Latest news with #illegalImmigration
Sky News
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Clampdown on social media ads for Channel crossings unveiled
Why you can trust Sky News Anyone who advertises Channel crossings or fake passports on social media could face up to five years in prison under new government plans. Research suggests about 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat used internet platforms during their journey - including to contact agents linked to smuggling gangs. While it is already illegal to assist illegal immigration, ministers hope the creation of a new offence will give police more powers and disrupt business models. 1:42 Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is also planning to introduce a fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog, meaning decisions will be made within weeks. It comes as official figures show more than 25,000 people have arrived on small boats so far in 2025 - a record for this point in the year. Ms Cooper said it is "immoral" for smugglers to sell false promises online, adding: "These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. "We are determined to do everything we can to stop them, wherever they operate." The new offence prohibiting the online promotion of Channel crossings is set to be included in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament. 0:27 Officials from the National Crime Agency already work with tech giants to remove such posts - with more than 8,000 taken offline last year. A Preston-based smuggler who was jailed for 17 years had posted videos of migrants thanking him for his help. Meanwhile, Albanian smugglers have created promotions for £12,000 "package deals" which claim to offer accommodation and a job in the UK on arrival. The Conservatives have described the measures as "too little, too late" - and say automatic deportations are the only way to tackle small boat crossings. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "Labour still has no clear plan to deter illegal entry, no effective enforcement and no strategy to speed up removals. This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing." 0:49 It comes as protests outside hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers continue in towns and cities across the UK. Several demonstrators were detained - with police breaking up brief clashes - outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in north London yesterday. The government is legally required to provide accommodation and subsistence to destitute asylum seekers while their claims are being decided, most of whom are prohibited from working.
Sky News
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Smugglers advertising Channel crossings on social media could face five years in prison
Anyone who advertises Channel crossings or fake passports on social media could face up to five years in prison under new government plans. Research suggests about 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat used internet platforms during their journey - including to contact agents linked to smuggling gangs. While it is already illegal to assist illegal immigration, ministers hope the creation of a new offence will give police more powers and disrupt business models. 1:42 Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is also planning to introduce a fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog, meaning decisions will be made within weeks. It comes as official figures show more than 25,000 people have arrived on small boats so far in 2025 - a record for this point in the year. Ms Cooper said it is "immoral" for smugglers to sell false promises online, adding: "These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. "We are determined to do everything we can to stop them, wherever they operate." The new offence prohibiting the online promotion of Channel crossings is set to be included in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament. 0:27 Officials from the National Crime Agency already work with tech giants to remove such posts - with more than 8,000 taken offline last year. A Preston-based smuggler who was jailed for 17 years had posted videos of migrants thanking him for his help. Meanwhile, Albanian smugglers have created promotions for £12,000 "package deals" which claim to offer accommodation and a job in the UK on arrival. The Conservatives have described the measures as "too little, too late" - and say automatic deportations are the only way to tackle small boat crossings. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "Labour still has no clear plan to deter illegal entry, no effective enforcement and no strategy to speed up removals. This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing." 0:49 It comes as protests outside hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers continue in towns and cities across the UK. Several demonstrators were detained - with police breaking up brief clashes - outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in north London yesterday. The government is legally required to provide accommodation and subsistence to destitute asylum seekers while their claims are being decided, most of whom are prohibited from working.
Daily Mail
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Proof that Starmer's 'smash the gangs' campaign is a joke: Small boat migrant tally hits 25,000 in record time
Keir Starmer 's pledge to 'smash the gangs' was in tatters on Thursday night after a new record was set for Channel crossings. More than 25,000 migrants have now arrived in the UK in small boats this year, the earliest the milestone has been hit. Nearly 900 migrants arrived in Dover from northern France on Wednesday, bringing the total for 2025 so far to 25,436, Home Office figures show. The record figure, represents a rise of more than 50 per cent on 2024, prompted demands for Labour to declare a 'national emergency'. One of the Prime Minister's first acts after winning power was to scrap the Conservatives ' Rwanda scheme, which was designed to deter migrants from risking the dangerous journey. A pilot for his 'one in, one out' migrant returns deal with France's President Macron - signed last month - has not yet begun. The scheme is expected to initially see just 50 Channel migrants a week swapped with asylum seekers already in France. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told the Mail: 'Starmer promised to smash the gangs, but all he's smashing is illegal immigration records instead. It will only get worse.' Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, added: '2025 is the worst year on record so far and the Labour Government are doing nothing to stop the crossings. This is now a national emergency. 'Their 17 in one out deal with France will not even make a dent - it would take ten years for Yvette Cooper to deport the illegal immigrants that have arrived since the start of this year alone under her so-called deal which still hasn't started. 'The Conservative Party's Deportation Bill would bring this circus to an end. We would detain illegal arrivals on the spot, deport them without delay. If the ECHR stands in our way, we will leave it.' In 2024, the 25,000 mark was passed on September 22 and in 2023 it was even later, on October 2. The previous earliest it had been breached was in 2022 The first year in which at least 25,000 arrivals were recorded was 2022, when the milestone was passed on August 27, and the total went on to hit a record 45,774 by the end of December. Predictions suggest this year's total could hit 50,000. The jump in arrivals this year has coincided with a rise in the number of migrants making the perilous journey in a single craft. The average for 2025 is currently running at 59 people per boat, the highest on record, up from 53 in 2024 and 49 in 2023. On some days this year the average has been as high as 75. The Home Office has vowed to increase co-operation with France and the EU to tackle the criminal networks behind the crossings. French officials have been handed £771million of British taxpayers' money to step up patrols on beaches but continue to be criticised for their lax response. Fresh proof came on Tuesday, when pictures emerged showing a group of gendarmes standing idly by as a group of migrants headed to a smuggler's boat. One officer even appeared to be taking a selfie moments after the flimsy craft set sail towards the English coast. On Thursday, the National Crime Agency (NCA) announced it had worked with Bulgarian authorities to seize 25 small boats that were due to be used in the Channel. But the Conservatives have long insisted the crossings will continue without an effective deterrent. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'By scrapping the Rwanda deterrent, Starmer might as well have put up a big neon welcome sign on the cliffs of Dover. 'We will deport anyone who arrives here illegally.' Migrants who cross the Channel and claim asylum are usually moved into taxpayer-funded hotels, which have been the centre of repeated protests. These began at The Bell Hotel in Epping on July 13, after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl in the Essex town. Local political leaders have urged the Home Office to make the site a 'priority for urgent closure', citing community tensions that have put a strain on policing. Currently, 32,000 asylum seekers are housed in hotels at a cost of £3 billion per year. Pressure to reduce the use of hotels has prompted Sir Keir to announce 445 new places for asylum seekers at RAF Wethersfield in Essex - despite previously pledging not to do so. Wethersfield is one of just two Home Office mass accommodation sites - along with Napier barracks in Folkestone which was already the largest. It is understood more adult migrants will be moved into the former military site, which has a usual capacity of 800 beds, on a short-term basis. The new milestone for small boat crossing comes as separate figures showed the population of England and Wales is estimated to have grown by more than 700,000 people in the year to June - driven almost entirely by international migration. There were an estimated 61.8million people in England and Wales in mid-2024, up 706,881 from 61.1million in mid-2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is the second-largest annual numerical rise in more than 75 years, with net international migration - the difference between people moving to the country and leaving - accounting for 98 per cent of the total, the ONS said. Commenting on the issue of small boat crossings, a Home Office spokesman said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
The National
22-07-2025
- Business
- The National
UK imposes sanctions on migrant smuggling bosses
Britain has launched a sanctions regime for people smugglers that it hopes will tackle a multibillion-dollar industry sending record numbers across its borders. Officials are targeting gang leaders, corrupt police officers and companies selling small boat equipment for Channel crossings. Those involved in the trade in Europe, the Middle East and beyond face having their assets frozen and being banned from travel to the UK. David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said sanctions introduced to target anyone involved in assisting illegal immigration to the UK would be imposed as soon as Wednesday. The target group ranges from those involved in supplying and financing small boats, suppliers of fake passports, and middlemen putting cash through the hawala system, a legal money transfer system that enables the payments linked to Channel crossings. The first wave of sanctions will publicly name anyone sanctioned, so it will be illegal for UK businesses and banks to deal with the so-called Mr Bigs of the trade. First named The measure is expected to include more than 20 designations, and could include corrupt public officials and police officers in steps to tackle the multibillion-dollar industry. 'For too long, criminal gangs have been lining their corrupt pockets and preying on the hopes of vulnerable people with impunity as they drive irregular migration to the UK,' Mr Lammy said. 'We will not accept this status quo. 'That's why the UK has created the world's first sanctions regime targeted at gangs involved in people smuggling and driving irregular migration, as well as their enablers.' Legislation under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is designed to increase enforcement powers for police forces and partners to investigate and prosecute people smugglers. New sanctions aim to target organised crime gangs wherever they are in the world and disrupt their flow of cash, including freezing bank accounts, property and other assets, to hinder their activities. 'It will allow us to target the assets and operations of people smugglers wherever they operate, cutting off their funding and dismantling their networks piece by piece,' said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. 'There is no hiding place for those who exploit vulnerable people and put lives at risk for profit.' Experts gave the announcement a cautious welcome as the latest statistics showed more than 23,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel since the start of the year. The rate is running 50 per cent higher than last year, despite government promises to 'smash the gangs'. 'Targeting fixers and infrastructure suppliers aims to make them untouchable in the illegal migration business and represents a new front in the UK's efforts to control a business model that brings profit to the enablers and misery to those caught up in this crime,' said Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Finance and Security at the Rusi think tank.
The Guardian
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Corrupt foreign border officials face being banned from the UK
Corrupt foreign officials, including police officers who profit from people smuggling, face being banned from the UK and having their assets frozen. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has announced a sanctions regime that from Wednesday will target anyone involved in assisting illegal immigration. It is understood this will include foreign officials such as border guards and police officers who have taken bribes from those involved in supplying and financing small boats. Producers of fake passports and 'middlemen' who transfer cash through the hawala legal money transfer system will also be targeted. The move is part of a series of measures intended to disrupt the activities of people smugglers after a pledge from Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to 'smash the gangs'. Lammy said: 'Those involved will face having their assets frozen, being shut off from the UK financial system and banned from travelling to the UK.' Legislation is being introduced under the border security, asylum and immigration bill to increase enforcement powers for police forces and partners to investigate and prosecute people smugglers. The government is under growing pressure over irregular migration. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, claimed on Monday that women and girls were facing a 'public safety crisis' as a result of crimes committed by 'illegal immigrants'. Philp's comments were delivered in the Commons after six people were arrested after a protest outside an Essex hotel believed to house asylum seekers. A series of demonstrations has taken place outside the Bell Hotel in Epping since Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, a 38-year-old asylum seeker, was charged with sexual assault over allegedly trying to kiss a girl of 14. He denied the charge at Chelmsford magistrates court last Thursday. Philp told MPs: 'Numbers in asylum hotels are now higher than at the time of the election. This is a border security crisis, but it is also a public safety crisis, especially for women and girls.' He urged the government to 'record and publish the immigration status of all offenders' and to close the hotel in Epping. Diana Johnson, the crime and policing minister, said it was 'vital that the criminal justice procedures are able to run their course'. She added that the government took any allegation of sexual assault 'incredibly seriously' and was changing the law to ensure those convicted of sexual offences were not granted asylum.
