An illegal migrant who last month crossed to Britain in a small boat has been caught by The Mail on Sunday gloating about the ease with which he has been able to ‘disappear’.
Elvis Zoto (age 19) posted on social media boasting about his illegal entry to the UK. He even shared a photo of his Home Office registration form, which shows that the Albanian arrived at Dover on June 29.
According to him, he was transferred from detention to hotel within two days. However, he claimed that he quickly escaped through a window. Asylum seekers must keep in touch with the Home Office to be released and inform authorities about any change of address.
A video posted on Zoto’s TikTok social media account earlier this month shows him sitting outside a cafe on a busy London street. You can also see laughing emoticons in the video. Separate images show Zoto posing with huge wads of £20 and £50 banknotes.
An illegal migrant who last month crossed to Britain in a small boat has been caught by The Mail on Sunday gloating about the ease with which he has been able to ‘disappear’. Dover was awash with migrants earlier in the month.
Approached by a Mail on Sunday reporter posing as an immigrant in France, Zoto claimed the journey to the UK was easy, but advised them to ‘hurry’ with their trip because ‘the law will change soon’.
Asked about the dangers of crossing the Channel on a small boat, he said: ‘Do not be scared of it. My boat was my way to the port. A journey that doesn’t need a lot of money and the best for you . . . Do not delay! It will soon change. It will get worse.’
In a later message, he added: ‘They keep you in detention a maximum of two days, then send you to a hotel. In the detention centre it’s good conditions. You tell them you are married and that’s the end of the story. It is time to leave the hotel, and wait for relatives to pick you up in a vehicle. The window at that hotel was my departure point. . . I vanished. . . Keep a low profile and after a month get a solicitor.’
He also told the undercover reporter to ignore the threat of removal to Rwanda under the Government’s controversial plan to send migrants to the East African country.
He also told the undercover reporter to ignore the threat of removal to Rwanda under the Government’s controversial plan to send migrants to the East African country. The above photo shows one of the hotels available for hosting the migrants.
‘Well that’s what the State says but it’s not true,’ he said.
Asked about Zoto’s comments, Alp Mehmet, chairman of the think-tank Migration Watch, said: ‘This sums up the sorry state of our immigration and asylum systems.
‘The ease with which our borders can be breached by such mickey-taking chancers who then go on to simply disappear is a disgrace.’
Just days ago, David Neal, the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration reported that 227 migrants had fled from hotels they believed to be secure between September and January. The remaining missing are not yet known.
He wrote: ‘The Home Office’s performance in delivering an effective and efficient response to the challenge posed by the increasing volume of migrant arrivals via small boats is poor.’
More than 15,000 people – including criminals who had previously been deported from the UK – have crossed the Channel this year. Last night, a Home Office spokesman said: ‘If an asylum seeker absconds before a decision is made on their claim, or if they fail to comply with our processes, their asylum claim can be withdrawn.
‘We have a dedicated national absconder tracing team working with the police, other government agencies and commercial companies to track down and bring absconders back into contact with the Home Office.’
Model’s warning after watching a man drown crossing the English Channel
A beauty queen from Ethiopia has spoken out about the dangers associated with crossing the Channel, after witnessing another migrant get swept away during an incredibly dangerous journey to Britain.
SelamawitTeklay was a proud representative of her country at pageants all over the globe and had a popular fashion label. However, she fled Tigray in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray last year.
After making her way to Calais, she boarded a packed boat that would take her across the treacherous waterways last November.
In an interview with the BBC’s Tigrinya language service, she said: ‘In that boat, I realised that the decision I had made was wrong. We’ve seen terrible things back home. But to cross this sea is so perilous that no one should try.’
The 27-year-old, whose beauty pageant appearances include the Miss Grand International competition in Vietnam in 2017, told how the boat’s engine fell off midway across the Channel, leaving them stranded. ‘An Arab man jumped into the sea to try to get it out. He couldn’t,’ she said. ‘Then one of our Tigrayan brothers went in. He did not return! We looked for him. He screamed. We couldn’t find him.
‘We made desperate calls for help. Three hours later, however, lifeguards were there. My brother died in the water right in front of my eyes. I saw his demise with my own eyes.’
This happened four days after another boat capsized, killing 27 migrants, Ms. Teklay having met an Ethiopian while living in Calais.
Ms Teklay fled Ethiopia after an uncle was killed in the civil war between government forces and rebels from the country’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
The coastguard was able to rescue the migrants who were on board her sinking vessel. The coastguard saved her ship and she now seeks asylum.