PA IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO One investigation he worked on recently


showed how the traffickers operate. “What was remarkable was how brazen and how


close it was to the French police,” he says. “We had to pull our undercover out after a ridiculously short time because they had gathered so much information. We went down and confronted the traffickers and they were happily mingling around a market area where people were making a profit selling life jackets. Te police were clearly aware this market was operating and that blew my mind.” Garner-Purkis says the camps can be dangerous and you


can be cut off if you go in too far. He always takes precautions in terms of who he’s with and never takes unnecessary risks. “I’ve had bottles thrown at me and someone pull a knife


out,” he says. One incident occurred when he was in a migrant camp with


shadow home secretary Chris Philp in August 2025. “Chris Philp was speaking to someone, I was watching the


backs of the videographers and a guy walked past with a machete over a foot long, swinging it around – he made eye contact and smiled, he obviously wanted to intimidate,” he says. Another issue is content creators and ‘vigilantes’ trying to


stop the boats. Garner-Purkis says he has been stopped by French police and had his press card taken several times. He says the vigilantes are making it difficult for reporters. “We may differentiate ourselves but, to a policeman,


migrant or local, they just see someone speaking English with a camera,” he says. Kent-based photographer Sean Aidan works for national


press including Te Times, the Mirror and Te Sun. “It used to be fairly easy photographing the new arrivals at


Dover docks,” he says. “You could get right down to the unloading docks 100 yards away and easily get good shots of men, women, children – toddlers sent over on their own, and mothers with babies. In the last couple of years, screens have gone up so there is no chance of getting shots. Security around the docks has increased and it’s impossible to get close, especially if you have a camera on your shoulder.” (He now


takes pictures from a public car park on the cliff). A standout moment was talking to a woman on the beach at Dungeness, who had made a 5,000-mile trip from Eritrea with her five-year-old daughter. “She had fled war and conflict, most of her family had been killed


“I don’t think this is an issue that we can cover from desks and certainly not from London.” Nicola Kelly, investigative journalist


“I think that is the dangerous aspect, that the people who run this enterprise have very little regard for human life” Zak Garner-Purkis, Investigations editor, The Express


“It appears that the government, border force etc are being economical with the truth – almost as if they are trying to cover the story up.” Sean Aidan, photographer


and her home destroyed,” he says. “She came here not as a freeloader but to give her daughter a better life – they both spoke very good English but had no family here.” Aidan passed on his details and, four years later, she got


back in touch - she was working in the NHS and her daughter was doing well in full-time education. “Tis was one reason for covering the story – to find a positive human story,” he says. Aidan relies on contacts and marine traffic apps. His biggest


challenge is getting access and information about the scale of new arrivals. Garner-Purkis says there is a lack of transparency on all


sides, from the French police, the British government and the migrants. “Everyone is guarded and I understand that, but it’s within that environment the traffickers are able to operate. I think what needs to shift is getting people to open up and journalists can play a role in that.” Kelly’s concern is the issue is often now covered by political


rather than home affairs correspondents, who have more specialist knowledge, experience and contacts. “Hacking away at those [home affairs] teams and moving


the focus of the coverage to political correspondents means that this issue is only viewed through the lens of Westminster and I don’t think that helps people’s understanding of the asylum system and the way it affects people on the ground.” Another frustration is the lack of change, which has left


many journalists ‘demoralised’ and leading some to shift focus. (Kelly now works in the World Food Programme press office.) As for the pregnant Iraqi-Kurdish woman, Kelly followed


her journey. “I followed them thankfully, safely across the channel and they were dispersed to the north of England,” she says. “I am in touch with them regularly. Tey are doing well now, the kids are in school and their English is amazing. Tere are so many moments in their story.”


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