K’s story
“I decided to make the journey to the UK so I could work and send some money back home. I’ve worked in multiple places in Europe and thought I had a good general understanding of what it would be like.
I knew I wouldn’t be legally allowed to stay in the UK, and I could be returned home, but I was willing to take that chance to make some money.
Agents told us that the crossing from France to the UK with the small boats will be safe and easy. The experience was very different. I arrived in Calais and slept at the camp for about 5 days which was very busy, filled mostly with Albanians and people from the Middle East.”
I was assigned to a group consisting of 32 other men, and our task was to carry a small boat. We had to walk for about an hour while holding the boat, with the ropes striking our faces and legs.
“The camp organisers appeared to be Kurdish, and they were armed with rifles, preventing us from complaining or arguing. We set up the boat on the shore and walked about 500m in-sea and then we all jumped on. We spent about five hours in the boat before we reached the UK.
As we neared UK shores, we were intercepted by police and were taken to a nearby camp where they recorded our basic information without asking why we decided to come to the UK.
Never again would I risk my life in a small boat, even if you bribed me with gold.”
