People-smugglers caught using TikTok to promote lorry crossings OUT of Britain to France

People-smugglers have been caught using TikTok to promote dangerous lorry crossings out of Britain and into France.

One account, created last month, has several videos brazenly advertising "UK to France" journeys.

Groups of near a dozen men and women are seen sitting on pallets inside enclosed lorries, with some smiling at the camera as they leave the country.

Rob Bates, the Research Director for the Centre for Migration Control said the videos highlighted the weakness of Britain's borders.

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He said: "I think it basically shows that the government of the United Kingdom doesn't control our borders. And actually now it is pretty much in the hands of these people-smugglers."

The videos include dates, mobile phone numbers, and emojis for lorries.

Various European national flags are also featured in the videos, including those for France, Germany and Italy.

"Safe game" reads the message in one video, advertising a "UK to Europe" route on July 2.

Increased police monitoring of clandestine lorry crossings has partially fuelled the rise in small boat Channel crossings.

And Mr Bates warned how illegal lorry crossings had been "very much forgotten in the conversation" around illegal migration.

"We talk a lot about the small boats, but in no way has the use of lorries in both directions abated," he said.

He added: "These videos show that the trade is continuing to evolve and is continuing to outfox border officials.

"Once there's a crackdown in one area, we see that the tactics and methods changing and other individuals step up to the plate as well".

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Mr Bates said the videos laid bare yet another problem with Britain's legal migration systems, with would-be asylum seekers deeming it "a lot easier" to enter the UK than France.

"We also need to have a conversation about those nationalities that we know are using visa routes for illegitimate means, and in particular, those countries in Northern Africa that are very clearly actually now using tourist visas as a route to get into France," he said.

He added that some may be using the routes of Britain as "get out jail free cards" after being a failed asylum seeker or being involved in criminal activity.

The revelation follows a number of previous suspicious accounts advertising small boat routes into Britain.An account with captions in Albania read: "You don't wait a single day - you come and leave immediately, as if you already have a plane ticket."

Social media accounts have also seen advertising illegal routes by yacht, with one posting that it was "resuming yacht to the UK this weekend".

In May, small boat "travel agents" were revealed to use social media to broadcast small boat routes to Britain to Iranians.

The Home Office said: "This Government is bearing down on small boat crossings, with removals of small boat migrants at record levels and asylum claims down by 12 per cent.

"The Home Secretary has signed a landmark new deal with France to boost enforcement action on beaches and put people smugglers behind bars. This builds on joint work that has stopped over 44,000 attempted crossings since the election.

"We have removed or deported almost 70,000 people who were here illegally - an increase of 41 per cent - and are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country."

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