France: At temporary shelters on the outskirts of Calais, immigrants are willing to spend thousands of euros on human traffickers or risk crossing the sea to Britain on their own.

As the deadline for the Brexit deal gets closer, more and more immigrants are risking their lives because they fear the door to the UK will become narrower. At camps in the north of France, there are about 1,000 to 1,500 refugees and migrants living temporarily in the UK, including 600 in Calais, a city on the English Channel that connects to the UK.

Some refugees are fleeing conflict in countries like Iran, Afghanistan and Eritrea. Others are economic migrants. They all aspire to cross the sea to England to find a better life.

An underground correspondent for the British television channel, ITV News, spent weeks in a camp on a wasteland called the "Calais forest," ate and slept with them, confided in them and listened to their stories. for a close look at their adventurous journey to England.

To gain the trust of these migrants is not easy. At first, they were suspicious when they heard the reporter said that he wanted to take his grandson to England with him by boat.

"The reason why some people are suspicious is because he is from the UK and many people from the UK are journalists or intelligence agents," an Iranian explained.

The reporter tried to find a trafficker by boat but found only those who provided truck transport services, the most common method used to enter the UK.

"In a week, I will take you away, if you do not go, I will pay you back," a trafficker told the reporter. "Listen, give me 3,000 euros and I will help you."

The migrants here said the way to cross the border with trucks was more expensive but more reliable. An Afghans said that "3 nights ago, someone boarded a truck and paid 12,000 euros".

"One person? 12,000 euros, so much money? Did they make fake papers for him?", The reporter asked.

"No, they have a special hiding place set up in the truck," the man replied. "Even a fly or a dog can't find it, there's no way to find that location."

As the reporter continued to search for boat organizers to come to England, he came across many who were concerned that Brexit would limit their chances of crossing the Manche Strait.

"When does it happen?", An Iranian asked.

"A few more months," replied the reporter.

"God willing, I will be ahead of that time," the man said.

The location of Calais (red dot), France, is located on the Dover Strait, part of the Manche Strait, leading to England. Graphics: Wikipedia

Boat trips are mostly organized and conducted by Iranians. It is an opportunity that many migrants from other nationalities are envious of. "We are not united, the Iranians decided that," an Afghanisan said.

After a few days, the male reporter discovered that the Iranians planning to sail to England had to campaign on their own because they were deceived.

"Do you know my friend? He has a friend named Rachmanov. He is a human trafficker who swallowed our money, 1,800 euros of my friend, 1,100 euros of mine and another guy. We have been give him money to buy a boat ".

This man also talked about the reason he left his homeland. His father had cancer and he lost 2 brothers, one died in the hospital because his family could not afford to pay the hospital fee, the other died by accident.

"My mother is 80 years old. We saved her life with morphine. I came here to work and send money home," he said.

Their journey across the sea encountered more obstacles than success. One of the narrators, whose group is only one kilometer from the British port of Dover, was arrested.

"We waited in the middle of the ocean for an hour until the French ship arrived and brought us back," the person said.

Another migrant said that although he showed the French security forces the GPS location information on his phone and confirmed that he had arrived in the UK, officials confirmed that they were in French waters.

Migrants are very cautious in covering their tracks if they fail to cross the border.

"On the engine there is a serial number and it must be deleted," an Iranian said. "There are only two screws on the side. Before the police arrive, removing the two screws is easy and release the engine into the water if they spot you."

One led a reporter to the beach west of Calais, where they could buy a boat without paperwork.

"The first time we went on a boat, the wind was so strong that we lifted the boat out of the water," the person said. "So we have to wait, the weather is very bad right now. The only light you see at night is the Dover," he said, heading towards England.

A few minutes later, two French police officers came forward to ask for papers and detained Iranians for more than 12 days. When released, he wasted no time. Waiting for favorable weather, he and eight friends, including 7 Iran and an Afghanistan, managed to buy 4,500 euros to buy an inflatable boat and an external engine.

They hired a driver to take them and the boat to their starting point and planned to cross the sea around midnight until 2am. However, their plan failed when the driver arrived 4 hours later, at 4:15 am. They hurriedly pump boats in the dark, only occasionally venturing to turn on the flashlight.

Their first attempt failed when the boat was sunk by waves, rendering the engine inoperable. One of the migrants cried when the dream of coming to England slipped away.

However, this defeat may be a blessing for them because there is a French warship anchored in the sea they are going to. They had to wait long hours for the engines to dry up and the warship to move north of their course.

Somehow, the migrant group successfully started the engine and started at 9:30 am. A few hours later, after refusing to switch to a rescue ship of British border forces, they arrived in Dover, on British soil.

Afghan migrants arrested on allegations of illegal entry but later released and investigation into allegations continues, though during previous conversations the male reporter did not see him. What role does the allegation play?

All nine migrants said they wanted to seek asylum when coming to England. Not sure what their fate is now. Some people in the group have fully fingerprinted in the countries they travel on their way to the UK, including Germany, Italy and France, meaning they can be deported to these countries.

See more:

Disclosure of a container trafficker into the UK

Loose control in entry to the UK

Belgium - 'transit point' on the trafficking route

Why did immigrants risk their lives to come to England?

The tragedy used to cause 58 Chinese people to suffocate in containers

Tragedy of 39 bodies in containers in the UK