A people smuggler who charged wealthy middle-class Africans to flee the UK has been jailed, despite claims he was "doing the government's job for them".
Majid Belabes, 53, an Algerian national who gained British citizenship more than 20 years ago, was charging up to £1,500 to smuggle people into France.
Migrants would travel to the UK by legal means, but, after the French clampdown on issuing visas to visitors from several former colonies, including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, then be smuggled into the continent on the back of a lorry.
Balebes, who until recently was living in a council-owned apartment on the top floor, masterminded a sophisticated operation that involved picking migrants up from a hostel in London.
Often, Balebes, who was married with four children, would pick migrants up from the Safetstay hostel, previously the Labour Party's HQ until 1997, himself.
He took advantage of a network of corrupt Algerian taxi drivers that he used to ferry his clients to the coast, near Dover, where they would be put into the back of a Calais-bound lorry.
Migrants were charged an average of £1,200 per journey, with cab drivers taking just £40 of the proceeds for their part.
Majid Belabes, who charged wealthy middle-class Africans to flee the UK, has been jailed despite claims he was 'doing the government's job for them'
|CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE
The National Crime Agency estimates that Balebes was responsible for attempting to smuggle more than 240 migrants to France in ten months.
That is said to have consisted of 26 smuggling operations between December 2022 and September 2023.
Senior investigating officer at the NCA, John Turner, said: "We know the gangs and drivers involved in smuggling migrants out of the UK are often involved in smuggling into the UK too.
"Like Madjid Belabes, their only concern is making money. Belabes didn’t care about the potentially fatal dangers facing migrants hidden in lorry trailers.
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Majid Belabes masterminded the plan where people would get into the back of lorries bound for Calais
|GETTY
"Tackling organised immigration crime is a key priority for the NCA, and alongside our international law enforcement partners, we are relentless in our efforts to dismantle these networks wherever they operate."
Belabes was arrested in November 2024 after a raid on his home, where officers found £11,045 in cash.
He was convicted in July of last year along with six associates, where they argued that they were "simply doing the government’s job for them" by taking migrants out of Britain to France.
Belabes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to France and was sentenced to 10 years and nine months behind bars, while five taxi drivers who worked for him have also been convicted and face sentencing later this month.
Majid Belabes would ensure the migrants crossed at the Port of Dover
| GETTYThe migrants caught by the NCA were sent back to Britain, but were not prosecuted because they were not in breach of any UK laws.
The rise of "reverse" people smuggling has coincided with France's crackdown on French visas, beginning in September 2021.
President Emmanuel Macron slashed the number of French visas available to people in Morocco and Algeria in half, and reduced the number of those available to Tunisians by a third.
This caused a major knock-on effect to the UK: between 2019 and 2023, applications tourist visas from Algeria more than doubled to over 50,000, while applications from Morocco grew by over 10,000 in the same period - though many of the applications from both countries were rejected.
The Home Office said: "People smuggling is an abhorrent crime that puts lives at risk. We will continue to ensure evil smugglers, such as Madjid Belabes, face the full force of the law."
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