London: Four teenage Afghan boys have been arrested in the UK in connection with the alleged rape of a schoolgirl.

One, a 15-year-old, was arrested on suspicion of rape, while the other three — aged 13, 15 and 16 — were arrested on suspicion of facilitating the alleged attack on the girl, aged 15.

The incident took place at a school in the town of Dover on Feb. 6. Sources told The Times that three of the boys held the victim down and acted as lookouts while the fourth raped her. The boys, who all arrived in the UK as refugees last year, have been released on bail.

They all attended the school and are under the care of social services, having arrived in the UK as unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.

Their stated ages given to authorities on arrival were not disputed by the Home Office or local council.

It is thought nearly 50,000 people crossed the English Channel illegally in 2022 to claim asylum, and more 2,000 have already made the trip since the start of 2023 despite poor weather conditions and an accident that claimed the lives of four people in January.

Asylum-seekers claiming to be unaccompanied children currently represent around 17 percent of all arrivals crossing the Channel in small boats, with 8,700 making the journey last year. The majority come from Afghanistan.

At 6,500 in total, they also make up the second-largest proportion of people trying to reach the UK by small boat overall following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made tackling the issue of Channel migration a key pledge of his premiership.