The UK interior minister Priti Patel told her fellow parliamentarians that the migrants swam across the Channel and arrived in the UK, as they consider France a racist country, Reuters reported, citing a number of media outlets.

Patel's remarks came during a conference call with colleagues after the increase in the number of people traveling from France to the UK in small inflatable boats, British media wrote.

The Mail, citing a source in the government, wrote that Patel clarified that such an opinion belonged to the migrants, and not her.

Earlier, the UK and France agreed to work together to end the travel of hundreds of migrants, including children, across the Channel from their makeshift camps in northern France.