The UK has ‘mobilised’ over 40 countries and organisations to launch an unprecedented global fight against ruthless people smuggling gangs
The UK is spearheading the toughest ever international crackdown on organised immigration crime as the Prime Minister and Home Secretary host a landmark summit today (31 March).
The Organised Immigration Crime (OIC) Summit brings together over 40 countries, including the United States, Vietnam, Iraq, and France, to unite behind a new approach to dismantle people smuggling gangs and deliver on working people’s priorities for secure borders.
This is the first time the full range of factors driving illegal migration, from the supply chain in small boats to anti-trafficking measures, illicit finance and social media advertising, have been explored at a global summit of this scale.
The summit will also see representatives from Meta, X and TikTok discuss how to jointly tackle the online promotion of irregular migration.
Through the summit, the government will use all available levers at its disposal to push forward progress in bringing gangs to justice, tackle the global threat of organised immigration crime and protect vulnerable people from exploitation.
To back this drive, the Home Secretary has today announced £30 million of funding going directly to high impact operations from the Border Security Command to tackle supply chains, illicit finances and trafficking routes across Europe, the Western Balkans, Asia, and Africa.
An additional £3 million will enable the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to increase its capacity to prosecute organised international smugglers and expand its international footprint to support the Border Security Command to pursue, disrupt and arrest those responsible for dangerous people smuggling operations.
This reflects the Prime Minister’s long-held view, informed by his work as Chief Prosecutor, that cross border cooperation is the foundation of tackling international gangs and securing Britain’s borders.
In remarks delivered later today, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is expected to say: “This vile trade exploits the cracks between our institutions, pits nations against one another and profits from our inability at the political level to come together.
“When I was the Director of Public Prosecutions, we worked across borders throughout Europe and beyond to foil numerous plots, saving thousands of lives in the process. We prevented planes from being blown up over the Atlantic and brought the perpetrators to justice.
“I believe we should treat organised immigration crime in the same way.
“I simply do not believe organised immigration crime cannot be tackled. We’ve got to combine our resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream at every step of the people smuggling routes.”
The summit will deliver concrete outcomes across Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and North America by strengthening international partnerships, enhancing intelligence sharing, and implementing targeted disruptions to Organised Immigration Crime networks.
As a direct result, we will be able to strengthen UK borders and security and create a more efficient and manageable asylum system, taking the burden away from housing, the NHS and schools, and giving hotels back to the local economy.
Speaking ahead of the summit, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Smuggler and trafficking gangs make their money crossing borders so law enforcement needs to work together across borders to bring them down. Only a coordinated international response, across the whole irregular migration route, can effectively dismantle these networks.
“The Organised Immigration Crime Summit is the first of its kind and will reinforce the UK’s position as a leader by securing international commitments to disrupt Organised Immigration Crime at every stage of the business model.
“The summit demonstrates mine and the Prime Minister’s absolute dedication to disrupting the callous Organised Criminal Gangs, strengthening our borders and ultimately save countless lives.”
The UK’s global leadership on this is issue is already delivering results. France has agreed to launch a unit of specialist officers who are mobile, highly trained and equipped to respond dynamically to prevent small boat launches.
Germany has committed to strengthen their laws against those who facilitate smuggling to the UK and a new UK-Italy taskforce is hitting people smugglers’ financial flows. After boosting the resources for the National Crime Agency to work with international law enforcement partners, they have seized 600 boats and engines since July.
Along with this, work continues at home through giving law enforcement tougher powers than ever to smash the smuggling gangs, ‘ramping up’ removals to record levels and surging illegal working raids to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats.
This comprehensive approach is a vital aspect of the government’s Plan for Change, with the threat from organised immigration crime increasing in scale and complexity.
Organised immigration crime spans multiple countries, nationalities, and criminal methodologies, with recent estimate of the total global income from migrant smuggling reaching $10 billion last year.
Criminal gangs headed by hundreds of kingpins are using sophisticated online tactics, the abuse of legitimate goods and services, and illicit financial networks to facilitate dangerous and illegal journeys which undermine border security and put thousands of lives at risk each year.
The summit will also examine the work of the government’s Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) in supporting the US, by providing innovative space-based maritime surveillance capability to monitor and dismantle any vessels along Haiti’s north coast suspected to be involved in illegal immigration, illegal fishing activities and drug smuggling.
The JMSC is harnessing cutting edge technology and capabilities to provide 24 hour monitoring of UK waters and ensure our borders are secure, by using satellite to provide a better overall understanding of incoming threats to the Turks and Caicos Islands. The UK government is working with our partners in Turks and Caicos to support and protect the Island from irregular migration.
This collaboration demonstrates the UK government’s commitment to deploying advanced capabilities against illegal migration while protecting overseas territories.
There has also been a series of major arrests of smuggling kingpins, including:
- arrests linked to a major Syrian organised crime group responsible for smuggling at least 750 migrants into the UK and Europe
- the arrest of a Turkish national suspected of being a huge supplier of small boats
- the conviction of 2 men in Wales who ran a smuggling ring moving thousands of migrants across Europe
- the arrests in February of 6 men wanted in Belgium over their suspected involvement in a major people smuggling ring
These arrests come alongside the NCA working with the authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for the first time, to facilitate the arrests of 3 men linked to a Kurdish people smuggling organised crime group, as well as an increase in the takedown of social media accounts linked to people smugglers.
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