Syrian refugee calls for compassion towards migrants in emotional plea projected onto White Cliffs of Dover

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A Syrian refugee has shared his experience of crossing the English Channel to seek asylum in the UK through a giant video which was projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover late on Thursday. Hassan Akkad, an NHS cleaner, made an emotional plea for compassion towards migrants after explaining the “terrifying and devastating” journey he took to Britain five years ago. “Hope that I would live a safe and stable life here in Britain having fled my war-torn country.” He added: “Similar to those who are arriving recently, I had to put my trust in a people smuggler because a safe and legal option to seek asylum here was and still is unavailable.” Mr Akkad also argued that the UK was not facing a refugee crisis, but the government was using the migrant crossings as a distraction from the coronavirus pandemic. Although crossing the Channel without approval is not a legal route to the UK, Article 31 of the UN Refugee Convention notes that refugees cannot be penalised for entering the country illegally to claim asylum if they are “coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened” so long as they “present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence”.