A 26-year-old Afghan allegedly in prison for migrant smuggling has racked up thousands of TikTok views showing off his cell at Wormwood Scrubs, with videos revealing television privileges, wall decorations of Afghan flags, and a well-stocked selection of snacks including chocolate bars, fruit, fizzy drinks and sausages.
Samiullah Ahmadzai is being held at the Hammersmith jail for his alleged role in a “dangerous” trafficking gang and is currently undergoing extradition proceedings over a return to Belgium at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. One clip shows him watching Stephen Mulhern’s afternoon television show Deal or No Deal.
A source told The Sun: “This is so brazen it’s unbelievable and it’s highly embarrassing for the Prison Service. But they will now take action against him, disable his accounts and his life will become a lot tougher in jail.”
Videos show Ahmadzai perched on the top bunk of his bed filming Afghan flags he has drawn on the wall before panning to his snack selection. In other posts the prisoner poses for the camera alongside his cellmate, often captioning videos with “winking” and “laughing” emojis.
Home Office figures shared earlier this month revealed 65,922 immigrants have crossed the channel on small boats under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, overtaking the tally under Boris Johnson in just over 19 months.
Labour’s flagship policy is a “one in, one out” deal with France allowing a small number of migrants to be sent back across the Channel. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood admitted to MPs earlier this month the deal has “obviously not dented the numbers yet.”
She revealed 367 migrants had been brought into the UK under the reciprocal terms of the treaty whilst only 305 have been removed. The scheme has “probably not” affected migrants’ decisions to cross the Channel, she stated, adding they “may well be banking on it not working or not being able to be scaled up.”
There were 41,472 small boat crossings last year compared with 36,816 in 2024. When asked whether she could confidently say numbers would go down by this time next year, Mahmood stated Labour’s reforms would “take some time to come into effect,” adding: “I can’t guarantee I’m going to be in that position.”
One of Starmer’s first acts after the 2024 general election was scrapping the previous government’s Rwanda asylum deal, which had been designed to deter crossings by sending migrants to east Africa to claim asylum there.
When Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced their “one in, one out” deal last summer it was suggested it would see 50 migrants a week sent back to France. It is being operated as a pilot scheme with the agreement due to expire at the end of June.
The treaty enabling the scheme is unlikely to be renegotiated at that stage, experts suggest, because France will be looking ahead to its presidential election next spring.
