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Small boat survival


Amid the small boats crisis, Ruth Addicott talks to journalists working on the coasts


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peaking to a pregnant, Iraqi-Kurdish woman, who was about to board a small boat to cross the Channel with her two children, investigative journalist Nicola Kelly passed on her details not knowing if she would hear


from the young mother again. Kelly has spent the past six years documenting the crisis for


Te Guardian, Te Observer and Te Independent and posts regularly on Substack. In 2015, she published a book, Anywhere But Here, referring to graffiti she saw scrawled on a wall next to a camp in Dunkirk. Reporting from beaches, ports, courtrooms and detention


centres, she has travelled across the UK, speaking to local communities, new arrivals and people on the front line. Kelly says one of the biggest challenges facing journalists is


the legal battles. She cites an investigation she did for Te Observer in 2023, involving allegations of abuse against asylum seekers at five hotels in the Liverpool area run by Serco. “Serco is a really big organisation with lots of lawyers, lots


of money and lots of heft and Te Observer cannot compete with that,” she says. “Tese big organisations, of which there are many in the asylum system, use their heft against


Law, language and locals


Know the law Journalist Nicola Kelly (who has worked at No 10 and the Home Office) advises reading up on the law and policies, and getting to know immigration


16 | theJournalist


lawyers: “It can be quite complex because it’s fast moving, so get some sources inside government, particularly the Home Office, who will feed you information.


That’s always helpful in terms of getting exclusives.”


Locals and language Zak Garner-Purkis, Investigations editor at The


reporters and particularly freelances, who are in a much more vulnerable position.” Kelly has also had threats made towards herself and her


family, including an incident where a far-right group found out where her son went to nursery. “Tere have been moments that have made it really difficult


for me to continue reporting on this issue, but I stay focused,” she says. Zak Garner-Purkis is investigations editor at Te Express


and, although a lot of focus is on the embarkations (which he says is what the desks want), he has tried to look more into what is happening on the ground, in terms of the camps, the police and the traffickers. With multiple migrant camps, multiple beaches and the


situation constantly changing, he says it’s easy to capture the chaos and lose sight of the story. “You have to plan well and stay focused,” he says. “Often, you


find people who will start to speak, then someone will come and tell them not to speak. Te traffickers blend in and build networks amongst the migrants, they know everything that’s going on, so it’s being aware that the people you are trying to expose and do the story on are watching you – they’re present and you need to recognise that.” He says the strongest stories come from speaking to local


people or working with a collaborator such as a journalist who speaks French or Arabic.


Express, advises speaking to locals – waitresses, bar staff and people walking their dogs. “On every side – the police,


the migrants, locals – there is more to be found out. If you speak any languages of the migrant groups, that will give you a serious leg up.”


Dig into details Photographer Sean Aidan says: “Don’t always believe or accept what you’ve been told. “Do your own research. Put


the time in. Talk to people. Look for an angle that hasn’t been fully explored and don’t give up.”


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