Migrant reveals mad reason why he wants to come to UK | UK | News
A migrant staying in a Calais camp has revealed the startling reason he wanted to take two treacherous boat trips to live in Britain.
Abdullah, 19, from Somalia, crossed the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy and then took a bus ride to France where he has been attempting to board a UK-bound dinghy.
He spoke to the Express as he returned from the beaches of Northern France to a make-shift tent city in the centre of town after a failed attempt to travel to Britain. The teenager said he was inspired by people in the camp who’d already successfully made the journey.
“My friend already got there,” he added enthusiastically, “a few days ago.”
Abdullah said migrants were staggering their attempts to cross the Channel to increase the likelihood of one of the vessels making it.
“I just tried to go and take the boat,” he told us, “I can’t go again because now other people need to [try].”
When asked what appealed to him about Britain specifically, he gestured to the tents erected amongst rocks beside the river in Calais.
“It’s better than here,” he added, “it’s not living like this.
“[There is] housing, jobs [and] you get to manage your life. If you are studying or you have goal to play football or be an actor [you can try]. You can’t get that chance in France.”
Abdullah wants to board a dinghy because he dreams of playing football for Liverpool FC.
He refuses to attempt a professional career in any of the football-loving countries he’d travelled through already because it would mean approaching clubs other than his beloved Reds.
“If you feel for one team you have to go, you can’t do with another,” he added.
As with many migrants the Express spoke to during a reporting trip in Calais, the dangers posed by boarding a dinghy were played down in the context of a war-torn situation back home. Abdullah believed the risk was outweighed by the potential reward.
“It’s a 50/50 [chance of survival]. You have to take it because the difference [is] between a good life and a bad [one],” he said.
“You don’t have the opportunity to fly there so you have to go this way.”
During a reporting trip to Calais, the Express uncovered evidence that migrants coming by small boat to the UK are being transported for free by traffickers because they can pay off the debt working illegally.
According to one group of migrants, smugglers were charging between £1,500 and £2,000 and were striking deals with potential customers as far away as Turkey.
You can watch the Express’s tracking of migrants planning to cross the Channel on our YouTube channel.