They’re branded economic migrants – now young men trying to cross Channel tell us why they really want to reach UK

As the number of small boats crossing the Channel continues to hit the headlines, claims that those arriving are predominantly young men seeking to reach British shores only for economic reasons have become increasingly widespread.

Recent polling found that nearly half of the British public had little or no sympathy for asylum seekers making the desperate journey across the Channel from France, while some in the public sphere have claimed that the majority of those making the desperate journey are “economic migrants” rather than refugees.

As the likes of Nigel Farage and a number of Tory MPs continue to label the rise in Channel crossings a “crisis” and an “invasion”, The Independent went to northern France – funded by our Supporter Programme – to ask some of the young men and boys hoping to cross what their true motives were.

Emmanuel, 17, Sudanese

I left Khartoum in 2016 due to big problems with the police and my religion. I spent a year and a half in Libya. There are lots of gangs there – look at my scars. I was in detention for a year. I slept without clothes, just underwear. They tie you up with rope. Sometimes I went for three days without food and water. I got very thin, and I was alone.

I escaped from the centre after a big fight when the police came. I got out and I ran. In January 2020 I took a boat. There were 79 people in it – way too many. I had hardly any space, and there was no food and no water. Then a rescue boat took us to a centre and they gave us clothes and we took a shower and were given food. They also took our fingerprints.

They took us to a big camp. It was like a prison. I decided I didn’t want to stay in Italy. I went to France by train and came to Calais in June to try for England. Police always catch us. They tell me this is not my home, this is not my country. They use teargas. It hurts your eyes. I tell them my age, but they say I have to stay in the police station for 24 hours. I’ve been there five or six times.

I want to get to the UK to take a rest. I speak English. I want an opportunity to work and learn. You can play football. People are good and help you. I don’t want to claim asylum in France because the police are bad and the people are very bad. They don’t like us. In France, I’m sleeping on the streets. If I die trying, it’s no problem – this is not a life. England is my only hope.

Mobin, 22, Iranian

There was an anti-government protest at the school I worked in. They shot me. Seven small bullets. I could have been killed. Some of my friends were killed in that protest. My family told me it was better to run away than be killed or sit in jail for many years. They arranged a smuggler to take me across the border. My father sold everything so I could get away.

The smuggler put me in a truck at night. I was in there for two days with no food. A few other people were with me. We would get out, walk for a long time, stay somewhere for a bit, walk more, get in another truck. I didn’t know where I was. We had to stay away from the police so we didn’t go on public transport. I walked for 20 days to get here to France.

I don’t want to claim asylum in France. I want to follow my subject – English. My major was applied linguistics. I can be a translator. I’ve managed to get here, and this is the last step. This is the monster one. There is no route. You either have to go by sea or by truck. They are the options. Both cost money. You need a smuggler. There can be 15 or 20 people in a five-metre boat. It is dangerous, but still I think it’s worth the risk.

Nabil, 17, Somali 

I left my country 10 years ago because of fighting in Mogadishu. I’m going to London. My mum is in there, and my brother. I haven’t seen them for years. I try on lorries but police catch me. You have to pay and I don’t have money. I just have a dream.

Mandel, 21, Somali

I left Somalia in 2014 because of the conflict, and I’ve been in Calais for one month. I spent five years in Germany. I wasn’t happy there. They didn’t give me papers.

Since I’ve been here, I’ve been beaten and had to have an operation on my arm in the hospital. I decided yesterday to change my mind and give up on getting to the UK. I can’t stay on the street like this. Claiming asylum in France is possible.  

Solomon Abdullah, 29, Sudanese

Groups were trying to kill us in our village. My sister got raped. I tried to defend her. My mother told me I had to leave because the situation was not safe. I went to Niger and worked on the goldfields. I never thought to go to Europe. I just wanted to work for a few months and go back home. But I was there for seven months and the situation in Sudan was only getting worse. There was nothing in Niger, so I had to face it.

I went to Libya and paid for the journey to Italy. A boat of around 137 people. It felt like death was coming. I was losing hope. Then we got rescued and got to Italy. When I left Libya I wasn’t thinking I wanted to go to the UK, but when I arrived in Italy I found that there were so many refugees and thought this is not going to work. I went to France, but I would need to learn French. I thought to myself, the UK is my number one target. I decided that day that I would go to the UK.

I live in the Jungle. I’m one of those who have been here the longest. Most people have arrived recently. My friends are gone. Some of them made it to the UK and claimed asylum there. Some have claimed asylum elsewhere in Europe. I’ve tried to get on lorries so many times, but I always get caught. I haven’t tried by boat. It’s too expensive.

I have friends in the UK, and an uncle. I am so desperate to go there. I want to be in the UK to study and improve myself. Every time I wake up, I feel I need to get there before the end of this year because of Brexit. Things are going to change for refugees. I think it will be impossible for refugees to get to the UK next year. If it gets to 2021, I will claim asylum in France.

Hassan, 17, Syrian

When the Syrian war started, I was nine years old. I wasn’t going to school or anything. My parents were killed. I don’t know where my siblings went. I lived with my grandparents, but they both died at the start of this year. I decided I must leave. I went to Turkey, then to Sudan, then Libya, then to Algeria. It all took around two months. I stayed in Algeria for a while doing construction work. But it wasn’t good and I didn’t have anyone there. My cousins – the only family I have left – are in England.

Someone helped me get to Europe. It took 31 hours. I arrived in Spain. It was very difficult. When I arrived, the police arrested me and put me in jail without food. They pressured me to give my fingerprints. I went to Calais and arrived to England on 15 June by boat. I paid £3,000 – all the money I had left. I was so happy. This was my dream.

People in Calais had told me that if I say I’m under 18 I would have difficulty and be kept somewhere, so I told the UK government I was 18. I had nobody else to listen to. I didn’t know what was best. I was put in a hotel and I was there for a few months. I tried to start a new life and forget everything about war.

But then the police arrested me and I was detained and deported to Spain. I felt like my life was finished and destroyed. When I arrived in Spain, I was homeless, so I came straight back to Calais. Now I have no money, but I hope to find a way. Now it’s England or die.

Ayub, 29, Kurdish

When I was seven, my mother got killed under Saddam Hussein’s regime. Even in our own country, we found ourselves to be refugees. I got shot at for transporting goods across the border, which was the only work we could get due to persecution against Kurdish people. It was a very difficult decision, but in the end I had no other solutions. If I stayed there, I would be killed by the Iranian authorities. There are many things that happened to me which I can’t talk about. It’s too painful.

I was refused asylum in Germany and left for France two weeks ago. I’ve lost hope. I’ve lost everything. I just want a paper that lets me work legally and live a normal life. I want to send money back for my family. The only reason I’m still living is my family. I would have taken my life otherwise.

I really want to go home, but I don’t have that option. Awful things have happened to me. I would rather die while trying to reach a better life than go back and be killed. My dream is to get to England and be safe, that is all.

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