‘I found getting into the UK by small boat so easy - Border Force were overwhelmed'

The sheer number of migrants in processing centres from small boats meant Border Force didn't ask detailed questions to an Albanian drug farm worker who arrived by dinghy, the Express can reveal.

According to the man, who arrived in the UK three years ago for a job in a cannabis farm, immigration staff grilling new arrivals to Britain were so overworked most of those he landed with in Britain were barely assessed before being moved to a hotel.

These included people who intended to work in criminal operations, like him, and those who admitted to being economic migrants rather than asylum seekers.

When he arrived at the detention centre having been rescued by Border Force on a small boat, the migrant, who spoke to the Express on the condition of anonymity, said he was not thoroughly questioned about his intentions in Britain.

“They just asked: ‘what are you doing here?’ and ‘what are you going to do for work?’” he said.

“There were too many people. They didn't have time to ask them all questions [properly]. When I arrived there were 2,000 people.

“I was surprised there wasn’t an interview or that [I did not speak to the police]. They checked to see if I was a criminal [but that was it].

“I did know [they wouldn’t be thorough] because my friends had told me that before.”

As well as only being asked limited questions about his plans in the UK, he claims the immigration officials he spoke to did not make any enquiries about the traffickers who had brought him to Britain.

Nor was he asked to explain why he’d boarded a small boat when it was his intention to work in the UK rather than seek asylum.

“On a form it said ‘are you seeking asylum?’ and I ticked ‘no’. It did not surprise me that [this didn’t mean I was immediately deported] as I knew from people this would happen,” he explained.

After spending eight days in detention without his phone, the migrant was fingerprinted and sent to a hotel.

As soon as he and the four other men he’d traveled with received their devices they began contacting their relatives to be picked up for jobs working in cannabis farms.

He spent one night in the accommodation provided by the British authorities before running away.

“I used the phone to call my relative and around three in the morning I left. We were scared [if we stayed longer] we would get stopped and sent back to Albania,” he added.

He has had no contact from the UK authorities since he absconded and has overseen numerous harvests of cannabis farms since then.

Responding to the issues raised in this article, a Home Office spokesperson said: “Criminal gangs are getting away with undermining our border security and putting lives at risk.

“Our new Border Security Command will deliver a major overhaul and upgrade in law enforcement against smugglers and trafficking gangs to boost our border security.

“State-of-the-art technology and enhanced intelligence capabilities will ensure we are using every tool at our disposal to dismantle this vile trade.”