Latest news with #peopleSmuggling
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
UK sanctions 25 targets involved in alleged people smuggling
The United Kingdom has sanctioned 25 targets involved in alleged people smuggling, under a new financial sanctions regime targeting those facilitating the travel of refugees and migrants across the English Channel via small boats. The individuals and entities targeted on Wednesday include a small boat supplier in Asia and gang leaders based in the Balkans and North Africa. 'Middlemen' putting cash through the hawala money transfer system in the Middle East, which is used in payments linked to Channel crossings, are also targeted. It is unclear how effective the new sanctions regime will be, since British authorities can only freeze assets that are in the UK, and most of the smugglers are based elsewhere. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday that it was a 'landmark moment in the government's work to tackle organised immigration crime [and] reduce irregular migration to the UK'. 'From Europe to Asia, we are taking the fight to the people smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions,' he added. The move follows legislation being introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to ramp up enforcement powers for police forces and partners to investigate and prosecute people smugglers. As part of the new sanctions regime, which was introduced two days ago, the government can now freeze assets, impose travel bans and block access to the country's financial system for individuals and entities involved in enabling irregular migration, without relying on criminal or counterterrorism laws. Albanian Bledar Lala, leader of the Belgian operations of an organised smuggling group, and a company in China that advertised small boats for people smuggling on an online marketplace are among those sanctioned. The number of refugees and migrants arriving on England's southern coast via small boats from northern France is a major political issue for Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government, which has seen the far-right Reform UK party make significant political gains with a hardline anti-immigration platform. Starmer recently agreed to migration deals with France and Germany. Earlier this month, Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to a 'one in, one out' deal in which refugees and migrants arriving by small boats would be returned to France in exchange for an equal number of migrants being able to come to the UK from France via a new legal route, which would be fully documented and subject to strict security checks. Last week, Germany and the UK signed a historic defence treaty, in which Berlin committed to making facilitating the smuggling of refugees and migrants to the UK a criminal offence. The law change, which is expected to be passed by the end of the year, will give German authorities more powers to investigate and take action against warehouses and storage facilities used by smugglers to conceal small boats for Channel crossings. Some 37,000 people crossed the English Channel in 2024, and more than 22,000 so far in 2025 – an increase of about 50 percent from the same period last year. Dozens of people have died attempting the journey.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- 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.
The Independent
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Starmer to host Merz in chancellor's first official visit to UK
Sir Keir Starmer will host German chancellor Friedrich Merz on his first official visit to the UK on Thursday as the Prime Minister seeks to boost ties on defence and tackling people smuggling operations. Berlin agreed last year to make facilitating the smuggling of migrants to the UK a criminal offence in a move that will give law enforcements more powers to investigate the supply and storage of small boats to be used for Channel crossings. Mr Merz is expected to commit to adopting the law change by the end of the year. 'Chancellor Merz's commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome,' Sir Keir said. 'As the closest of allies, we will continue to work closely together to deliver on the priorities that Brits and Germans share.' The Prime Minister has been seeking to strengthen ties with EU countries, including to bring down small boat crossings, and last week secured a migrant return agreement with France. The UK and Germany, two of the biggest providers of support to Ukraine, signed a defence pact last year with the aim of closer co-operation in the face of a growing threat from Russia. During Mr Merz's visit, the leaders are expected to unveil an agreement to jointly produce defence exports such as Boxer armoured vehicles and Typhoon jets and commit to developing their deep precision strike missile in the next decade, with a range of more than 2,000 kilometres. The chancellor and Sir Keir will also sign a bilateral friendship and cooperation treaty that includes plans to set up a new UK-Germany Business Forum. Sir Keir said: 'The Treaty we will sign today, the first of its kind, will bring the UK and Germany closer than ever. It not only marks the progress we have already made and the history we share. 'It is the foundation on which we go further to tackle shared problems and invest in shared strengths.' A series of commercial investments are being announced to coincide with the visit, worth more than £200 million and will create more than 600 new jobs. These include defence tech company Stark setting up a production facility in Swindon, its first outside Germany, and conversational AI firm Cognigy investing £50 million and expanding its UK team from 13 to 150.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Starmer to host Merz in chancellor's first official visit to UK
Sir Keir Starmer will host German chancellor Friedrich Merz on his first official visit to the UK on Thursday as the Prime Minister seeks to boost ties on defence and tackling people smuggling operations. Berlin agreed last year to make facilitating the smuggling of migrants to the UK a criminal offence in a move that will give law enforcements more powers to investigate the supply and storage of small boats to be used for Channel crossings. Mr Merz is expected to commit to adopting the law change by the end of the year. 'Chancellor Merz's commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome,' Sir Keir said. 'As the closest of allies, we will continue to work closely together to deliver on the priorities that Brits and Germans share.' The Prime Minister has been seeking to strengthen ties with EU countries, including to bring down small boat crossings, and last week secured a migrant return agreement with France. The UK and Germany, two of the biggest providers of support to Ukraine, signed a defence pact last year with the aim of closer co-operation in the face of a growing threat from Russia. During Mr Merz's visit, the leaders are expected to unveil an agreement to jointly produce defence exports such as Boxer armoured vehicles and Typhoon jets and commit to developing their deep precision strike missile in the next decade, with a range of more than 2,000 kilometres. The chancellor and Sir Keir will also sign a bilateral friendship and cooperation treaty that includes plans to set up a new UK-Germany Business Forum. Sir Keir said: 'The Treaty we will sign today, the first of its kind, will bring the UK and Germany closer than ever. It not only marks the progress we have already made and the history we share. 'It is the foundation on which we go further to tackle shared problems and invest in shared strengths.' A series of commercial investments are being announced to coincide with the visit, worth more than £200 million and will create more than 600 new jobs. These include defence tech company Stark setting up a production facility in Swindon, its first outside Germany, and conversational AI firm Cognigy investing £50 million and expanding its UK team from 13 to 150.
Telegraph
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Migrants evade French police hours after deal agreed
Dozens of migrants avoided French police and crossed the Channel in small boats hours after Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer agreed a 'one-in, one-out' returns scheme to try to break the operations of people-smuggling gangs. Inflatable dinghies packed with mostly young men from East Africa and the Middle East were launched off beaches between Dunkirk and Boulogne towards British waters in the early hours of Friday morning. Two Border Force vessels, Defender and Hurricane, which can carry up to 95 people each, were later seen arriving at Dover with large groups of migrants, including a small number of women and children, on board. The Coastguard confirmed that it was dealing with 'multiple incidents' in the Channel and that an RNLI lifeboat from Dungeness had been deployed to assist. It comes after Sir Keir, the Prime Minister, and Mr Macron, the president of France, agreed on Thursday evening to trial a scheme in which migrants arriving on small boats from France will be denied asylum and detained under powers enabling their claims to be declared inadmissible because they have arrived from a 'safe' country. They will then be returned to France 'as soon as possible'. In return, a similar number of migrants of any nationality in France will be allowed to claim asylum in the UK via an online platform. The Government has not confirmed the precise number of migrants to be returned, but estimates from French authorities suggest up to 50 a week, or the equivalent of 2,600 in a year. So far this year, 21,470 people travelling on 362 inflatable boats have successfully made the crossing, according to official figures. This does not include the hundreds of migrants who smuggled themselves into the UK on Thursday on dinghies launched from Dunkirk and Wissant beaches. At 5am on Thursday, The Telegraph encountered two squads of gendarmes dressed in tactical gear and armed with handguns patrolling Ambleteuse, a seaside commune in Pas-de-Calais and a smuggling hub. 'We are here specifically for migrants', one gendarme told the Telegraph before walking along the beach dotted with Second World War German bunkers. Marc Allègre, a spokesman for a French police union, admitted that monitoring the entire coast was an impossible task. He said: 'We've known the instructions for years. We have to stop the boats from leaving. We're short of people; we can't patrol 200km of coastline seven days a week.' More than 1,200 police and gendarmes have been deployed along the French coast and are funded, in part, by the UK government. In March 2023, Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, promised Mr Macron's government £500 million towards recruiting 500 extra officers over the subsequent three years and the construction of a new detention facility. A Home Office spokesman said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. 'The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay, and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice. That is why this Government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage. 'Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.'
