said.
It comes after an earlier report that the boat would be brought to Gosport, prompting a gathering of protesters in the Hampshire town.
The boat had left the Normandy coast on Monday morning. The French coastguard, who had shadowed the vessel, said about 60 migrants on the boat were in "precarious conditions" and refused help as they were "determined to take all risks to reach" the UK.
British rescue boats were sent to collect the migrants on Tuesday, with the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency saying they would be transferred to Border Security Command.
The French coastguard said migrants were on the boat for more than 33 hours. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) said it was tasked by HM Coastguard with assisting just after 11:00 BST on Tuesday, when the crossing had been under way for 36 hours.
The coastguard asked the RNLI to remove people from the dinghy "out of concern for their safety and their deteriorating health" before Border Force vessels arrived on the scene, the lifeboat service said.
The Home Office initially said it was becoming "increasingly likely" the migrants would be taken to the Portsmouth area and acknowledged it would be "far from ideal", in a message shared by Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport.
They said any decision to bring a vessel ashore there would only be taken "where operationally necessary and following careful consideration of all available options".
Hundreds of protesters as well as police gathered near the marina in the Hampshire town on Tuesday evening after the initial reports.