Refugee granted asylum ran people-trafficking ring while working in chicken shop, documents reveal
A REFUGEE granted asylum in Britain ran a people-trafficking ring while working in a chicken shop.
Sathasivam Sivagankan, 58, organised clandestine Channel crossings from his rented home, court documents show.
A judge has now ordered the dad of two’s extradition to France, where last year he was convicted of people smuggling and given a five-year jail term in his absence.
Sivagankan had been granted indefinite leave to remain in Britain after fleeing the war in Sri Lanka in 2003 with his wife and sons, who are UK citizens.
The 58-year-old Tamil, of Colliers Wood, South West London, was working part-time at Morley’s chicken shop in Brixton — and receiving universal credits, according to documents.
But he was also a ringleader in a gang which smuggled Sri Lankans into several European countries over two years.
Fourteen people were accused of involvement.
One Channel crossing was thwarted in June 2021.
Sivagankan, who has no UK convictions, was first arrested in London in March 2022 on behalf of French authorities.
A judge originally ordered his extradition in November 2022 on a warrant based on accusations made in France.
He fought extradition saying his wife, who is housebound with physical and mental conditions, needed him as a carer.
But on Friday a judge rejected his claims at Westminster magistrates’ court.
Court papers said: “He is described as an organiser within a European wide criminal group operating in many countries.”
In January 2023 Sivagankan was sentenced in absence at a court in Beauvois near Paris.
The High Court discharged the initial extradition warrant in October 2023, but a new one, based on his conviction, was issued the next month.
Following Friday’s decision, Sivagankan is on £10,000 bail, a curfew and must wear a tag while he awaits extradition.