https://arab.news/c9hnt
- Cut prices follow sinkage of dinghy on Wednesday that claimed the lives of four people
- British MP criticized 拢63 million deal with France to combat crisis as falling 鈥榮hort of what is needed鈥�
LONDON: People smugglers have slashed prices of Channel crossings to as little as 拢435 ($528) by cramming migrants on boats, the Mirror reported on Sunday
Marketed as discounted Christmas deals, Kurdish smugglers are allegedly charging the cheapest fares ever for illegally entering the UK by boat in Callais.
鈥淭he smugglers are taking what they can to fill boats and the lower the price, the more they try to get on board. We know they鈥檙e overcrowded.鈥� Lucy Halliday, operations coordinator at the charity Care4Calais, told the Mirror.
This follows the death of four people when their small dinghy sank in the icy waters on Wednesday.
One Afghan man told the Sunday People he attempted to board the boat, but traffickers told him it was full.
鈥淲e had walked 10 hours to the beach, but there were already too many people on board. There were many Afghans and lots of women and children. It was a mixed group,鈥� he said.
After meeting an Afghan middleman in a refugee camp, the 27-year-old doctor said he agreed to pay 拢2,000 to get him to the UK. He was put in 颅contact with Kurdish smugglers via WhatsApp.
Having already paid other smugglers 拢7,000 to get him from Afghanistan to Calais, he said he is waiting to board the next available boat to the UK, where he aspires to work for the NHS.
An investigation has been launched into Wednesday鈥檚 tragedy, a UK government spokesperson said in a statement.
Jalal Siddiq, who had fled war in Sudan in 2016, told the Mirror that he has spent the last few months in a refugee camp in Calais that used to house a branch of the Lidl supermarket.
鈥淚 applied to stay as an asylum seeker in France, but they didn鈥檛 accept me. Now I want to go to England to study. The French say I was fingerprinted in Italy, so I have to go back there and seek asylum,鈥� Siddiq said.
鈥淚 had to leave my wife in Sudan as the road here is difficult, but I hope to be reunited with her in England,鈥� the 24-year-old added.
He told the Mirror that after traveling to Libya, he paid around 拢340 to board a crowded boat to an island in southern Italy. But he, like many African refugees stuck in camps for months, cannot afford a boat to the UK and tries to jump on lorries at 4 a.m. every day.
鈥淭he boats are too expensive, so it鈥檚 my only option,鈥� Siddiq told the Mirror.
Critics have panned the UK鈥檚 拢63 million deal with France to boost coastal patrols announced in November, with the Conservative MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke saying it 鈥渇alls short of what is needed.鈥�
鈥淭he British Government has blood on its hands,鈥� Halliday said.
Police in France have also come under fire for failing to stop the crossings.
Since 2018, total spending to combat the crisis has reached 拢175 million, the Mirror reported. Meanwhile, over 44,711 people have crossed the Channel this year in small boats.