Chester: Migrants jailed for illegal UK entry on small boats  

Rashed Abdullah and Ramadn Refaiy, who claim to be of Sudan and Egypt respectively, were sentenced on Tuesday.

One claimed to be seeking NHS treatment having had a kidney removed, while the other had previously been caught attempting to reach the south coast as a stowaway in a lorry last year.

The pair made the illegal crossing – putting the lives of those who intercepted them at risk – in August this year, each in inflatable boats packed with more than 50 migrants.

Abdullah was generously housed in Holiday Inn in Woolston, while Refaiy was housed in Daresbury Park Hotel.

Myles Wilson, prosecuting the case, told the court how the two men were on different boats intercepted on different days in August this year.

On August 17, Abdullah was on a rigid hull inflatable boat crossing the English Channel which was intercepted by UK Border Force officials along with 51 other migrants.

Refaiy stepping onto UK soil after his boat was intercepted (Image: Home Office)

He was taken to a holding facility in Kent and did not have a passport on him. The court heard how Abdullah, who told immigration officers he is 34, is seeking indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

At the facility, his fingerprints were checked, and this revealed he had attempted to enter the country illegally last year in the back of a lorry before he was found in Calais.

At the time, he gave a different name than he did at this hearing and claimed to be from Eritrea – whereas he now claims to be from Sudan.

He was taken from the holding facility to Holliday Inn in Woolston, where he was interviewed by immigration officers.

He admitted his previous UK entry attempt and his current attempt on a small boat – the culmination of a journey from Sudan, where he left his wife in 2021, through safe countries he should have sought asylum in first such as Italy and France.

It was heard that after his first failed attempt, he was staying in an area of Calais dubbed as ‘The Jungle’.

Refaiy meanwhile was intercepted on a small and very overcrowded boat in the Channell four days after Abdullah, along with 51 other migrants.

Refaiy stepping onto UK soil after his boat was intercepted (Image: Home Office)

Photos taken of the boat showed Refaiy piloting the vessel near the engine at the rear, but when Border Force officials approached, he changed position and donned a jacket.

The court heard how the defendant, who told immigration officers he was 26, had been given a ‘half price discount’ of 800€ by people smugglers in exchange for steering.

He also claimed to be from Egypt, leaving in 2021 to seek medical treatment on the NHS due to being in pain having had a kidney removed, as well as claims of being ‘kept hostage’ in Libya for months until a ransom was paid.

The court was told that he had sought asylum in the UK, but that a ‘no reasonable grounds decision’ had been made in his case.

Separately, Refaiy admitted when interviewed that he had planned to work illegally in the UK.

Shocking images taken by Border Force officers show Refaiy’s boat packed with dozens of migrants sat in front of dangerous fuel cans.

A small child can be seen sat without a life jacket on the floor of the boat, where fuel-contaminated water often pools on top of makeshift flooring.

Rashed Abdullah has been jailed (Image: Home Office)

Jeremy Rawson, tasked with mitigating for Abdullah, claimed that his client gave false details after being caught in the lorry last time as he was ‘afraid of what would happen to him’.

He said that the defendant told him he was a ‘civil rights activist’ in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and fled due to fears of his safety – although given his lies previously, it is unknown whether this is true.

“He clearly took risks, not just to himself, but to those tasked with rescuing him,” Mr Rawson said, adding that Abdullah has no ‘known’ previous convictions.

Defending Refaiy, Ryan Rothwell also said that his client has no ‘known’ previous convictions and first made his way from Egypt to Libya after paying a ‘travel agent’.

After months in the north African country, he then paid to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy, spending more time in detention, before crossing into France on foot and then across the Channel.

He claimed to be fleeing ‘persecution’ in Egypt after alleging that the country’s government seized his farmland to build on, and that his family were being jailed for ‘speaking out’.

Both Abdullah and Refaiy were charged with attempting to arrive in the UK without valid entry clearance, to which they pleaded guilty before the magistrates’ court, with the case being committed to Chester Crown Court for sentence.

One of the boats which was intercepted on the English Channel (Image: Home Office)

Before sentencing, recorder Lawrence McDonald said: “As with so many cases of this type, the most serious criminals are those who are not before the court.

“It is the people smugglers who profit from the death and desperation of others who are deserving of the most serious punishment.

“But the court must deal with offences that come before it, and each of you have committed an offence and admitted so by pleading guilty.

“The fact that there may be others deserving of more severe punishment cannot excuse your actions, and it does not mean that the court should not deal appropriately with your offences.

“The predominant purpose here is to protect the public. There is huge public concern about people smuggler activity, and rightly so.

“There is high public concern about the profits people smugglers make by charging outrageous sums to desperate people.

“There is the risk of death and injury that each of you ran on your own behalf, but there is also the risk of death and injury to other passengers in those overcrowded boats and to those whose duty it is to intercept and/or rescue people.

One of the boats which was intercepted on the English Channel (Image: Home Office)

“Each of you knew that you were deliberately attempting to break the laws of this country. Each of you knew that you were trying to arrive in the UK in an unlawful manner – nobody can possibly claim otherwise.”

Refaiy was locked up for 12 months, while Abdullah was put behind bars for 16 months, with his case aggravated due to his previous attempt.

Recorder McDonald was told that bizarrely, the case does not trigger automatic deportation conditions, meaning he had no say in the matter.

Following the sentencing, a Home Office spokesman confirmed that further work will now take place to identify whether both criminals can be returned to their countries of origin.

Tony Hilton, assistant director for the Home Office’s criminal and financial investigation unit said: “These criminals put themselves and others in grave danger to reach the UK, having already passed through multiple safe European countries. It is right that they have been brought to justice today.

“I would like to thank my investigating teams for their quick work on both cases.

“We are doing everything we can to stop the boats and prosecute those who enter our country illegally.”