EUROPE TURNS BLIND EYE TO LET MIGRANTS REACH UK

'It is like a joke...other countries are getting rid of migrants by just sending them to the UK'

- Michael Knowles

EUROPE is "getting rid" of migrants by sending tens of thousands to Britain, a people smuggler claims.

France and other European countries "can stop" the rush to the UK and the dangerous Channel crossings, but choose not to, the gang leader says. The trafficker, who the Daily Express met through a series of intermediaries, said migrants risk their lives to come to the UK because it is "easy" to work illegally once here. 

Iraqi Kurdish criminal Ari insists European governments are aware of the routes but are effectively turning a blind eye to trafficking.

He claims they use the migration crisis as "propaganda" for their own benefit but, after elections, "the same thing will happen".

Speaking through an interpreter, he said France "can stop" boats sailing from its shores and warned migrants have left countries such as Germany and Italy as "they didn't like it" and chose the UK instead.

Ari said: "The solution is in the hands of the UK and French authorities. Do you think the French Government is not aware of that? They can stop it. It is like a joke. All the other countries are getting rid of those people. They are sending them to the UK.

"That is the reality. The solution the UK authorities are considering, sending migrants to Rwanda, is not a solution. It costs even more to the UK Government.

"The solution is within Europe, within your country. Frankly, the UK Government is not thinking about a solution." The people smuggling network relies upon word-of-mouth, innocuous-seeming cafes, cheap motels and co-ordinated plots to avoid the searchlight of Europe's law enforcement agencies.