Vodafone caught in Reform migrant storm over supplying SIMS to CARE4CALAIS

Furious Reform UK spokesperson for home affairs Zia Yusuf has written to the Vodafone board demanding answers over the network’s relationship with Care4Calais and alleged supply of 2,221 SIM cards to the refugee and migrant charity. 

Yusuf demands to know how the SIMs were funded, what services they provided and whether Vodafone knew the immigration status of the people who ultimately received them.

He wants to know whether any of the SIMs remain active and whether the operator intends to continue its support for the charity.

Care4Calais provides support to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and northern France, including people living in temporary accommodation and migrant camps.

According to the letter, Vodafone supplied 2,221 SIM cards to Care4Calais. He is seeking clarification over whether Vodafone or its charitable foundation paid for the connectivity and what calls, texts and mobile data were included.

He writes: “It may be that you were not informed about the decision to support Care4Calais. I therefore want to give you the opportunity to publicly disavow Vodafone’s distribution of pre-paid SIM cards to illegal migrants. If you didn’t know, you should review your procedures as – if Vodafone persists in aiding and abetting the invasion of Britain, you will face criminal sanctions under a Reform UK Government.

“A Reform UK Government will hold each and every officer and director of Vodafone Group Plc and all relevant subsidiaries personally and criminally liable for distributing SIM cards to illegal migrants. If found guilty, you would be liable to go to prison.

 Yusuf asks whether Vodafone can be certain that SIMs supplied through the charity were not used by people entering the UK illegally.

He also asks whether Vodafone believes its support could amount to “assistance or encouragement” of illegal entry into the UK — a characterisation on which Vodafone has yet to respond.

Call for SIMs to be cancelled

Yusuf calls on Vodafone to cancel any SIMs supplied through the scheme that remain active and to end its relationship with Care4Calais.

The Reform UK chairman also asks whether Vodafone holds location or usage information relating to the SIMs and, if so, whether it would provide relevant information to UK or French authorities.

Mobile operators are subject to legal and regulatory requirements governing customer data, privacy and the circumstances in which information can be disclosed to law enforcement agencies.

The letter therefore raises a broader question for the telecoms industry over how corporate charitable programmes should operate when connectivity is provided indirectly to potentially vulnerable users whose individual circumstances may not be known to the network.

Vodafone has been approached for comment