Nearly 40 migrants have been detained by Border Force after crossing the English Channel.
In the first incident on Saturday, 20 people were found in the Dungeness area of Kent after a small boat had arrived nearby.
A Home Office spokesman said that the individuals, who presented themselves as Iranian and Iraqi nationals, were medically assessed before being transferred to immigration officials for interview.
On the same day, a Border Force cutter intercepted another small boat carrying 11 men, who said they were from the same two countries, and brought the migrants to Dover to be transferred to immigration officials for interview.
Another three adults and three children, also Iranian and Iraqi, were found by police in Sussex having also arrived by small boat.
The adults have been transferred to immigration officials while the children are in the care of social services.
A Home Office spokesman said: "Anyone crossing the Channel in a small boat is taking a huge risk with their life and the lives of their children.
"Since December, two cutters have returned to UK waters from overseas operations, we have agreed a joint action plan with France and increased activity out of the Joint Coordination and Information Centre in Calais.
"It is an established principle that those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and since January more than 50 people who arrived illegally in the UK on small boats have been returned to Europe."
