Channel crossings: People smugglers are ‘settling in Britain, renting houses and investing profits in UK businesses’
An individual at the heart of cross-Channel people-smuggling has revealed to Sky News that most smugglers choose to settle in Britain and invest their profits here.
The man, whose identity we will not reveal, provides details on how smugglers operate, how they justify their criminality, their business model, their relationship with the French police and how smuggling could be affected by the government’s plans to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda.
In just a few days, the government is set to publish new laws aiming to stop small boats crossing the Channel, with illegal migration remaining one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s priorities.
In full:
Q&A with people smuggler
This is the first time a cross-Channel people smuggler has agreed to a face-to-face television interview. The man, who is Kurdish, spoke to Sky News in conditions of complete secrecy.
The man, who we refer to as Garmiyani, said: “Three-quarters of the smugglers are in Britain. The money that they make here [in northern France], they invest in businesses there – in Britain. They live there, life is easier.
“Regardless of their nationalities, three-quarters of the smugglers live in the UK. They are happier there. They rent houses under someone else’s name and drive cars without a licence.”
People smugglers recruit customers in the migrant camps in northern France
Garmiyani said he knew about the British government’s desire to break the business model of people smuggling and the proposal to send arrivals to Rwanda, but seemed unperturbed.
He said: “I swear even if they send people to the Amazon, people will come to Britain – it’s their wish to go to Britain.
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People smuggler speaks to Sky News
“It will decrease but not to the extent that refugees won’t come to Britain. People will still try. People will still come.”
Read more:
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Six men jailed for people-smuggling after joint operation
Record numbers crossed Channel in 2022
He said that smugglers play “hide and seek” with the French police as they try to launch boats from the beaches.
“The police watch them, and they also watch the police,” he said. “Smugglers hide and wait until the police have gone and then they do their job [launching the boats], which takes around half an hour.”
He rejected the claim that the French police were too laid back in their approach, saying “no, that does not happen…they do their job and arrest people.
“It is becoming more difficult… In the past, it was just [migrants hiding on] trucks. Now the police know from which points they send people, so they have identified the locations.”
People smugglers look for customers in the migrant camps in northern France
Garmiyani said that smugglers did not see themselves as carrying out crimes, but rather as operating a business.
He said: “We are working and making money – even helping people. Smugglers don’t see it as smuggling. They see it as another job, like working in a restaurant or a barbershop. Our job is transferring people to the other side.”
He said that migrants arriving at the camps near Calais and Dunkirk would quickly be introduced to intermediaries acting on behalf of smugglers, and would then choose which to go with.
“If there are too many migrants, prices go up. If the numbers of people are low then the prices drop. It goes from €500 to €2,500.”
He also said smugglers would charge different prices depending on the nationality of the migrant: “Albanians pay more, Pakistanis pay more.”
He claimed that some cross-Channel journeys are organised by families who club together to buy their own boat and engine, and added that many smugglers waste their profits on “alcohol, drugs and gambling”.
But he insisted that he only allowed boats to leave when the winds were light. He was scathing about others, including the people who arranged the Channel crossing in late 2021 that resulted in the death of 31 migrants.
“Some of the smugglers have no conscience,” he said. “They are mafias, not smugglers, and do it only for the money.
“They know the weather is not good but they still play with people’s lives. That night of the incident was one of those nights.
“The ones who did it – they have no heart.”
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
Read more on this story:
‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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