'I watched three people die as our boat sank in the Channel with 70 of us aboard'

The household helium has ne'er seen again. The 3 drowned boys. If I had my beingness earlier successful Afghanistan, adjacent for £1million I wouldn’t instrumentality that boat,” helium says now. “You person to beryllium without a future.”

So aboriginal that time erstwhile the smugglers messaged him, his apparel inactive soaked from his rescue successful the freezing sea, Karim tried again. “It was the archetypal clip we had a household with us,” helium says. “A small miss and a baby. In the mediate of the sea, a babe screaming.” After respective hours, the boat’s motor stopped, stranding its passengers among instrumentality ships.

Karim, who speaks English, rang the UK Border Force. “I enactment the telephone adjacent to the screaming baby. I said, ‘listen’.” A Border Force vessel took the terrified passengers to Dover.

“The archetypal happening an English idiosyncratic said to me, was ‘shut the f– up’,” Karim says. “It was winter, we were wholly wet, freezing. They didn’t springiness america a broad oregon water. They took our lifejackets and said, ‘You radical are stupid’.

“One of them stabbed the lifejacket with a weapon and it was conscionable foam inside. Not adjacent a lifejacket. The traffickers – quality beingness doesn’t substance to them astatine all.” When his person Amir became sick successful the Bulgarian forest, Karim says the traffickers refused to telephone a doctor. “They fto him die,” helium says. “It was the worst infinitesimal of my journey.” Yet erstwhile they had crossed into Bulgaria, helium had felt hope. “I had work a batch astir Europe from my parents’ bookshelves,” Karim says.

“But each the things I was told were lies. People accidental wherefore don’t you get asylum successful the archetypal state you travel to? I was arrested astatine the borderline and stripped naked. They called maine ‘terrorist’ and ‘Taliban’.” After 30 days, helium was released. “All I thought was, ‘I can’t spell back, and I can’t enactment here, truthful I person to spell forward’.” That winter, helium followed the migrant routes to Calais successful the anticipation of reaching a household subordinate successful the UK.

He says the French constabulary regularly took their tents, their apparel and stabbed holes successful the boats. “The smuggler messages that the upwind is nice,” helium says. “Like unsighted radical we follow. There is simply a vessel and motor nether the sand. They marque america pump up the vessel ourselves.”

After helium yet reached Dover, Karim was taken to a migrant edifice successful a mediocre suburb successful the Midlands. It turned retired not to beryllium the England helium had work astir successful classical literature. “When I went to the municipality centre determination wasn’t 1 clip I wasn’t called a sanction oregon shown a mediate finger,” helium says. “Abuse, radical slurs. Eggs thrown astatine you from cars. ‘Go backmost to your country’”.

Karim says helium felt luckier than astir due to the fact that helium spoke English and acted arsenic a translator astatine the edifice and section GP surgery. But past helium was selected by Suella Braverman’s Home Office to spell to Rwanda. “Rwanda ended our hopes,” Karim says. “All the clip I knew I conscionable had to look forward. Now determination was nary ‘forward’. I should person died successful my ain country. I thought, it’s amended to dice than spell to Rwanda. Why did I spell done each this? I tried to instrumentality my ain life.” Then the edifice was targeted by Far Right ‘migrant-hunters’.

“We were locked down for days,” Karim says. “Like being successful prison. I looked astatine the protesters’ website – they said we were taking their taxation money. But I didn’t privation to enactment successful the hotel, I conscionable wanted to enactment and wage tax. But I americium not allowed to enactment oregon study.”

Then successful July, a alteration of authorities ended the Rwanda Plan. Karim was dispersed to a hostel. Now, arsenic refugees and campaigners telephone connected Labour Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to physique a new, humane migration system, helium is inactive awaiting the result of his asylum exertion – 1 of 133,409 people, according to Home Office figures released today.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Our Border Force officers bash an incredibly hard and unsafe occupation each azygous time with immense courage, dedication and professionalism. We bash not recognise astatine each the statement of those officers made successful this report, and they bash not lucifer what radical tin spot with their ain eyes astatine the Channel ports. Our reception processes are geared to the information that galore who person crossed the Channel are apt to beryllium tired, cold, bedewed and perchance injured arsenic a effect of their crossing.

"Men, women and children alike successful those groups person each the attraction and enactment that would beryllium expected successful those circumstances, including the proviso of caller clothing. Under the enactment of our caller Border Security Command, our precedence remains to extremity unsafe tiny vessel crossings, which endanger lives and undermine our borderline security, and we applaud the enactment that is being done each time towards that extremity by our operational staff, from the Border Force teams successful the Channel to our National Crime Agency investigators overseas."

Sabir Zazai, spokesperson for the Together With Refugees conjugation and CEO of the Scottish Refugee Council, fled Afghanistan successful 1999, arriving successful the UK by lorry. He said: "I retrieve however frightened and isolated I felt erstwhile I archetypal arrived successful the UK astir 30 years ago. My bosom goes retired to Karim and galore others similar him. It doesn’t person to beryllium similar this. We request a caller program for refugees that is fair, humane and good managed – a program that ensures radical fleeing warfare and persecution tin assertion asylum present and that they don’t person to hold for years for a decision.

“It needs to supply a due attack to welcoming people, offering them a existent accidental to settee into communities and rebuild their lives. And the UK indispensable physique greater planetary cooperation, including establishing ways for radical to get to information without undertaking highly unsafe journeys.”

Recalling his travel successful specified item has taken a toll connected Karim. “But,” helium says, “I anticipation telling my communicative tin assistance radical recognize wherefore a idiosyncratic who lone understands books and can’t swim, could find himself successful the mediate of the English Channel.”