Articles
The Observer (splash): UK-funded French forces putting migrants’ lives at risk with small-boat tactics
For six months, I worked alongside investigative unit Lighthouse Reports to gather, verify and corroborate evidence which shows for the first time that the French maritime police, funded by the UK government, is carrying out interceptions in the Channel, which experts said could lead to a “mass casualty event”.
This piece resulted in legal challenges against Secretaries of State on both sides of the Channel and prompted Europe-wide media coverage, including the front page of Le Monde and Der Spiegel and main news stories on BBC Radio 4, ITV and Sky News.
The Guardian: ‘If we fail, the NHS will fail’: Tories’ drive to cut migration leaves social care on a cliff-edge
Shortly after Home Secretary James Cleverly announced the latest cuts to net migration, including the ban on care workers bringing dependents to the UK, I spent a 13-hour shift shadowing a registered nurse from Ghana at a care home in Scarborough.
The Guardian: Dodging death and immigration officers: 12 hours as a London fast-food rider – and all for £40
As part of a new series for The Guardian on worker's rights, I shadowed a delivery rider on a 12-hour Friday night shift around Soho in London.
This widely-shared piece of reportage focused on pay and conditions; the relationship between apps, restaurants and its riders; safety concerns; and the precarity for riders, including those like Shaffi who have worked for Deliveroo and UberEats for several years.
The Independent (front page): Horror in the Channel: cruel mystery of the missing small boats migrants
This piece is the first in my mini-series, which tells the stories of those who have gone missing in the Channel. I look at who they are, why they boarded and what happened to them. Years later, their families are still waiting for a message to come in, or a knock at the door.
The Guardian: Home Office funds ‘return and reintegration assistance’ and provides equipment and training to Turkish border forces
A six-month long investigation for The Guardian found that a unit within the Home Office is providing funding, training and equipment to Turkey’s national police and coastguard for ‘upstream’ projects designed to prevent migrants reaching UK shores. We documented a range of human rights abuses taking place on the border with Iran, which have been bankrolled by the British government. In response to my reporting, shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock submitted an urgent question to the Home Office.
The Observer: Asylum seekers ‘abused and intimidated by staff in Home Office hotels’
Current and former staff working for Home Office subcontractor Serco described to me a culture of “institutional abuse” against asylum seekers at five hotels in and around Liverpool. Since this investigation was published, I have begun work on a series which will look into other instances of abuse inside Home Office hotels.
This piece was shortlisted for Best Written News Story at the Amnesty Media Awards 2024.
The Observer (front page): Revealed: UK has failed to resettle Afghans facing torture and death despite promise
This months-long investigation reveals that not one Afghan has been evacuated to the UK under the ACRS programme, announced in January 2022, with many facing torture, kidnapping and death while they wait for a response from the UK government.
Through open-source intelligence and with input from a forensic physician, reporter May Bulman and I verified evidence of serious harm among those left behind, who worked with or alongside the British government over many years.
The Independent splash: Revealed: Coastguard failings in run up to Channel migrant drowning disaster
A deep dive on failings within HM Coastguard, which led to the deaths of 27 people in the Channel on 24 November 2021. I speak to a source within the coastguard about whether lessons have been learned a year on and what still needs to change.
The Observer (front): Revealed: supermarket staff recruited to make ‘life and death’ asylum decisions
This exclusive, front page piece is a result of extensive interviewing over more than six months, having built trust with a wide range of sources at UKVI centres.
It was raised by Diana Johnson MP, Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, in her Sunday morning broadcast interviews on the Channel crisis and referenced by Yvette Cooper and Stella Creasy in the House of Commons. BBC Newsnight and Channel 4 News ran follow-up reports.
The Independent splash: Immigration officials target mosques, temples and churches to advise people to return home
This exclusive, front page piece resulted in an urgent question from Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and was discussed in paper reviews across broadcast media. It follows months of data gathering and interviewing.
The Guardian: Facial recognition smartwatches to be used to monitor foreign offenders in UK
A scoop on a £6m Home Office contract awarded to a private technology company to produce watches that scan the faces of migrants. This article was featured prominently on page 2 of the paper and in headlines. It went viral online.
The Guardian: Afghan embassy staff remain in hiding despite being eligible for UK relocation
Speaking to Afghans who remain in hiding almost a year after the British government promised to relocate them.
This widely-shared piece told the story of Kemi, a woman who received a substantial bill less than two weeks after her baby was born. Unable to pay the bill and cover her rent, her landlord evicted her and both she and her six-week-old baby were forced to sleep on the streets and rely on foodbanks to survive. The piece was syndicated and translated into several languages, also appearing as an item on BBC Woman’s Hour.
Four days after this piece was published, the Home Office granted this man asylum, after a near two-year wait. My Twitter thread was retweeted more than 1,600 times.
This piece was viewed more than a million times after a viral tweet called out the Home Office’s attempts to kill the story before publication.
Speaking to small boat arrivals on the Kent coast, the day after the government announced its Rwanda offshore asylum processing deal. This was the first piece across UK media to include the voices of new arrivals.
This article was the first across UK media to cover the ‘visa issue’ for the Ukrainian spouses of British nationals fleeing Russian attacks. It was raised by Yvette Cooper in the House of Commons and led to opposition leaders, immigration lawyers, NGOs, activists, journalists and members of the public campaigning for the Home Office to drop visa requirements for Ukrainians seeking sanctuary in the UK.
My Twitter thread had over 2 million impressions, was retweeted more than 5,000 times and liked 18,000 times. The article received the coveted ‘five clocks’, with an average reading time of over one minute and more than 100,000 reads in the first 24 hours after publication.
This article was retweeted more than 2,600 times within 24 hours of publication. Senior Home Office policy advisors made a formal request for copy to be amended, which was rejected by Guardian editors. Deighton Pierce Glynn Solicitors, who represent the central case study, say the traction of the article will support Adna’s legal challenge and will lead to significant compensation from the Home Office.
The Guardian: Non-EU spouses of UK nationals in visa limbo after job cuts and furloughs
This report resulted in changes to Home Office guidance on spousal visas and the reopening of 19 overseas visa centres within 48 hours of publication.
