Former asylum seeker who helped supply British forces breaks down in tears as he reveals shocking reality of life in ‘hostile’ UK
In a shocking revelation that exposes the harsh reality behind Britain’s migration crisis, a young Afghan man who risked his life to reach UK shores is now desperately trying to LEAVE the country – hiding in lorries bound for Germany at Dover.
Zahir, 29, who fled Afghanistan after Taliban forces discovered his family had supplied food to British and American troops, has made four failed attempts to smuggle himself OUT of Britain in the backs of HGVs – a startling reversal of the usual migration flow that sees hundreds of desperate asylum seekers trying to ‘escape’ the UK for France beneath lorries and on makeshift rafts.
The former slaughterhouse worker, who paid people smugglers €1,500 (£1,260) to bring him across the Channel in August 2024, now sleeps rough in a London park and says he bitterly regrets ever setting foot on British soil.
“It was a big mistake. I came here because of my mum – she was always saying ‘we helped them so they will help you’,” Zahir told reporters, breaking down in tears as he described feeling severely depressed after being moved to a remote area of the UK.
DOVER’S HIDDEN CRISIS
The extraordinary case comes as exclusive figures reveal the true scale of Britain’s reverse migration crisis at Dover, where charity workers report seeing an increase over the last year of asylum seekers attempting to leave, with some trying to escape under lorries six times.
Dover-based charity the Samphire Project said some asylum seekers were waiting months or even years for an outcome, with worker Kay Marsh stating: “It’s in the hundreds” of people attempting to flee Britain.
The revelations emerge as official data shows 36,816 people were detected in the Channel last year, a 25 per cent increase from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, with Afghan migrants accounting for the single largest group of arrivals, making up 17pc of the total in the first nine months of 2024.
LIVING IN ‘PRISON-LIKE’ CONDITIONS
The shocking conditions facing asylum seekers in Britain have been laid bare, with “Is this a hotel or a prison?” one asylum seeker asked as he described his living conditions last year.
Mental health experts warn that around 30% of refugees and asylum seekers have been found to experience PTSD, with the figure for those experiencing depression also around 30%.
I suffered depression during the last two years. It was a dark period of my life – I hope one day I will overcome that,” one asylum seeker revealed, while another Iranian refugee admitted: “I have attempted suicide personally because of the conditions of the camp.
BACKLOG NIGHTMARE
The crisis has been exacerbated by massive delays in processing asylum claims, with 224,700 cases in the total ‘work in progress’ asylum caseload as of June 2024, with around 88,000 cases awaiting an initial decision.
In Q3 2023, only 6% of applications received an initial decision within six months, compared to 87% in Q2 2014, leaving thousands in limbo.
The financial burden on taxpayers is staggering, with the bill for asylum hotels running at £8.2 million a day as of March 2024, while asylum seekers are prohibited from working as they wait for their claims to be processed.
FRENCH CONNECTION
In a damning indictment of post-Brexit border controls, the French interior ministry revealed that 300 people entered France illegally from the UK in the last year alone, though officials admit the true figure could be far higher.
A French interior ministry source revealed: “Since Brexit, there are no longer any readmission agreements between the UK and Europe – and this applies in both directions.
The breakdown in cooperation has left both countries struggling to manage the crisis, with Local Labour MP Mike Tapp confirming that Brexit meant the Government was struggling to deport failed asylum seekers to Europe.
CRIMINAL NETWORKS EXPLOIT CHAOS
The desperation to leave Britain has spawned new criminal networks, with six suspected smugglers arrested in March 2024 after more than 100 migrants were discovered in lorry trailers travelling to Dover.
Among those arrested was the suspected leader of the network, a 39-year-old man from Algeria, highlighting how organised crime groups are now profiting from reverse migration.
In one shocking case, Russian HGV driver Nikolai Kuznetsov was jailed for four years after 22 migrants, including a five-year girl and her parents, were found hiding in his lorry attempting to leave the UK.
AFGHAN BETRAYAL
For Afghans like Zahir, the sense of betrayal is particularly acute. Despite around 30,000 people coming to the UK under Afghan resettlement schemes by the end of September 2024, many who helped British forces feel abandoned.
The controversy deepened with revelations that some members of the Afghan special forces have been able to travel to the UK, while “many are in hiding in Afghanistan” and “dozens have reportedly been beaten, tortured or killed by the Taliban.
Nearly all Afghans who received an initial decision on their asylum application in 2023 were granted protection, with a grant rate of 95%, yet many still face years of uncertainty and poor conditions.
RECORD DEATHS
In the most tragic development, 51 people seeking asylum died in Home Office care in 2024, an increase of 11 from the previous year, with nine deaths attributed to suspected suicide.
The year also saw at least 76 deaths recorded in about 20 accidents in the Channel, making it the deadliest year for migrants.
BROKEN PROMISES
As Zahir continues his desperate attempts to leave Britain, sleeping rough and visiting Dover regularly in hopes of escaping, his story represents a damning indictment of a system that appears to be failing everyone – from taxpayers footing the bill to the vulnerable people it claims to protect.
“Every day is the same, nothing changes. I can’t find a job or money. I don’t want to live anymore,” said Amanje, an Iraqi asylum seeker who had tried three times to leave under a lorry.
The Government’s promise to “smash the gangs” and reform the asylum system faces its greatest test yet, as the very people Britain claims to help are now risking their lives to escape what they see as a hostile and broken country.
For Zahir and hundreds like him, the British dream has become a nightmare from which they desperately seek to wake.
Image credit: Donald Trump at Aston, PA September 37th by Michael Vadon, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
