Albanian migrants looking to avoid being deported were told to pull their own teeth out in order to be transferred to a more easily-escaped hospital.
Two men held at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow having come to the UK illegally were given the advise on a TikTok call with someone who claimed to have escaped the unit in 2018.
The migrants are due to be returned to Albania in accordance with its returns agreement with the UK, allowing Albanian nationals found in the UK illegally to be repatriated.
They were also advised on how to smuggle pliers into the removal centre and which jobs available to detainees would allow the best opportunity to escape.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that the proposed methods would work although the men have seemingly been able to illegally smuggle a mobile phone inside the facility previously.
Albanian migrants in line to be deported were advised to pull out there own teeth in order to be transferred to a more easily-escaped hospital
Two men were seen speaking on TikTok Live, from a cell at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre (above) near Heathrow, to another Albanian who claimed to have escaped the centre in 2018
They were also advised on how to smuggle pliers into the removal centre and which jobs available to detainees would allow the best opportunity to escape
In a live TikTok exchange seen by The Telegraph, four Albanians understood to be convicted criminals spoke in detail about the layout of Colnbrook and its security measures.
Speaking to those on camera, using a profile with the name ‘Xhovani’, a man with an account nicknamed ‘The Sting’ advises his compatriots to pull teeth out in order to be moved to hospital, adding that he escaped in 2018 – though here is no public record of an Albanian escaping the centre that year.
He said that this method would allow the men to ‘disappear’ past CCTV.
However, it seemed that the two sides of the conversation disagreed on the level of security at Colnbrook, suggesting it may have been made more secure in the last six years.
Colnbrook is one of the Home Office’s seven immigration removal centres which hold illegal migrants and foreign criminals before they are deported.
In the year to March 2024 – the first full year reported since the UK signed a deal with Albania to return illegal migrants to each other – roughly 3,000 Albanians were returned under the fast track returns agreement.
‘The Sting’ told the men in line to be deported: ‘As young boys, you have paid lots of money getting into the UK and it’s not good at all to be sent to Albania.’
He also suggested volunteering for jobs in the kitchens or taking out rubbish as better options for a would-be escapee, but saying they would have to do the work properly for a few days ‘to get the trust’ of security officers.
Their conversation, on TikTok’s Live feature which allows people to chat to other users in front of their viewers, ended with one of the men suggesting they continued the discussion in private to go through plans ‘properly’.
TikTok’s community guidelines prohibit any promotion of criminality, and the social media site told The Telegraph it relied on ‘relevant authorities’ to flag accounts which might be used by people in prison or detention centres.
It added: ‘We review and will take appropriate action if we have sufficient information indicating violations of local laws.’
A spokesperson from the Home Office confirmed that no detainees have escaped from custody recently, adding that staff are ‘thoroughly trained and strict protocols are in place’ to guard against such events.