UK: Afghan migrant sharing smuggling tricks on TikTok has account removed

London: A migrant who used the social media platform TikTok to share videos to encourage others to cross the English Channel had his account removed. The UK is currently trying to introduce legislation to make the online promotion of irregular entries into the UK punishable by up to five years in prison.

The man in question has accumulated hundreds of thousands of views on his videos promoting irregular migration to the UK, which, according to the tabloid The Sun, were in Pashto — one of the main languages spoken in Afghanistan.

One of the clips included a live-stream in which he answered questions about his journey to the UK from what he claimed was a British asylum hotel.

He had previously stayed in Germany and France during his journey, according to The Sun.

TikTok only removed the account after the investigation by The Sun revealed details about his activities and flagged its content as illegal.

TikTok said in a statement that it was dedicated to its “zero-tolerance approach to content promoting human smuggling.”

The individual is believed to have arrived in Britain recently — most likely less than a week ago. Since arriving in the UK, he shared at least eight videos advising others on how to get there using similar methods to those he used himself.

In various clips, the man is seen advising others to follow his steps and make the crossing over the English Channel to the UK, regardless of its dangers.

In one of his videos, he seems to have documented his journey to the UK, where he can be seen sitting in a dinghy while wearing an orange life jacket.

In another video, he gives his audience a tour of his room and the facilities at his asylum hotel, which is believed to be near Heathrow Airport just outside the British capital, London.

It is believed that the Afghan national spent a “substantial amount of time” in Germany before heading to the UK, according to The Sun.

This is further corroborated by the fact that several of his videos are focused on migration issues in Germany; in some videos, he is seen outside major landmarks in the capital Berlin.

In one of his previous videos, the man is seen advising prospective migrants not to stay in Germany, stating wrongly that they could face deportation without cause.

Germany meanwhile only deports criminals to Afghanistan, while the UK maintains a moratorium on deportations there since the violent takeover of the Taliban in 2022.

It is unclear whether the man in question has had any run-ins with law enforcement in Germany, but in one of his videos, he is seen alluding to the fact that he might not be welcome there.

“What should I do in a country that rejects me? I didn’t get acceptance, I got nothing,” he says in that video.

A Home Office spokesperson commented that new laws are in the process of being introduced as part of the government’s border security bill, which is currently being scrutinized by the House of Lords, Britains upper house of parliament, which will in future “make it easier to prosecute individuals who publish material online which promotes or offers services facilitating small boat crossings”.

“We have made clear that it is unacceptable for any individual, whether they are a member of a smuggling gang or otherwise, to promote the criminal services of people-traffickers or for social media companies to allow it,” the statement specified.

The English Channel between northern France and southern Britain is the busiest shipping routes in the world, making it one of the most difficult migratory journeys | Source: Google Maps

The English Channel between northern France and southern Britain is the busiest shipping routes in the world, making it one of the most difficult migratory journeys | Source: Google Maps

Under these new laws, people advertising irregular Channel crossings on social media and online will face up to five years in prison.

TikTok stressed that it had removed the “vast majority” of the content before reporting the individual to authorities, adding that it was assisting the National Crime Agency (NCA) “to identify and disrupt organized immigration crime online.”

According to the latest official figures by the Home Office, the number of migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats in the past year has surpassed the mark of 50,000.

Last Saturday alone, over 440 people managed to reach British shores.

When Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party came into power just over a year ago, they pledged to dismantle criminal people-smuggling gangs and significantly reduce Channel crossing numbers.

However, so far, there has been little progress to that end.

In response to the slow progress, the Prime Minister recently introduced a “one in, one out” deportation scheme in cooperation with the French government under which Britain will have to accept one asylum applicant who is currently residing in France in exchange for deporting one irregular migrant.