'I couldn't cope with Britain anymore': Kurdish man pays smuggler to return him to France

On the day Kier Starmer revealed his plans to tackle small boat crossings from France a Sky News reporter has been on the beaches and migrant camps of France talking to those who want to enrich our lives and provide hotel companies with long term customers , among the chaps in the camp was Omar , a Kurdish migrant who claims he had been living in the UK but broke out of England and went back to the migrant camp in France because his asylum request had been refused and he feared he would be arrested and sent to Rwanda , saying he "cannot go there".

Starmer today said he would scrap the Rwanda scheme because it won't work but if Omar and the rats scuttling across the border into Ireland are to be believed it is working even though no flights have yet taken off.

Two years ago, Omar left Kurdistan and paid a smuggler $15,000 (£12,000) to get him to Britain. He was there for 20 months, suffered a stroke, failed to gain asylum and ended up paying a smuggler £500 to get him out of Britain and back to this squalid camp in France.

Yes, you read that correctly. He paid to be smuggled out of Britain, and back to France.

"Here there is no washing or bath," he says.

"You can't clean yourself. Life is hard. But in Britain I had to give my fingerprints and signature regularly. Once every two weeks.

Then I was told they had turned me down for asylum. I couldn't cope with Britain anymore.

"They could arrest me and send me to Rwanda or Iraq. Rwanda - I cannot go there.

"So that's why I came back here, to this place. But I have no money. I am 52 years old. It's a terrible feeling to be back here, but what can I do?"
news.sky.com...

Its pretty stupid to send them all to rwanda if they are not from there. Why not just send them back to wherever they came from? And what about Rwanda? Did they get a say in this or are they going to be surprised when a whole bunch of people get dumped? In all honesty, Omar should have been sent back to Iraq. But they got him to leave for free, so I suppose it worked.

a reply to: burritocat

Its pretty stupid to send them all to rwanda if they are not from there. Why not just send them back to wherever they came from?

If they.ve travelled through several countries to get here the thought of ending up back in Africa is a deterrent , Do not pass go , Do not collect $200.

Did they get a say in this or are they going to be surprised when a whole bunch of people get dumped?

The accommodation is built the Rwandans are waiting to welcome their guests , we signed a deal with them a few years ago.

Omar should have been sent back to Iraq. But they got him to leave for free, so I suppose it worked.

Indeed.

a reply to: gortex

OK, gotcha. Not too familiar with everything happening overseas, but if the Rwandan government is cool with it, I dont see the problem. I thought it was something like where Texas and Florida were dumping people unannounced in New York, but it does not seem to be the case. Although kind of surprising since Rwanda is a pretty poor country, but if they have no problem, then whatever.

But it does seem to have the desired effect in deterring people showing up willy nilly and trying to overstay their welcome. From what Ive been told Britain has a huge problem with sketchy immigration, like worse than ours which surprises me since its an island which would seem easy to control the borders. And since you guys left the EU, I figured it would be even easier to control your immigration.

Im generally not against immigration because Im an American, and even the illegal aliens here work hard and are productive. But with britain its alot of Muslim immigrants many of who are hostile towards western ideas and their host country, so I understand the greater issues. Plus, its not a very big country and you can only fit so many people in it.

a reply to: gortex
What I can't understand is, if they are fleeing war etc why not stop in the first safe country, why come to the the uk?

a reply to: Angler77

Exactly , they're hardly seeking asylum if they've crossed Europe to get here.

Sadly we may finally have a deterrent that works but only until Starmer scraps it when Labour win the Election.

a reply to: gortex

Why not put Mr. Omar on a plane back to Kurdistan? That's cheap in comparison to all the other alternatives being discussed.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Cheap in comparison yes but I have a feeling Mr. Omar doesn't want to go back to Kurdistan , perhaps he'll apply for asylum in France.

The Republic of Ireland are having real problems but our politicians do little to nothing , they don't have to deal with it.

I think the British should do what France do and help these 'Asylum' seekers have a free trip to Ireland. Ireland wont be able to send them back because if the EU change the laws to allow that to happen Britain will then follow suit and send them back to France.
The fact they go through numerous safe countries to get to the UK shows they are not doing this to flee persecution they are doing it for the numerous free handouts and easy life they will get in Britain and the fact they know once they set foot on UK soil they can apply for asylum then when that fails they can use the many avenues of appeal to extend their stay for years.

Under Labour this will get worse, they have fought the Rwanda plan over the last couple of years and when it finally looks like it will start to bear fruit we are on the cusp of a general election and the next Prime Minister (It is a certainty) is already saying he will cancel the plan and any scheduled flights.

a reply to: gortex

Missing his eclairs and café au lait ...

Cheers

a reply to: gortex

This has made me laugh, how bad must he have felt being here if he decided he could put up with the French!!