Channel migrants: Asylum seeker cleared of people smuggling was ‘scapegoat’

(BBC) An Iranian asylum seeker cleared of people smuggling has said he was made a “scapegoat” by British authorities.

Fouad Kakaei, who steered a dinghy across the English Channel, was found not guilty at a second trial after appealing against his first conviction.

His barrister believes a law intended to prosecute people smugglers is being used on asylum seekers, because they are “easy targets.”

The Home Office said it had a new plan to “fix the broken asylum system.”

More than 19,000 people have reached the UK in small boats since the start of 2020.

Last year, 54 people were arrested for facilitating illegal entry into the UK across the Channel, according to figures obtained by BBC News.

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