Migrant promoting Channel crossing on TikTok has account removed

A migrant who shared videos on TikTok of how to cross the English Channel on a small boat, and encouraged others to make the crossing, has had his account removed.

Using the handle @alexandrah4200, the man gained hundreds of thousands of views on his videos, which included a live-stream from what he said was a UK asylum hotel, answering questions about his voyage.

TikTok removed his account his account after being asked about it by the Sun newspaper, which originally reported the story.

The social media giant said in a statement it took a "zero-tolerance approach to content promoting human smuggling".

It said that it removed the "vast majority" of such content before it was reported and that it was working with the National Crime Agency (NCA) "to identify and disrupt organised immigration crime online".

In the first of several videos, the man - who is thought to have arrived in the UK over the weekend - can be seen in an orange life jacket sitting in a dinghy in the middle of a body of water.

Later, he is seen giving viewers a look at his room in an asylum hotel in London.

In his streams the man reportedly advised others to make the dangerous crossing to the UK.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We have made clear that it is unacceptable for any individual, whether they are a member of a smuggling gang or otherwise, to promote the criminal services of people-traffickers or for social media companies to allow it."

They added that specific laws are being introduced through the governments border security bill, currently making its way through the House of Lords, that will "make it easier to prosecute individuals who publish material online which promotes or offers services facilitating small boat crossings".

People advertising illegal Channel crossings online could face up to five years in prison under a new offence the government plans to introduce.

Meanwhile, the latest figures show that the number of migrants to cross the Channel in small boats since Labour came to power last summer has surpassed 50,000.

Labour has pledged to "smash" people-smuggling gangs and reduce Channel crossing numbers, recently introducing a "one in, one out" deportation scheme with France.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Tuesdays small boat migration figures showed that the governments plan "was just a slogan".