I just do the paperwork, but it’s very lucrative, human smuggler braggart

A prolific human trafficker claimed he was just doing the ‘paperwork’ as he bragged about the forgery and fraud used to Vietnamese migrants illegally reach Europe and Great Britain.

This year, more Vietnamese crossed the Channel in small boats than any other nationality.

The people smuggler, who now lives in Britain, told of his work forging documents such as bank statements and pay slips for Vietnamese applying for visas to come to Europe.

Once in the EU, many head to the French coast Vietnamese gangs arrange the crossings with small boats to Great Britain.

He told the BBC: “It is a very lucrative business. If you have a good reputation, customers will come to you, no coercion, no violence.”

When asked how he justifies his work as an illegal migrant himself, who breaks the law by helping more migrants cross the border, he said: “I just do paperwork. I help people travel. I don’t force them to follow certain routes.”

The man denied smuggling people into Britain to work for criminal gangs.

Pledge for safe passage

As part of the investigation, the BBC contacted a people smuggler in northern France who offered an undercover reporter a place on a small boat for £2,600.

The smuggler is said to have promised the reporter safe passage, despite more than 50 people having drowned trying to cross the Channel this year.

The number of Channel migrants arriving in Britain this year has increased the total for 2023 has already been exceeded.

The milestone was passed when the Defender, a Border Force vessel, arrived at Dover port on Friday with 55 migrants, taking the number of illegal migrants to 29,451.

That is comparable to the 29,437 who made the journey from France last year.

Maritime experts predicted that the final figure for this year could be between 35,000 and 40,000, depending on weather conditions. In 2022, a record number of 45,774 people crossed.

More and more migrants were crammed into rubber boats

Since Labor came to power, 15,912 people have crossed the Channel in small boats.

Labor has scrapped Rishi Sunak’s deportation program in Rwanda and used the money to help set up a new Border Security Command, which will try to tackle people smuggling gangs.

More officers are being recruited from the National Crime Agency, Border Force and MI5 to attack the gangs.

Earlier this week, three migrants died when a rubber boat carrying almost 50 people sank off the coast of Calais. About 56 migrants have died trying to cross the Channel so far this year, compared to 12 last year.

Smugglers are increasingly cramming migrants into rubber boats as supplies of boats and equipment have dwindled due to a crackdown by border agencies and law enforcement.

The average number of migrants per boat is now around 60 – triple what it was when rubber boats started crossing in 2018.

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