Hewa Rahimpur, a man who headed a human trafficking gang responsible for smuggling an estimated 10,000 people into the UK across the English Channel in small boats, has been sentenced to 11 years in jail in Belgium. Rahimpur, who claimed asylum in the UK in 2016, was allowed to remain in 2020 and proceeded to set up a barber’s shop in London. He then used the UK as a base for his criminal operation. His gang procured boats, engines, and life-jackets for migrant crossings and passed them on to groups of migrants waiting in Calais and Dunkirk. From there, the migrants, including women and children, were given basic information about how to use the boats and would set off across the Channel. Some of the vessels were unsafe, held together using gaffer tape and planks of wood. It is believed that Rahimpur’s gang was responsible for almost 10% of crossings to the UK in a 12 to 18-month period.
Read more: People-smuggling ringleader jailed for bringing thousands into UK in boats
