Migrant Arrested after Walking Through Channel Tunnel

A Sudanese illegal immigrant has been arrested in Kent after walking 30.5 of the 31 mile Channel Tunnel from France to England.

Although Abdul Rahman Haroun, 40, was arrested only half a mile from the Channel Tunnel mouth in Folkstone, Kent, the railway has already travelled underneath Kent for two miles by that point after it comes ashore below the Samphire Hoe nature reserve.

Unlike other migrants who have, in many cases successfully, used the tunnel as a means to enter the United Kingdom illegally the immigrant is thought to have walked the whole way, reports The Independent. More usually, illegals gain entry to lorries being carried on the Shuttle trains, or climb onto freight wagons, a perilous endeavour which has seen many killed as they fall below the wheels of moving vehicles and carriages.

Because of Haroun’s unusual means of entering the United Kingdom, the police were also able to charge him with an unusual crime, the 1861 offence of causing an obstruction to an engine or a carriage using the railway.

The wide-ranging Malicious Damage Act was enacted to criminalise the sabotage of national infrastructure and industry, as fear of Anarchist and Fenian terrorists grew. Offences included damage caused by riots, damaging industrial machinery, ‘injuries’ to crops, trees, and fences, and even sabotaging canals. Such was the extent of the law causing injury to ponds, laying wood on railway lines “with intent to obstruct or overthrow an engine”, and deliberately damaging works of art were even catered for.

For the offence, during which the Euro Tunnel had to be suspended to prevent him being struck by passing trains, Haroun could spend two years in jail – but would most likely be able to apply for asylum upon his release.

There are now indications the sentiment of British people towards the rising tide of illegal immigration is starting to harden. One example is a petition to the British government which calls, in uncompromising language, for illegals to be “segregated and deported”. The number of signatories has trebled in the past two days and has almost reached the 10,000 signatures required to trigger a response from the government. Calling on the government to take action, petitioner Michael Robson wrote:

“Stop all benefits to illegal immigrants completely.

“The Government must act now and stop any form of benefit to all illegal immigrants, there should be no free benefit to those whom illegally enter the UK. Segregation and deportation for all the illegal immigrants and a life time ban to anyone entering the United Kingdom illegally”.

The petition has until February 2016 to garner 100,000 signatures.

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