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"I took a loan to pay for the trip", the touching confession of the Albanian immigrant for the BBC: I was deported, I cried all the way

2022-11-21 09:10:41Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

"I took a loan to pay for the trip", the touching confession of the

The journey itself has left Artan thousands of pounds in debt and he regrets it. He now believes that anyone else considering such a trip would be better off not going at all.

"I did not ask for asylum, I told them that I am an economic immigrant", said Artani. "They gave us plastic bags with our things, they told me tomorrow morning you will arrive in Tirana".

Unlike many other Albanians who have entered the UK illegally on small boats, he was quickly deported to Albania on a flight.

He had paid Kurdish smugglers around £3,500 ($4,169) for the perilous journey across the English Channel, borrowing the money from friends and family.

We met Artan in an industrial suburb of the Albanian capital. Artan is not his real name as his identity needs protection for fear of reprisals. In his early 30s, he had an attractive figure.

"The traffickers were armed with knives and pistols. They constantly threatened us, telling us not to film anything or smoke cigarettes as the light would 'spy' on us.

Despite the threat, he managed to record some footage of his trip across the Channel.

Leaving Albania, especially for Great Britain or Germany, is a common aspiration of many young people here. More than 12,000 Albanians have arrived in the UK on dinghies this year, the largest group of migrants to attempt to enter the country this way. On average, more than half of Albanians are granted asylum.

"The trip across the Channel was torture," Artani recalled. It was cold, stormy and very scary.

"A French police boat appeared 20 minutes into our journey. They escorted us from a distance of maybe 200 meters, just looking out, which reassured us. They stayed for three hours, maybe more. Then we crossed into Kingdom waters United and called the British police."

Artan remembers how the British authorities helped them get to the shore safely. "They told us they were coming to get us, that we shouldn't panic. They were well behaved and seemed very welcoming and kind. We jumped into the UK police boat where we got our life jackets. "

Like thousands of others who have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, he ended up at Manston reception center in Kent.

At the height of the small boat crisis in October, 4,000 people are being housed in a place with capacity for just 1,600. The numbers were so high that Home Secretary Suella Braverman controversially denounced the influx of migrants crossing the Channel as an "invasion".

Artan rejected that characterization, but did not hide why he had traveled to the UK.

"I told the woman interviewing me: "I know I entered illegally, but I didn't come for fun. I came because I want to work. I have not asked for asylum".

"I told them I am an economic migrant. My father is disabled. For 15 years he has been living on a disability pension, not enough to buy his medicine."

I told him that he knew he had arrived in the UK illegally.

"Yes, of course I did. If you enter a foreign country without proper documentation, visas, stamps, of course you are entering illegally."

Most of the Albanians we met in Albania complain that the legal routes of entry into the UK are very difficult to access.

He added: "Yes there are legal routes but I was in a hurry. I went for the fastest and cheapest way. The visa should have been cheaper but I needed help with the application and people pay more for that than the raft ride ."

One of the reasons why Artan was deported was that he was honest about his reasons for traveling to the UK. He didn't try to claim asylum, he insisted he was there to work.

He had barely noticed that he was being taken home: "They took us out, we were surrounded by the police."

"At that moment I was so upset that I can't describe it. I felt like my brain was exploding and I couldn't do anything for everyone."

Artani readily admits that he broke UK law and that's why he was deported. Apart from flying home, he is now banned from other European countries for the next three years.

He said: "I cried during the whole trip, from the moment I got on that bus and realized I was being deported, until I arrived in Albania."

The issue of dinghies has led to furious debate in the UK, with some claiming the problem has been overstated, while others believe it is a full-blown crisis.

The one thing almost everyone agrees on is that the only people who really benefit from the status quo are the smuggling gangs, who make huge profits from endangering the lives of others.

The journey itself has left Artan thousands of pounds in debt and he regrets it. He now believes that anyone else considering such a trip would be better off not going at all.

"It was unimaginable terror. I would certainly say don't choose the dinghy. If there's a legal way, with a visa, then you're leaving, but please don't ever think about leaving by dinghy."/BBC


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