Coming to Britain? It’s all Albanians are talking about...
A PEOPLE smuggler was jailed for six years yesterday after he and eight migrants he brought over the Channel in a small boat in winter had to be rescued.
When he and the others were picked up, Afrim Xhekaliu, 41, said: ‘Everyone in Albania wants to come to the UK.’
He was wearing a wetsuit and lifejacket with his dry clothes stowed in a waterproof bag. The eight migrants were shivering with hypothermia.
Yesterday, after Xhekaliu was convicted of facilitating illegal immigration, a Coastguard video emerged showing the moment migrants clinging desperately to his stricken craft were saved by a lifeboat.
He had researched buying inflatable boats on Facebook, but had no idea how to navigate the English Channel. Xhekaliu was forced to call 999 after he got lost, ran out of fuel and his boat started to take on water. As the boat was battered by high swells and 47mph winds, he told operators: ‘We are in the middle of the sea. We are in a boat... the waves are too big here.’
Footage taken from a search and rescue helicopter showed the terrified migrants shivering in thin casual clothing. When rescued, Xhekaliu claimed he was simply seeking to gain entry to Britain. He told paramedics: ‘Everyone I know in Albania talks about how to get here and how to get work.’
Lifeboatmen rescued them on January 31 and the 22ft boat was towed to Eastbourne, East Sussex.
When rescued, Xhekaliu was standing by the boat’s controls. He was one of only two people wearing lifejackets and the only person in a wetsuit.
The other man wearing a lifejacket was arrested but there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
Xhekaliu admitted he was in the UK illegally but said he had an address in Barnet, London, which he shared with his partner.
He claimed he had travelled to Albania to attend his mother’s funeral and that he had ‘not been in Britain long enough to claim asylum’, having first come to the UK in the back of a lorry from Brussels in 2013.
But yesterday Judge Christine Laing said she was satisfied he was part of a human trafficking gang. ‘You were in the boat with these people and risked the lives of every single person in that boat,’ the judge said. ‘None were appropriately dressed apart from you.
‘You bear responsibility. Not even the most basic steps had been taken to ensure their safety. You were also risking the lives of the RNLI who had to turn out in difficult conditions. They risk their lives without hesitation.’
Earlier, Lewes Crown Court heard how Xhekaliu was found with £512 in sterling and foreign currency, which may have been part of the fare given to him to transport the group of seven Albanian men and one woman.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) discovered that Xhekaliu had flown from Gatwick Airport to Albania’s capital, Tirana, several days before. He then headed north to collect the rigidhulled inflatable boat and sail it to the UK from France.
NCA senior investigating officer Martin Grace said: ‘Afrim Xhekaliu was clearly an important part of an organised crime group smuggling people into the UK.
‘He was ill-prepared to transport people across the Channel in the depths of winter and very dangerous conditions. His lack of maritime skill and experience put the lives of those aboard in danger.’
Paul Campbell of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: ‘We knew time was of the essence. Coastguard officers identified a possible location and together with the RNLI were able to carry out the rescue.’