Ameena, 17, made the crossing in a 12ft dinghy with seven other strangers on 25 December 2018. The teenager’s mother had paid the smugglers in advance and Ameena never knew the exact fee for the crossing. Migrants have previously disclosed they paid £6,000 for a seat on a dinghy crossing the Channel. Yet the truth, added Chapman, is that such numbers are dwarfed by the volume of migrants crossing the Channel into the UK from France who are hidden in lorries. Ameena spent three months in Calais living in cheap accommodation before getting the green light for the Christmas Day crossing.

Source: The Guardian June 09, 2019 07:52 UTC