26-09-22, 07:04
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People Smuggler: I Get Clients to Sign a Waiver
People Smuggler: I Get Clients to Sign a Waiver
A people smuggler says the UK government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is no deterrent for his customers.
BBC 26 Sep 202
A van carrying 10 Albanian migrants was stopped by
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More than 30,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel already this year
Night is falling as I make my way up the creaking stairs of a safe house in an anonymous alleyway in Istanbul, Turkey. I'm here to meet a kingpin in the people-smuggling trade - it has taken months to arrange, working through a trusted intermediary.
It is the culmination of a BBC Panorama investigation into how thousands of migrants end up on the beaches of southern England claiming asylum.
The people smuggler is from the Middle East - young and softly spoken, smartly dressed in black. He has agreed to tell me about his business if we do not reveal his identity. His bodyguards discreetly keep watch outside the house.
I challenge him that smuggling people is illegal: "I know this is not legal," he says, "but for me it's about humanity - that's worth more than the law. We help people, we treat them well, we respect women - we don't disrespect or hurt anyone."
Nearly 2,000 people died in the Mediterranean Sea last year.
In April, the UK government signed a £120m deal with Rwanda to send some migrants, mostly single men, to Africa to have their asylum claims processed.
The government said the aim was to smash the business model of the people smugglers and stop record numbers of people making the dangerous English Channel crossing.
Already this year, more than 30,000 people have made the crossing in small boats, about as many as the whole of last year.
The people smuggler sends hundreds of migrants to the UK. He readily admits his trade is very profitable and says he runs it like a businessman.
"It doesn't matter if it's a whole family or an individual - each person pays the same price," he says. "A trip to Britain will cost $17,000 [about £15,000] in total."
So how can he justify putting people's lives at risk in dangerous sea crossings in flimsy boats?
"Accidents can happen. We try and scare people to dissuade them," he claims. "I say to them, 'This road is dangerous and not worth it. You could die. And I tell his mum and his dad too.'"
He shows us a form - a disclaimer he says he gets customers to sign, acknowledging the risks.
People Smugglers TRACKED BY DRONES
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