Syrian refugee calls for compassion towards migrants in emotional plea projected onto White Cliffs of Dover

NHS cleaner shares experience of 'terrifying and devastating' journey to UK

A Syrian refugee has shared his experience of crossing the English Channel to seek asylum in the UK through a giant video which was projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover late on Thursday.

Hassan Akkad, an NHS cleaner, made an emotional plea for compassion towards migrants after explaining the “terrifying and devastating” journey he took to Britain five years ago.

“These cliffs were actually visible from our makeshift camp and they represented hope,” Mr Akkad said.

“Hope that I would live a safe and stable life here in Britain having fled my war-torn country.”

He added: “Similar to those who are arriving recently, I had to put my trust in a people smuggler because a safe and legal option to seek asylum here was and still is unavailable.”

Mr Akkad also argued that the UK was not facing a refugee crisis, but the government was using the migrant crossings as a distraction from the coronavirus pandemic.

The giant projection was the latest stunt by the political group Led By Donkeys, which first came to national attention through a series of anti-Brexit billboards in 2019.

More than 5,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to come to the UK in small boats so far in 2020, with the numbers of people trying to reach British shores surging in recent months.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, has pledged to make the route to the UK “completely unviable” and deployed RAF planes to the Channel in an effort to tackle the problem.

Although crossing the Channel without approval is not a legal route to the UK, Article 31 of the UN Refugee Convention notes that refugees cannot be penalised for entering the country illegally to claim asylum if they are “coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened” so long as they “present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence”.

On Thursday, the Home Office’s new clandestine Channel threat commander, Dan O’Mahoney, returned to France to continue discussions with officials in Paris and Calais over the crossings.

It came as French prosecutors investigated the death of a Sudanese migrant whose body was found on a beach in France earlier this week.

Additional reporting by PA