EXCLUSIVE Grinning small boat migrant chronicles his journey across the Channel to the UK - as he films himself celebrating on Blackpool beach after illegally crossing into Britain
Shocking footage filmed by the migrant and posted on the social media platform showed him on a small boat with around 20 other men being given bottles of water by the French coastguard.
The group of around 30 men cheer, wave and hold out their hands in thanks to the French boat which travels right next to them to hand over the water.
Despite crossings being against the law - and often deadly - the coastguard made no attempt to stop the boat or urge them to return.
It was posted on the TikTok of an account of a man, believed to be from Iraq, called Youssef Hassan. He has more than 5,000 followers.
The footage of the crossing was posted this week and clearly shows him holding his phone in a selfie position.
Another video sees him on the same small boat talking to the camera with people on the boat with him.
Young children can be seen in the centre of the boat.
His TikTok now shows him enjoying living in Blackpool, Lancashire.
The social media giant has been accused of being an 'online travel agent for illegal crossings'.
His profile has the phrase: 'I live in peace and I post videos that I shoot for myself and for my personal page. Greetings to everyone.'
He has posted numerous videos of him enjoying his time in the Lancashire town, including the iconic Blackpool Tower.
He is believed to have travelled through Germany for the boat crossing. He posted videos of him last month in the country.
Videos from Blackpool started this month, and include shots of him outside an amusement arcade.
One follower urged him to return to Iraq and wrote: 'Go back to your family, living abroad is hard. There is nothing better than Iraq, I swear.'
But others wished him well, writing: 'May God protect you, my dear Youssef. Congratulations on your arrival in Britain. God willing your dreams will come true. May God ease your mind and your future. You deserve all the best, my brother.'
The migrant was with a group of around 30 men seen cheering, waving and holding out their hands in thanks to the French boat which travels right next to them to hand over the water
He replied: 'You are my soul.'
Other clips show him outside the Coral Island children's amusement centre in Blackpool.
Each has thousands of views.
On the clip featuring him on the boat, some followers question how easy and safe it is to make it to Britain on a small boat.
One follower boasted how easy it is. He wrote: 'My brother, you will reach Britain, and Britain does not allow rejection and does not allow deportation.
'The English language and work are all Iraqis and it is the best country and trust.'
Another commented him to say: 'May God protect you, my dear Youssef. Congratulations on your arrival in Britain. God willing, your dreams will come true.
'May God ease your mind and your future. You deserve all the best, my brother.'
Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: 'TikTok is basically an online travel agent for illegal crossings. How on earth is this allowed?
'It's just an online advert to say come to Britain, it's easy and you'll have a great life. It's very worrying.'
One source said: 'It looks like this guy is living his best life here in Britain. It's sticking two fingers up to the authorities.
'Not only was he basically helped to get here, he's now living a very good life.'
According to the latest government figures at least 21,000 people have embarked on the perilous journey across the Channel since January, putting 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings.
Earlier this month, Keir Starmer announced a new pilot scheme that will see migrants arriving via small boat being detained and returned to France.
A one-in, one-out system will operate with migrants sent back to France in exchange for asylum seekers.
But the scheme could be canned if it is found to be ineffective.
The new scheme has been condemned by campaigners, who said they would support court cases brought by small-boat arrivals chosen to be sent back to France. A border union boss said the legal challenges could take a year.
Brussels ominously warned that it was assessing whether the scheme complied with the 'spirit and the letter of the law', while governments including Italy were said to be harbouring 'huge doubts' about its legality.
Meanwhile Home Secretary Yvette Cooper refused to say how many of the thousands arriving by dinghy will be removed under the pilot scheme, amid fears it could be even fewer than the 50 a week suggested by French officials.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Mail: 'This pathetic arrangement may be sunk by legal challenges from activist lawyers and irresponsible charities who want to facilitate illegal immigration into the UK.
'With illegal immigration across the Channel so far this year hitting record levels, Keir Starmer must now be bitterly regretting his foolish decision to cancel the Rwanda deterrent scheme before it even started.
'After two years of legal challenges and legislation, the scheme was ready to go, but Starmer cancelled it just days before the first plane was due to take off last July.
'This would have enabled 100 per cent of the illegal immigrants to be immediately removed without judicial interference.
'The boats would soon have stopped. But Starmer is too weak and too mentally enslaved by his human rights lawyer friends to do what is needed to protect our country's borders.'
Downing Street insisted the controversial 'one in, one out' agreement was legally sound and that Brussels supported it.
But fearing that returned migrants could head to Italy, the country's interior minister told Sky News: 'We know the EU Commission is still evaluating the agreement, and EU countries, including us, have huge doubts about security and legal aspects of the deal.'
It has been a decade since a sporadic number of boats with migrants on board arriving off the Kent coast from France was reported in the media.
At the time, the focus was mainly on the thousands of attempts by migrants in northern France, who were attempting to stowaway on lorries and ferries to the UK.
In the nearby Calais Jungle thousands of people, including children, were living under canvass in a camp which was later cleared by the French authorities.
But as security was tightened around the ports and Eurotunnel, within three years, significant numbers were using small boats instead to make the dangerous crossing.
The cost for a single small boat journey can cost upwards of £1,500 for a single person with no guarantee that the journey will be a success.
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