Latest news with #people smuggling
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Prosecutions of people smugglers tumble under Starmer
Only 150 people smugglers have been prosecuted in the past year despite Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to smash the gangs, figures obtained by the Conservatives show. Some 153 prosecutions were brought for the most serious people-smuggling offence of assisting illegal immigration, a crime that carries a maximum life sentence. Overall, 446 individuals were charged with an immigration offence between July 2024 and June 2025, only 1 per cent of the 43,309 who crossed in small boats during that time. The Tories claimed the prosecutions were the lowest on record apart from a year during the Covid-19 pandemic. They said prosecutions under section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 had fluctuated between a low of 274 in 2019-20 and a high of 471 in 2023. However, Labour said the Tories had miscounted. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'Keir Starmer boasted he would smash the gangs, but the gangs are laughing at him. ' They've never had it easier and crossings are up 50 per cent as a result. We're now heading towards being the illegal immigration capital of Europe. 'It's clear Starmer is incapable of stopping the boats and his backbenchers don't want him to. The country cannot go on like this - the situation in the Channel is a national security emergency. 'Those that arrive illegally from the safety of France must be swiftly deported so the message is clear: if you break into Britain, you will not get a life here.' A Labour spokesman said: 'Robert Jenrick can reinvent himself as many times as he likes, but he cannot rewrite history. With Labour in office, more people were charged with assisting unlawful immigration in our first year in government than in the entire time that Jenrick was in charge of the Immigration System. Indeed, we charged more people with that offence in our first three months than he managed in his last six. 'But much more important than Robert Jenrick's failures in the past are the ones he is making now, and we don't just mean screwing up this attempted attack story against Labour. 'If he was truly serious about prosecuting dangerous people smugglers, he would not have voted against our new law to criminalise people who endanger the lives of others in the Channel, and would instead be supporting us to take that action against those who cause women and children to suffocate and drown on overcrowded small boats,' they added.
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Albanian people smuggler, 44, jailed for over seven years for smuggling 21 migrants in luxury yacht across the Channel
A people smuggler who crammed 21 Albanians into a luxury £70,000 yacht to cross the Channel into Britain has been jailed for seven years. Albanian national Bleda Bega, 44, was at the helm of the 23-foot Tacoma bound for the south west coast of England when it was intercepted by the Border Force on April 13. Hidden below the deck in cramped and dangerous conditions were 20 men and one woman. Bega was jailed at Truro Crown Court for seven years and ten months on Friday after pleading guilty to facilitation offences. Albanians Florjand Lika, 30, and Romeo Zani, 32, had both paid to travel on board the hired yacht to sneak back into the UK after previously being deported. They were each given 12 months in prison. The Mail revealed the sinister new people smuggling tactic when it broke the story about the Tacoma's interception near Falmouth last month. This newspaper revealed that the yacht had been hired by man with an Austrian passport from a reputable boat charter company operating at a quayside office in Brest. Its co-owner, Valery Roue, spotted his vessel leaving French waters for Cornwall via a tracking device and alerted the UK authorities. Mr Roue explained: 'I became suspicious after my yacht left Brest. I watched its route and found her sailing across the Channel.' The incident led British and French immigration authorities to sound the alarm over French charter yachts being targeted to bring migrants into the UK. A 'high alert' was sent out by the French customs authority to all charter boat companies along the Brittany coast, warning them to be vigilant about migrant- smuggling gangs who may try to hire, or simply steal, their yachts. The Tacoma's passengers were detained pending removal, including Lika and Zani, who are set to be deported. Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) Regional Lead Ben Thomas said the case was an example of excellent collaborative work employed to tackle unscrupulous criminal networks operating in the Channel. 'Border Force teams were able to quickly apprehend the vessel and stop its progress, whilst CFI acted swiftly to investigate the individuals on board and take the offenders before the courts,' he said. 'Work continues in collaboration with international partners to track and apprehend all involved in this smuggling operation. 'These criminals put lives at risk for their own gain with these dangerous schemes. 'One by one, we will put a stop to them to protect our borders and safeguard vulnerable people.' Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle said the Government had put forward a serious plan to restore order to the UK's asylum system, which included increased returns and enforcement activity. 'Anyone who seeks to smuggle people into the country in this way faces arrest, prosecution and a jail sentence,' she added. Bega's sentence comes as two other men, Ukrainian nationals, have been charged over an alleged plot to smuggle migrants into Britain on a pleasure boat. Vladyslav Cherniavskyi, 37, and Oleksandr Yavtushenko, 43, appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates Court charged with facilitating illegal immigration, after a yacht was intercepted off the coast of the Isle of Wight on Sunday. Three Albanian men and a Vietnamese woman were handed to the immigration authorities. And another Albanian, Pellumb Selimi, 29, was arrested for failing to appear at court in connection with drugs offences.
Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Corrupt police sanctioned over Channel migrant smuggling
Corrupt police will be among two dozen people smugglers named this week as subject to the first financial sanctions to combat Channel migrant crossings. The suspected criminals behind people smuggling into the UK and Europe will be sanctioned on Wednesday, enabling UK investigators to freeze any assets they have in Britain and those of any individual who supplies them with equipment or helps them financially. Like Russian oligarchs, they will also be banned from travelling to the UK under the new powers, which will be introduced in Parliament on Tuesday, 24 hours before the two dozen 'linchpins' in the illegal trafficking trade are named. At least two corrupt police officers are among those to be 'named and shamed' alongside the gangsters heading the people-smuggling networks, suppliers of dinghies, equipment and fake passports and middlemen who facilitate payments through the Hawala network. The Hawala system enables transfers of funds agreed between operators, or hawaladars, in different countries so no cash crosses borders.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Daily Mail
People smuggler who trafficked adults and children into Britain claimed he shouldn't be deported because 'it would be too disruptive for his daughter'
A people smuggler who trafficked adults and children into Britain has claimed he shouldn't be deported because 'it would be too disruptive for his daughter'. Miklovan Bazegurore is wanted by authorities in Ghent where he was previously sentenced to five years in jail for his part of a human trafficking ring. The Kosovan national had put several adult's and children's lives at risk by smuggling them in the backs of lorries - including one that contained a concrete mixing mill. But his lawyers cited the convicted criminal's right to a family life under European Court of Human Rights act in their appeal against extradition. The claimed his 10-year-old daughter, who has special education needs, would suffer if her father had to spend time in a foreign jail. However, a judge at the Court of Appeal said the severity of the offences trumped the father-of-two's rights. Bazegurore played a central role in the international people smuggling ring that operated between Belgium, France and the UK. The gang 'exploited vulnerable people, including children' for financial gain and smuggled Albanian immigrants into the UK in the back of lorries from the continent. The National Crime Agency caught up with the gang after they intercepted one such lorry containing nine adults and two children in Milton Keynes in June 2016. In August 2016 another lorry was stopped in Belgium and was found to contain nine Albanian adults and four children. Bazegurore was convicted by a court in Ghent of facilitating the illegal immigration of people. The authorities there said Bazegurore was 'centrally involved in the unlawful people smuggling' and that it was an 'habitual, tight and well organised international smuggling ring'. Bazegurore was sentenced to five years in jail by a court in Ghent in March 2018. In September 2018 he was jailed for nine years at Aylesbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration in connection with the Milton Keynes incident. Since he was released from prison for the British offences in 2023 Bazegurore has been fighting extradition to Belgium where he is required to serve his first sentence. A district judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court agreed he should be sent to Belgium to face justice but his lawyers appealed this. They used the European Court of Human Rights Act to try and prevent the British authorities from granting extradition. His barrister Amanda Bostock said that him being extradited would interfere with his, his wife's and his children's right to a family life. It was important for the welfare of his 10 year old daughter, named only as X, to have her parents present to support her. Since he was released from prison in 2023, Bazegurore has worked at a scaffolding yard close to the family home. The court was told that he also takes the children to and from school and has become closer to them. His legal team cited an expert report conducted by Dr Sharon Pettle, a consultant clinical psychologist who said it 'will be extremely disruptive for the children if he is now extradited.' She stated his wife has been able to cope with bringing up their children but found it 'very challenging.' But a Court of Appeal judge has ruled that the people smuggling offences that are outstanding in Belgium were so serious Bazegurore should be extradited. Mr Justice Calver said: 'The difficulty with Ms Bostock's submission is the seriousness of the offence for which the Appellant is wanted by the Belgian authorities. 'The offending was organised and planned. It exploited vulnerable people, including children, for financial gain. 'The offending sought to facilitate the unlawful entry of multiple people into this jurisdiction, thereby undermining the proper operation of the immigration systems and the security of national borders in multiple jurisdictions across Europe. 'The District Judge was correct to identify that the offending for which the Appellant is wanted is one of the most serious offences on the scale of offending. I' can well see that if the offence for which the Appellant were wanted in this case was, for example, shoplifting, then in view of the Appellant's challenging family circumstances the analysis might be very different. 'But it is not: as the Ghent Court of Appeal emphasised the offence is very serious indeed. 'Added to this is the fact that X has her mother, family and friends to assist in her care, albeit I have no doubt it will be a very challenging time for them indeed without their father. ' Mr Justice Calver said the high threshold under Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights of a 'rare' and 'exceptional' case has not been met by Bazegurore lawyers and the appeal was dismissed.
The Independent
13-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Starmer to discuss ‘global problem' of illegal migration with German Chancellor
The Prime Minister is due to discuss border security with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this week as Sir Keir Starmer called illegal migration 'a global problem'. Writing in the Sunday Express newspaper, Sir Keir said Mr Merz's visit to the UK will include talks on 'what more we can do together to prosecute criminal networks and prevent people smuggling to the UK'. 'The networks of these criminal gangs stretch across countless countries and legal systems, showing no respect for our borders,' he added. 'We'll go further to tackle this shared issue together.' According to the Home Office, 353 people crossed the English Channel by small boat on Friday, just a day after the Prime Minister signed a deal with French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at deterring migrants from making the perilous journey. This was down from the 573 people who crossed on Thursday, the first time any such journeys were made in a week. More crossings were witnessed on Saturday, but the full figures are yet to be published. Border force vessels and the RNLI were called out on both Thursday and Friday to reports of multiple boats crossing the channel, the Coastguard said. A statement from the Coastguard said: 'HM Coastguard has been co-ordinating a response to multiple incidents involving small boats in the Channel on 10 and 11 July. 'UK Border Force and RNLI vessels have been sent as part of this response.' Under the terms of the deal agreed by the Prime Minister and Mr Macron, the UK will be able to send migrants back to France for the first time in exchange for asylum seekers with links to Britain. The so-called one in, one out deal is due to begin in weeks on a pilot basis, but needs final legal verification from the EU. Downing Street has indicated ministers expect the EU to support the arrangement, amid concerns among some European governments that migrants who have travelled to Britain could end up back on their territory. No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the pilot, but French officials had indicated it could initially be limited to about 50 a week, a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782. Sir Keir wrote: 'This is what serious, practical solutions to global problems look like. 'We will do our duty as a compassionate country, accepting genuine asylum seekers who respect our rules and our way of life. That is fair. 'But people who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started. That is a real deterrent.' At least 21,000 people have already made the journey since January, putting 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings.
