People Smugglers Reportedly Advertise Services Openly on Facebook Amid UK Migration Crisis

In June, British Home Secretary Priti Patel urged a number of social media companies, including Facebook and YouTube, to remove posts "glamourising" dangerous migrant crossings.

People smugglers, who seek to cash in on migrant Channel crossings, are openly advertising on Facebook, a Sky News investigation has found.

The news outlet reported that "[migrant] routes into Europe and the UK are regularly highlighted" by the smugglers, with their posts featuring images of landmarks, such as Big Ben, the Union Jack, or Eiffel Tower.

Sky News referred to numerous posts where the smugglers list their phone numbers and ask potential migrants to get in touch with them privately for more information, such as costs.

One of the posts reportedly argued that customers can legally travel to the UK within three days and that they would do so in the "best, safest, and easiest way".

Sky News also quoted an unnamed "prolific" smuggler allegedly living in Iraq's Kurdish region as promoting a route from Dunkirk to the UK at "a reasonable price".

The man's purported Facebook profile touts him as a person who puts "trust before profit", with a photo at the top of the profile page showing a passport and a boarding pass. The smuggler posts several adverts a week, pledging to deliver "the lowest price and the shortest time", according to Sky News.

'Trust before profit' is written in the 'intro' section of this smuggler's profile

© Photo : screenshot

The media outlet additionally mentioned the group page "Smuggling to Europe with a Guarantee" on Facebook, which has nearly 800 members and contains images of migrants taken from news sites.

A spokesperson for Facebook's owner, Meta has, meanwhile, insisted that "coordinating people smuggling is not allowed on Facebook and we work with law enforcement to tackle it".

"We use a combination of AI technology, human review, and reports from our users and trusted partners to detect and remove posts like this", the spokesperson added.

Franco-British Differences on Migrant Channel Crossings Persist

The remarks came after at least 27 migrants crossing the Channel from France to England died on Wednesday, when their boat sank off the northern port of Calais.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on his Twitter page that "many people" had died in the incident, and that "the criminal nature of the smugglers who organise these crossings cannot be condemned enough".

This followed UK Home Secretary Priti Patel addressing social media networks in a letter in June to call for the removal of posts and videos that, according to her, go viral and therefore "glamourise" the "lethal" crossings of the English Channel by migrants.

"They [such posts] encourage others to leave a safe European country and put theirs and their family's life at risk and are even used by people smugglers to promote their deadly business, What these posts don't mention are the people who have died trying to make this crossing, or those forced to spend 13 hours in unseaworthy boats in freezing waters", the letter read.

The remarks were preceded by Patel reportedly arguing in September 2020 that social media platforms, including Facebook, add to endangering migrants' lives as they are giving a helping hand to people smugglers.

"They are hiding behind semantics. This is content that is aiding and abetting criminals to smuggle people across the borders and they need to take it down. These smugglers are responsible for these crossings and the dangers that sit with them", Patel purportedly said.

The Sky News probe comes amid the Channel migrant crisis and subsequent row between France and the UK. On Friday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin cancelled talks with UK Home Secretary Priti Patel slated for Sunday in protest against publication of a letter by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to French President Emmanuel Macron on the migration crisis.

My letter to President Macron. pic.twitter.com/vXH0jpxzPo

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 25, 2021

In the letter, BoJo outlined a number of proposals that may see British vessels operating in French waters and joint patrols to prevent boats from leaving France, among other things.

London earlier accused Paris of contributing to the UK's "mass migration crisis”, while France, in turn, claimed that people are attracted to Britain due to its open-door labour policy for illegal immigrants.

Earlier this month, at least 1,185 migrants crossed the Channel into the UK, in what was the highest number ever recorded in a single day. In total this year, there have been over 24,500 Channel crossings, as compared to the 8,417 in the whole of 2020.