Smugglers offering to help illegal migrants claim asylum on TikTok

People smugglers advertising on TikTok are offering the services of solicitors to help illegal migrants claim asylum in £12,000 ‘deluxe’ packages aimed at those trying to cross the Channel in small boats

• Packages on offer include connecting arrivals to a lawyer who will coach them
• The gangs also provide EU passports and ID cards to those arriving in the UK

People smugglers advertising on TikTok are offering solicitors to help illegal immigrants make successful asylum claims on arrival as part of a ‘deluxe’ package.

One gang offered a £12,000 all-inclusive ‘Asylum Express’ route to the UK, a Mail investigation found.

It includes connecting new arrivals to a UK lawyer who will coach them on what to say to the police and Home Office when claiming refugee status.

The package included bus travel from France to Dover or transport from Holland to Dublin and then entry to the UK through Northern Ireland.

They also provide European passports and ID cards, either convincing fakes or genuine documents sourced to closely resemble the illegal immigrant.

The revelation comes after the Mail this week exposed how rogue immigration solicitors are making thousands of pounds by knowingly submitting false asylum claims to the Home Office.

People smugglers advertising on TikTok are offering solicitors to help illegal immigrants make successful asylum claims on arrival as part of a ‘deluxe’ package

On Tuesday, the Home Secretary Suella Braverman praised the ‘hugely important investigation’ and called on the solicitors’ watchdog to investigate

READ MORE: Lawyers charging £10,000 to make fake asylum claims: Special investigation exposes staff at immigration law firms briefing clients on how to LIE to the authorities to win the right to stay in Britain 

Staff at solicitors’ firms readily agreed to help an undercover Mail reporter posing as an economic migrant get refugee status – despite being told he had no legitimate reason to stay in the UK after arriving on a small boat. VP Lingajothy (pictured) asked for £10,000 to invent a horrific back story to use in the asylum application

Several firms across the country agreed to submit an asylum claim to the authorities for an undercover reporter, despite knowing he didn’t have a legitimate claim.

On Tuesday, the Home Secretary Suella Braverman praised the ‘hugely important investigation’ and called on the solicitors’ watchdog to investigate.

‘The alleged behaviour this paper’s reporters have uncovered is not only appalling and irresponsible, but potentially criminal,’ she said.

One gang advertise the illegal routes on TikTok and boasts it is a ‘new service’ which is ‘ideal for families and females.’

The social media post, which was written in Albanian and featured a photo of a double decker bus, said: ‘Journey from France to the UK, on a bus as a passenger with fake Romanian ID.

‘We provide the person wishing to go to the UK, with a passport, ID, and driving license. The price for one person is £12.000.

‘In France, our person will wait for you and will hand over all the documents. Then he will escort you to the bus.’

It included a UK phone number for customers to contact.

When an undercover reporter messaged on WhatsApp posing as a woman hoping to get to the UK, the gang told her to first get a ticket to France, which as an EU applicant state, Albanians are free to enter visa free and stay for 90 days.

He added: ‘The trip starts from North of France. We get you from there in a taxi and drop you at the bus.

‘To make the documents it takes us 7-10 days and we need four pictures of you and your full name and age.

‘We can start producing your ID tomorrow.

‘We run two journeys per week. On each journey, we smuggle one or two people or as many as we can successfully.

‘This is a new way to operate and not many people are aware of it. I am the first to offer it.’

The people smuggler said as they long as they passed immigration in France, there would be no further checks once they arrived in Dover.

Once safely in the UK they could apply for asylum, he said.

‘We can provide you with a solicitor. He will coach you on what to say to the police when claiming asylum and reasons why you are claiming it.

‘They [the Home Office] are only deporting people who do not register as asylum seekers.’

The gang also offer an alternate route by plane from the Netherlands to Ireland and then transport into Northern Ireland and onto the mainland, for which they use genuine travel documents.

‘I need only one photo of you. We find real Croatian passports with the photo of a person who looks like you. So you can get it without any problem.’

After sending a photo of a woman they responded a few days later with the picture of a Croatian ID card with a young woman of similar appearance.

The smuggler said: ‘This is the ID card. You will also get passport with the same details. Both are original.

‘Now send me a photo of your passport and tell me when you will get to Netherlands.’

TikTok was approached for comment last night.

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