Tag: illegal immigration

Immigration Enforcement raids ‘at the highest level in UK history’

Record number of arrests and raids of illegal workers across the UK

Illegal working arrests and raids have reached the highest level in UK history thanks to ‘relentless activity’ by the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement teams. 

Latest figures reveal the number of raids have soared by 77% in the UK since the government came into power, leading to an 83% rise in arrests (July 2024 to end of December 2025). 

There were 695 raids across Scotland leading to around 400 arrests.

Over 17,400 raids were made to dodgy businesses – such as nail bars, car washes, barbers and takeaway shops – targeting those attempting to undercut honest workers and hide in plain sight.  

The major uplift, which led to more than 12,300 arrests, was made possible by a £5m funding boost last year for Immigration Enforcement, to target and pursue illegal working criminality. 

In Northern Ireland, 187 raids were carried out in 2025, leading to 234 arrests – a 76% and 169% rise respectively compared to 2024.  

The crackdown on illegal working builds on this Labour government’s work to restore order to the immigration system and end the lure of illegal working that gangs use to sell spaces on small boats. 

The activity sits on top of the government’s wider work to remove and deport 50,000 illegal migrants from the UK  – a 23% increase under this government. 

Today’s figures come after the Home Secretary set out sweeping reforms to the immigration system – making it less attractive for illegal migrants to come to the UK and easier to deport and remove those with no right to be here.   

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said:  ”There is no place for illegal working in our communities. 

“That is why we have surged enforcement activity to the highest level in British history so illegal migrants in the black economy have nowhere to hide. 

“I will stop at nothing to restore order and control to our borders.”

Northern Ireland Secretary, Hilary Benn, said: “Illegal working undercuts honest businesses across Northern Ireland and fuels the criminal gangs who profit from human exploitation.

“This Government has increased enforcement to record levels, and the message is clear: there is no place for those flouting the law.”

The new figures come as Immigration Enforcement officers across the UK are now equipped with body worn video technology.

Following the start of the launch in September last year, all teams are now benefitting from this capability which will help bolster arrests and prosecutions further.   

Immigration Compliance and Enforcement Lead for Northern Ireland, Paul McHarron, said:  “Illegal working is against the law and will not be tolerated. 

“My teams will continue working around the clock to ensure those involved face the full force of the law.”

During illegal working raids last year, officers visited a range of sectors including restaurants, construction sites and nail bars:  

  • An immigration enforcement visit was conducted at VN Nail & Spa Salon in Belfast City Centre on 1 May. Three workers of Vietnamese nationality were arrested for illegal working. As a result, one individual was detained for removal.  
  • On 28 June, officers visited Europa Car Wash in Bangor. Four individuals of Romanian, Ethiopian and Jordanian nationality, were arrested for illegal working, with two detained for removal from the UK as a result.  
  • On 25 October, officers visited Beijing House in Londonderry. Three illegal workers of Chinese nationality were arrested. A Civil Penalty Referral Notice was served on the business owner.  Further inquiries to establish any liability and the liable employer will now take place. The liable employer could face a substantial fine if it’s found they employed illegal workers and failed to conduct relevant pre-employment checks.

And through the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, the government is expanding right to work checks, so they cover the gig, casual, subcontracted and temporary worker economy, ensuring there is no hiding place for illegal workers to flout the rules. 

On top of this, the Organised Immigration Crime Domestic Taskforce is bringing together law enforcement and government partners, including the National Crime Agency, National Police Chiefs Council, Border Security Command and Immigration Enforcement, to use every available tool to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal smuggling gangs operating in the UK. 

Over the last 12 months, there has been a 33% surge in disruptions related to migrant smuggling – with nearly 4,000 disruptions since July 2024 – and a landmark deal with France means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.  

To further ensure people can only work in the UK if they have permission, the government announced last year it will be introducing digital ID, which will be mandatory to prove someone’s right to work by the end of Parliament.   

This will create a simpler, more consistent way for employers to check someone’s  eligibility to work. The move will make it harder for illegal migrants to find work and allow the government to identify rogue business owners who are failing to conduct checks.  

This work combined forms part of the government’s ‘laser focus’ to secure the UK’s borders and end the false promise of work used to sell spaces on dangerous small boats.

UK sanctions people-smuggling gangs and enablers in global crackdown

Gang ring leaders, key intermediaries and suppliers of people-smuggling equipment have today been hit with the first ever sanctions targeting irregular migration by the UK

  • UK sanctions 25 targets at the heart of people-smuggling networks that drive irregular migration to the UK. 
  • Sanctions come on day 1 of the UK’s world-first dedicated sanctions regime targeting irregular migration and organised immigration crime. 
  • Action marks latest step in government’s campaign to secure Britain’s borders and reduce irregular migration, delivering on the Plan for Change.  

Gang ring leaders, key intermediaries and suppliers of people-smuggling equipment have today [July 23] been hit with the first ever sanctions targeting irregular migration by the UK. 
 
Today’s sanctions target individuals and entities involved in people-smuggling and driving irregular migration to the UK, from a small boat supplier in Asia, to informal Hawala money movers in the Middle East, to gang leaders based in the Balkans and North Africa. 

They cover a range of different activities from supplying small boats explicitly for smuggling, to sourcing fake passports, middlemen facilitating illicit payments through Hawala, people-smuggling via lorries and small boats, and the gangland leaders themselves. 

Sanctions can disrupt the flow of money and materials – including freezing property, bank accounts and other assets – which allow organised criminal gangs to operate this vile trade.  
 
The plans are ‘a key example of the FCDO using innovative foreign policy approaches to deliver on the government’s Plan for Change’.

The regime will be the world’s first dedicated to targeting people-smuggling and organised immigration crime, with the exploitation of vulnerable people by criminals and their associated networks being one of the key drivers of irregular migration to the UK. 

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:  “This is a landmark moment in the government’s work to tackle organised immigration crime, reduce irregular migration to the UK and deliver on the Plan for Change. 

“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.  

“My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this: we know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account.”

Among those sanctioned today is Bledar Lala, an Albanian who is in control of the ‘Belgium operations’ of an organised criminal group which smuggles migrants from Belgium across the English Channel to the United Kingdom.

Sanctions have also been brought against a company in China which has advertised their small boats on an online marketplace explicitly for the purpose of people-smuggling. The boats advertised are of the type used by criminal gangs in which migrants are packed, before being sent across the Channel at huge risk.

The UK is also sanctioning Alen Basil, a former police translator who went on to lead a large smuggling network in Serbia, terrorising refugees, with the aid of corrupt policemen. Basil was subsequently found to be living in a house in Serbia worth more than one million euros, bought with money extorted from countless desperate migrants. 

Also sanctioned is Mohammed Tetwani, the self-styled “King of Horgos”, who brutally oversaw a migrant camp in Horgos, Serbia and led the Tetwani people-smuggling gang. Tetwani and his followers are known for their violent treatment of refugees who decline their services or cannot pay for them. 

Today’s package also includes individuals like Muhammed Khadir Pirot, a hawala banker involved in informal money transfer networks, which people-smugglers use as a way of taking payment from migrants.

All of those sanctioned today are publicly named and barred from engaging with the UK financial system, helping to further undermine their operations. 

NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said: “The NCA is determined to use every tool at our disposal to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved in people-smuggling, preventing harm to those they exploit for profit and protecting the UK’s border security.  

“These new sanctions powers will complement that NCA activity. We have worked with the FCDO and partners to progress the designation of these sanctioned persons.   

“They will give the UK a new way of pursuing, undermining and frustrating the operational capability of a wide range of organised immigration crime networks, including those who facilitate or enable offending.”

Today’s designations are the first made under the UK’s new Global Irregular Migration Sanctions Regime. The regime is a world first and empowers the FCDO to impose sanctions not only on individuals and entities involved in people-smuggling to the UK, but also any financiers and companies found to be enabling their activities.

The FCDO has worked closely with the National Crime Agency and other partners to develop its cases and ensure they complement law enforcement activity. 

Today’s announcement is part of the FCDO’s three-pronged ‘disrupt, deter, return’ strategy to tackle irregular migration globally.

In addition to disrupting organised immigration crime networks through sanctions, the FCDO works with source and transit countries to deter would-be migrants from making a dangerous journey in the first place and works with the Home Office to negotiate the return of people who have no right to be here to their countries of origin, including criminals and failed asylum seekers.

Since the election, over 35,000 people have been returned, up 13% on the same period in the year before. 

The individuals and entities sanctioned today can be seen below:

Iraqi-linked people-smuggling 

  • Goran Assad Jalal, formed part of an organised crime group which stowed migrants in refrigerated lorries which crossed the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom on at least ten occasions between January and March 2019. 
  • Hemin Ali Salih, helped smuggle migrants into the UK in the backs of lorries. 
  • Dedawan Dazey, a people-smuggler who runs safe houses for migrants in Northern France before they are smuggled to the United Kingdom. 
  • Roman Ranyaye, an Iraqi people-smuggler responsible for the smuggling of migrants from Asia to Europe.   
  • Azad Khoshnaw, for supplying inflatable boats, onboard motors and other maritime equipment for use in people-smuggling of migrants from France to the UK.  
  • Nuzad Khoshnaw, for equipping gangs in Northern France with outboard motors, inflatable boats, and other maritime equipment for use in people-smuggling to the UK.  
  • Nihad Mohsin Xoshnaw, for providing inflatable boats, outboard motors and other maritime equipment used by migrants to cross the English Channel from France. 

Hawala Network 

  • Muhammed Khadir Pirot, a hawala banker who controls payments from people being smuggled from the Kurdistan region of Iraq to Europe via Turkey. 
  • Mariwan Jamal, controls money movements through a Hawala banker, which handles payments to people smugglers from migrants in Iraq. 
  • Rafiq Shaqlaway, involved in hawala banking as an advisor to migrants looking to pay smugglers operating routes into Europe via Turkey. 

North African gangs operating in the Balkans 

  • Kazawi Gang, a people-smuggling network which controls people-smuggling routes from North Africa into the EU known to deal out harsh punishments to migrants who are unable to pay.   
  • Tetwani Gang, known as one of the Balkan’s most violent people-smuggling gangs, members are reported to hold migrants for ransom and sexually abuse women unable to pay their fees. 

Gangland bosses 

  • Bledar Lala, leads a smuggling ring moving people from Belgium across the English Channel to the UK.  
  • Alen Basil, a former police translator who through violence and intimidation became boss of a large people-smuggling network. 
  • Mohammed Tetwani, the head of the ‘Tetwani’ gang and self-styled “King” of Horgos in Serbia. 
  • Yassine Al Maghribi Al-Kasaoui, the boss of the “Kazawi” gang. 

Balkan gangs supplying fake passports 

  • Kavač Gang, a Balkan organised crime organisation known to use fake passports to smuggle its gang members between the Balkans and Turkey. 
  • Škaljari Gang, an organised crime organisation in Montenegro that smuggles criminals between the Balkans and Turkey. 
  • Dalibor Ćurlik, procures fake passports and forged documents for use in the Kavač gang’s people-smuggling. 
  • Almir Jahović, member of the Kavač gang, which is involved in supplying fake passports for smuggling gang members across borders 
  • Marko Petrović, a member of the Kavač gang which sources false identification and passports for use in people-smuggling.  
  • Nikola Vein helps the Škaljari Gang secure fake passports and travel documents for use in people smuggling. 
  • Ratko Živković, a Škaljari Gang associate, which gathers fake passports for the purpose of smuggling gang members across borders. 
  • Dejan Pavlović, a member or close associate of the Škaljari Gang, which supports the manufacture of false identities and passports.  

The following company based in China has been designated over the manufacture of inflatable boats being advertised for people smuggling.  

  • Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co 

Background to the Global Irregular Migration sanctions regime 

  • Using the powers conferred by the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act (the Sanctions Act) the Government has laid secondary legislation before Parliament that introduces a new Global Irregular Migration sanctions regime. The Regulations will be debated by both Houses of Parliament when they return from the summer recess in line with the made affirmative procedure.   
  • The UK Sanctions List FCDO – UK Sanctions List Search – GOV.UK 

Asset freeze 

  • An asset freeze prevents any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person. UK financial sanctions apply to all persons within the territory and territorial sea of the UK and to all UK persons, wherever they are in the world. It also prevents funds or economic resources being provided to or for the benefit of the designated person.

Travel ban 

  • A travel ban means that the designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom, providing the individual is an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971.

UK and France agree ‘major deal’ to crack down on illegal Channel crossings

The Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to take forward a groundbreaking partnership to address illegal Channel crossings and dismantle the people smuggling networks.

A new pilot scheme will see small boat arrivals being returned to France then an equal number of migrants will be able to come to the UK from France through a new legal route – fully documented and subject to strict security checks.

The pilot agreement is intended to prevent illegal migrant journeys across Europe to the UK and prevent dangerous small boat crossings, helping to undermine the business model of organised gangs profiting from people’s misery by showing others these journeys could result in them being returned back to France – ultimately saving lives.

Both countries are working to implement the pilot in the coming weeks, and, once in force, migrants who cross the Channel by small boat can be detained and removed.

The Prime Minister has made it a priority to reset relationships across Europe and the government is now unlocking, for the first time, the levels of co-operation needed to deliver new and bold approaches to tackle organised immigration crime.

The French government are working to implement new ways of cracking down on small boats, including a review of their maritime tactics so their operational teams can intervene on the water, ensuring taxi boats that pickup migrants waiting in the water can be stopped.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “This ground-breaking deal is a crucial further step in turning the tide on illegal small boat crossings and restoring order to our immigration system.

“For the first time illegal migrants will be sent back to France – targeting the heart of these gangs’ business model and sending a clear message that these life-threatening journeys are pointless.

“By resetting our relationships across Europe we’ve made levels of co-operation possible never seen before. This is about grip not gimmicks, and what serious government looks like – taking down these criminal enterprises piece by piece as we secure our borders through my Plan for Change.”

The Home Secretary hosted her French counterpart, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, in Downing Street yesterday. The ministers discussed the work being done both internationally and domestically to prevent illegal migration, including issues like clamping down on illegal working and increasing removals of those with no right to be here.

Since the government came into power, Immigration Enforcement have increased illegal working activity by 51%, with 10,031 visits leading to 7,130 arrests, and will soon undertake a major nationwide blitz targeting illegal working hotspots, focusing on the gig economy and migrants working as delivery riders.

The UK will go further by changing the law to support a clampdown on illegal working in the gig economy. New biometric kits will be rolled out for Immigration Enforcement teams so they can do on-the-spot checks.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Dangerous small boats in our Channel undermine our border security and put lives at risk.

“That is why we are so determined to work with France to go after the criminal smuggler gangs, to undermine their business model, to begin returns and to prevent boat crossings.

“This new pilot agreement with France is extremely important and allows us for the first time to return people who have paid to travel here illegally, and will sit alongside our wider joint enforcement action, including disrupting supply chains to seize boats and engines, shutting down social media accounts, and targeting finances.

“Since last summer, we have returned over 30,000 people with no right to be in the UK and a major surge in immigration enforcement activity, with a 51% increase in the number of illegal working arrests.

“We are building the foundations of a new and stronger approach to protecting our border security.”

Under the new UK-France pilot, any asylum claim submitted by a migrant who has crossed the Channel will be considered for inadmissibility and, if declared inadmissible, the Home Office will organise readmission of the individual to France.

For those coming to the UK legally, an individual in France will submit an Expression of Interest application to the new route and the Home Office will make a decision once they have undergone biometric checks. Anyone who had arrived by small boat and returned to France will not be eligible for the legal route to the UK.

The innovative approach will be tested first before being gradually ‘ramped up’.

Nationwide clampdown on delivery riders working illegally

‘Ramp-up’ of arrests and visits set to take place across the UK targeting migrants working illegally

Enforcement teams are gearing up to launch a nationwide blitz targeting illegal working hotspots, with a focus on the gig economy and migrants working as delivery riders.

Under the Government’s Plan for Change to restore order to the immigration system and tougher enforcement of the rules, Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams will launch a major operation to disrupt this type of criminality.  

Strategic, intel-driven activity will bring together officers across the UK and place an increased focus on migrants suspected of working illegally whilst in taxpayer funded accommodation or receiving financial support. 

The law is clear that asylum seekers are only entitled to this support if they would otherwise be destitute. That is why anyone caught flagrantly abusing the system in this way, as a result of the operation, will face having support discontinued, whether that’s entitlement to accommodation or payments. 

Operational teams will target certain hotspots across the country over a period of intensification, as well as going after organisations who wilfully employ those working illegally, through civil penalty referrals. Any business found to be illegally employing someone could face a fine of up to £60,000 per worker, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.     

The Government has been surging action against illegal working since coming into power one year ago, with 10,031 illegal working visits leading to 7,130 arrests, marking a 48% and 51% rise respectively, compared to the year before (5 July 2023 to 28 June 2024). This marks the first time in a 12-month period where more than 10,000 visits have taken place. 

748 illegal working civil penalty notices were also handed to businesses caught violating immigration rules in the first quarter (January to March) of the year, marking the highest level since 2016 – an 81% increase compared to the same time last year.  

And the Government is tightening the law by making it a legal requirement for all companies, including the gig economy, to check anyone working for them has the legal right to do so. This will end the abuse of flexible working arrangements. The new measures will be introduced through the landmark Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, said: “Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages – the British public will not stand for it and neither will this government.

“Often those travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by the people smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in this country, when in reality they end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours.

“We are surging enforcement action against this pull factor, on top of returning 30,000 people with no right to be here and tightening the law through our Plan for Change.

“But there is no single solution to the problem of illegal migration. That’s why we’ve signed landmark agreements with international partners to dismantle gangs and made significant arrests of notorious people smugglers.”

Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime, Eddy Montgomery, said: “Our dedicated Immigration Enforcement officers have been ramping up action to disable illegal working across the board.

“This next step of co-ordinated activity will target those who seek to work illegally in the gig economy and exploit their status in the UK.

“That means if you are found to be working with no legal right to do so, we will bring the full force of powers available to us to disrupt and stop this abuse. There will no place to hide.”

This targeted action is on top of ongoing work across the country to disrupt people flouting the rules across different sectors. 

Earlier this week, during a joint operation with the Metropolitan Police to go after people suspected of working illegally as cash in hand builders, officers targeted anti-social behaviour and illegally modified scooters and e-bikes.

20 Indian nationals were arrested as part of the operation. This included 16 overstayers, one illegal entrant, one port absconder and two small boat arrivals. 

On 18 June, West Midlands teams conducted an operation on Smethwick High Street after receiving intelligence on a major collection point for people suspected of going to work illegally, primarily on construction sites.

The team encountered 73 individuals, arresting 26 suspected immigration offenders (24 Indian nationals, one Nepalese national and one Italian national). This led to the detention of 11 Indian nationals.  

And on 12 June, East of England teams conducted a multi-agency operation with police in Lynn Road, Wisbech, focusing on cash in hand builders using illegally modified e-bikes. They carried out 21 immigration checks which resulted the arrest of three men, including one Syrian, one Chinese and one Brazilian national.

The police went on to seize six mopeds and one car for offences including driving with no insurance, no driving licence and disqualification. 

The crackdown also sits alongside key join up with the delivery industry on tackling illicit account sharing. On Monday, 30 June , the Home Office and Department for Business and Trade met with major delivery firms and pledged to strengthen security checks to tackle illegal working.

Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have committed to increasing the number of daily facial recognition checks riders are required to take to verify their identity.  

Illegal working is linked to exploitation, with teams often encountering squalid living conditions, people receiving little to no pay and inhumane working hours. In the worst instances, these individuals may be victims of modern slavery. 

Immigration Enforcement take a number of steps to spot the signs of individuals who are potentially being exploited and, where appropriate, will refer people to the National Referral Mechanism so they can access support. They also work closely with crucial partners like the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority, to share insights and strengthen the approach to tackling labour exploitation.

And this new operation is just one part of the government’s action to strengthen UK border security and disable the people smuggling gangs fuelling illegal migration. 

Over the past year, the government says the Prime Minister has been resetting relationships and forging partnerships across Europe and beyond, to ensure a targeted international response in breaking the model behind this vile trade. 

Furthermore, nearly 30,000 people with no right to be in UK have been returned, landmark agreements have been signed with Iraq to dismantle gangs and Italy to take down illicit finance networks and a world-first people smuggling sanctions regime has been launched to ban travel and freeze assets.

UK hosts first major international summit to tackle illegal migration

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.

Police lead day of action to tackle human trafficking and modern slavery

Police Scotland led a multi-agency day of action in Kirkcaldy in relation to an ongoing human trafficking and modern slavery investigation.

One male aged 18 was arrested for human trafficking and modern slavery offences and has been released pending further enquiry.

A 52-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man were arrested for immigration offences and enquiries are ongoing.

Officers visited a business in the area on the morning of Thursday, 10 October, 2024, following intelligence received.

Representatives from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Gangmasters and Labour Exploitation Authority (GLAA) and Justice and Care were also in attendance.

Detective Inspector Scott Wilson from Dumfries CID said: “Human trafficking and modern slavery are happening in our communities and this operation demonstrates our commitment to tackling this issue.

“We work closely with our partners to identify situations where this criminality is taking place and provide appropriate support to victims. However we cannot do this alone, and it is important that we increase awareness of the warning signs so that reporting can increase.

“Signs that someone could be being exploited at work can include being paid no legal wage and having little or no money, living in poor conditions and having their time on and off duty controlled by their employers.

“If you suspect modern slavery is happening in your community it is vital that you report this and enable us to protect victims and take action against those responsible for this exploitation.”

Anyone with information can contact Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Sunak: Stopping the Boats

PM Rishi Sunak’s press statement on the next stage of the plan to stop the boats

Last week – yet again – Peers in the House of Lords contrived to stop the Safety of Rwanda Bill.    

For almost two years our opponents have used every trick in the book to block flights and keep the boats coming.  

But enough is enough. 

No more prevarication. No more delay.

Parliament will sit there tonight and vote no matter how late it goes.

No ifs, no buts. These flights are going to Rwanda. 

We are going to deliver this indispensable deterrent so that we finally break the business model of the criminal gangs and save lives.

Starting from the moment that the Bill passes we will begin the process of removing those identified for the first flight.  

We have prepared for this moment.  

To detain people while we prepare to remove them, we’ve increased detention spaces to 2,200.  

To quickly process claims, we’ve got 200 trained dedicated caseworkers ready and waiting. 

To deal with any legal cases quickly and decisively, the judiciary have made available 25 courtrooms and identified 150 judges who could provide over 5,000 sitting days.  

The Strasbourg Court have amended their Rule 39 procedures in line with the tests set out in our Illegal Migration Act and we’ve put beyond all doubt that Ministers can disregard these injunctions with clear guidance that if they decide to do so, civil servants must deliver that instruction. 

 And most importantly, once the processing is complete, we will physically remove people. 

To do that, I can confirm that we’ve put an airfield on standby booked commercial charter planes for specific slots… 

…and we have 500 highly trained individuals ready to escort illegal migrants all the way to Rwanda, with 300 more trained in the coming weeks. 

This is one of the most complex operational endeavours the Home Office has carried out. 

But we are ready. Plans are in place. 

And these flights will go come what may. 

No foreign court will stop us from getting flights off.  

Rwanda is ready too. 

And I would like to thank the government of Rwanda for their work in strengthening their asylum system, passing legislation, and setting up a new appeals tribunal. 

The next few weeks will be about action.

But whilst I’m conscious people want deeds not words I’m not going to outline now exactly what will happen when. 

There are good operational reasons for this. 

There is a loud minority who will do anything to disrupt our plan so we will not be giving away sensitive operational detail which could hinder all the progress made to date. 

Teams across government need to be able to get on and deliver without interference. 

They are working flat out to deliver this genuine game changer. 

The first flight will leave in 10 to 12 weeks. 

Now of course, that is later than we wanted. 

But we have always been clear that processing will take time and if Peers had not spent weeks holding up the Bill in the House of Lords to try to block flights altogether, we would have begun this process weeks ago. 

And the success of this deterrent doesn’t rest on one flight alone. 

It rests on the relentless, continual process of successfully and permanently removing people to Rwanda with a regular rhythm of multiple flights every month over the summer and beyond until the boats are stopped.

Now I know there are some who will hear all of this and accuse me of lacking compassion. 

But the truth is the opposite. 

We are in a battle with callous, sophisticated, and global criminal gangs who care nothing for the lives they risk in unseaworthy dinghies.  

Nine people have died already attempting to cross the Channel just this year – including a seven-year-old girl.

That’s why we secured the largest ever deal with France to strengthen interceptions on the French coastline.  

And because a third of all arrivals were coming from Albania we struck a deal that reduced illegal Albanian migrants by 90 per cent. 

Taken together we’re doubling illegal working raids and returning 150 hotels back to our communities.

We got the number of small boat arrivals last year down by more than a third the first time they had fallen since this phenomenon began, and at a time when European countries were seeing numbers rise exponentially.   

But these sophisticated gangs are changing tactics once again.  

As well as piling twice as many people into small dinghies and increasing violence against French police they have shifted their attentions towards vulnerable Vietnamese migrants.  

Vietnamese arrivals have increased ten-fold and account for almost all of the increase in small boat numbers we have seen this year. 

And just as we succeeded in reducing Albanian arrivals dramatically, so I’m confident we will do the same when it comes to the Vietnamese.  

President Macron and I have agreed to work with European partners on closing loopholes to enter Europe in the first place. 

The Home Office have signed a Joint Statement with the Vietnamese Government committing to deepen our already very strong migration relationship.

And just last week officials from the Government of Vietnam were at Western Jetfoil and Manston to observe Border Force operations on the front line as they continue to manage small boat arrivals.

But we can’t keep reacting to the changing tactics of these gangs. The truth is we need innovative solutions to address what is a global migration crisis to disrupt the business model of people smuggling gangs and save lives.

And that means a systematic deterrent.

The only way to stop the boats is to eliminate the incentive to come by making it clear that if you are here illegally, you will not be able to stay. 

This policy does exactly that.

I believe it should be this country and your government who decides who comes here, not criminal gangs.  And I have the plan to deliver it.  

So we will start the flights – and stop the boats.  

Thank you.

Illegal Migration: Sunak states his case

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a speech on illegal migration yesterday (7 December 2023):

Today the government has introduced the toughest anti-illegal immigration law ever. I know it will upset some people and you will hear a lot of criticism about it. It’s right to explain why I have decided to do this.

I’m the child of immigrants … I understand why some people take the risk of getting into unsafe dinghies to cross open waters…

…it’s because the United Kingdom is an incredible country… it offers opportunity, hope and safety.

But the difference is: my family came here… legally.

Like most immigrants, they integrated into local communities…

…worked hard to provide for their family

…built lives and businesses, found friends and neighbours…

… and most of all… they were really proud to become British.

That feeling of pride… it cascades down the generations and grows… and that’s why you see so many children of immigrants sitting around the Cabinet table.

But it’s not a given… illegal immigration undermines not just our border controls… it undermines the very fairness that is so central to our national character.

We play by the rules. We put in our fair share. We wait our turn. 

Now if some people can just cut all that out… you’ve not just lost control of your borders… you’ve fatally undermined the very fairness upon which trust in our system is based.

That’s why this legislation is necessary. 

To deliver an effective deterrent to those who wish to come here illegally…

…to restore people’s trust that the system is fair…

… and ultimately: to stop the boats.

And so, our Bill today fundamentally addresses the Supreme Court’s concerns over the safety of Rwanda.

I did not agree with their judgement, but I respect it.

That is why I have spent the last three weeks working tirelessly to respond to their concerns…

…and to guarantee Rwanda’s safety in a new legally binding international treaty. 

The Supreme Court were clear that they were making a judgement about Rwanda at a specific moment 18 months ago…and that the problems could be remedied.  

Today we are confirming that they have been…

…and that unequivocally, Rwanda is a safe country.

And today’s Bill also ends the merry-go-round of legal challenges that have blocked our policy for too long. 

We simply cannot have a situation where our ability to control our borders…

…and stop people taking perilous journeys across the channel… 

…is held up in endless litigation in our courts. 

So this Bill gives Parliament the chance to put Rwanda’s safety beyond question in the eyes of this country’s law.

Parliament is sovereign. It should be able to make decisions that cannot be undone in the courts. 

And it was never the intention of international human rights laws…

…to stop a sovereign Parliament removing illegal migrants to a country that is considered safe in both parliamentary statute and international law.

So the Bill does include what are known as “notwithstanding” clauses.

These mean that our domestic courts will no longer be able to use any domestic or international law…

…including the Human Rights Act…

…to stop us removing illegal migrants.

Let me just go through the ways individual illegal migrants try and stay. 

Claiming asylum – that’s now blocked. 

Abuse of our Modern Slavery rules – blocked. 

The idea that Rwanda isn’t safe – blocked.

The risk of being sent on to some other country – blocked.

And spurious Human Rights claims – you’d better believe we’ve blocked those too…

…because we’re completely disapplying all the relevant sections of the Human Rights Act.

And not only have we blocked all these ways illegal migrants will try and stay…

…we’ve also blocked their ability to try and stay by bringing a Judicial Review on any of those grounds.

That means that this Bill blocks every single reason that has ever been used to prevent flights to Rwanda from taking off. 

The only, extremely narrow exception will be if you can prove with credible and compelling evidence… 

….that you specifically have a real and imminent risk of serious and irreversible harm.

We have to recognise that as a matter of law – and if we didn’t, we’d undermine the treaty we’ve just signed with Rwanda.

As the Rwandans themselves have made clear…

…if we go any further the entire scheme will collapse. 

And there’s no point having a Bill with nowhere to send people to.

But I am telling you now, we have set the bar so high…

…that it will be vanishingly rare for anyone to meet it.

And once you have been removed, you’ll be banned for life from travelling to the UK, settling here, or becoming a citizen. 

But, of course, even with this new law here at home… 

…we could still face challenges from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

So let me repeat what I said two weeks ago – 

I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights.

If the Strasbourg Court chooses to intervene against the express wishes of our sovereign Parliament…

…I will do what is necessary to get flights off. 

And today’s new law already makes clear that the decision on whether to comply with interim measures issued by the European Court…

…is a decision for British government Ministers – and British government Ministers alone.

Because it is your government – not criminal gangs, or indeed foreign courts –who decides who comes here and who stays in our country.

Now of course, our Rwanda policy is just one part of our wider strategy to stop the boats.

And that strategy is working.

I’ve been Prime Minister for just over a year now and for the first time, small boat arrivals here are down by a third….

…even as illegal crossings of the Mediterranean have soared by 80 per cent.

Let me just repeat that: small boat arrivals here are down by a third.

To help achieve that, we’ve signed returns and co-operation agreements with France, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, and Georgia. 

Illegal working raids are up by nearly 70 per cent. 

50 hotels are being returned to their local communities and we are housing people in a new barge and in former military sites. 

The initial asylum backlog is down from 92,000 to less than 20,000.

We’ve returned over 22,000 illegal migrants.

And as our deal with Albania shows – deterrence works.

Last year, a third of all those arriving in small boats were Albanian. 

This year we have returned 5,000 people and cut those arrivals by 90 per cent.

And Albanian arrivals have far more recourse to the courts than anyone under this new legislation.

That’s why I’m so confident that this Bill will work.

Lord Sumption, the former Supreme Court Judge, believes this Bill will work. 

We will get flights off the ground.

We will deter illegal migrants from coming here.

And we will, finally, stop the boats.

AN EXPENSIVE BUSINESS

The UK has given Rwanda a further £100m this year as part of its deal to relocate asylum seekers there.

The payment was made in April, the Home Office’s top civil servant Sir Matthew Rycroft said in a letter to MPs, after £140m had already been paid to Rwanda.

THE LETTER READS:

07 December 2023 

Migration and Economic Development Partnership Funding

Dear Dame Diana and Dame Meg, 

At the evidence sessions on 29th November and 4th December respectively, you and your Committees asked me about payments the UK Government had made to the Government of Rwanda for the purposes of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.  

As I said then, the total the UK Government paid in the financial year 2022-23 was £140m. This comprised an initial investment of £120 million through an Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF) which is for the economic development and growth of Rwanda. A separate payment of £20 million was also paid in this timeframe to support initial set up costs for the relocation of individuals.  

I set out why Ministers had decided to announce payments in the 2023-24 financial year in our Annual Reporting and Accounts next summer, for reasons of balancing the public interest.  I fully recognise the public interest in transparency and accountability of public authorities for expenditure and the broad public interest in furthering public understanding of the issues with which public authorities deal.  However, this must also be balanced against public interests which work the other way.  For example, you will recognise the importance of respecting commercial confidence and the maintenance of confidence between international partners.   

Since then, Ministers have agreed that I can disclose now the payments so far in the 2023-24 financial year.  There has been one payment of £100m, paid in April this year as part of the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund mentioned above. The UK Government has not paid any more to the Government of Rwanda thus far. This was entirely separate to the Treaty – The Government of Rwanda did not ask for any payment in order for a Treaty to be signed, nor was any offered. Any additional funds will be announced in our Annual Report and Accounts in the usual way. 

In the 2024-25 financial year, we anticipate another payment of £50m as part of the ETIF as agreed with Government of Rwanda when the Migration and Economic Development Partnership was signed.  

All of these payments are covered by the Ministerial Direction of 16th April 2022. Given the public interest, this letter will be published on GOV.UK.

Yours sincerely,  

Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE

Stop the Boats plan is beginning to work, says Sunak

The Prime Minister’s plan to stop the boats is beginning to work, with small boat arrivals to the UK down by 20% this year.

This is the first time since the small boat phenomenon began that arrivals in the first half of the year fell compared to the year before. This is not a Europe-wide trend – small boat arrivals to Europe are up 30%.

The Prime Minister set out the progress that has been made on this, one of his five priorities, on a visit to Dover this morning. He also confirmed that:

  • Our French deal prevented 33,000 illegal crossings last year, 40% more than the year before 
  • Thanks to our partnership with the Government of Albania, Albanian small boat arrivals are down 90% year-on-year and we have returned more than 1,800 Albanian illegal migrants and foreign criminals on weekly flights since December 
  • We have increased the number of illegal working raids by more than 50%, and arrests have more than doubled
  • The legacy asylum backlog is down almost a fifth since December – and we are on track to deliver our target to clear this by the end of the year

During his statement, the Prime Minister made clear that we still face significant obstacles, and we will see more crossings in the months ahead, but he is determined to stay the course and do what it takes to fix this problem.

The Prime Minister also announced the next steps in the Government’s relentless efforts to get illegal migrants out of expensive hotels and into alternative sites, including confirming that the Government has secured two new vessels. These plans will see thousands moved out of hotels by the Autumn.

The Home Secretary gave a further update on these accommodation plans during a statement in the House of Commons.

Read the Prime Minister’s full statement on stopping the boats, as delivered at Western Jet Foil Processing Centre, here.

New measures to ‘Stop the Boats’ in Illegal Immigration Bill

Reforms will ‘speed up the removal of people with no right to be here and enhance safeguards to protect unaccompanied children’

THE UK government has tabled a number of amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill to strengthen it further, ahead of it returning to Parliament next week – helping to deliver our priority of ‘stopping the boats’.

The amendments tabled this week will help to speed up the removal of people with no right to be here and enhance safeguards for unaccompanied children who cross the Channel in small boats.

Amendments also include a commitment to consult local authorities within three months of the bill becoming law to understand their capacity to support people coming to the UK through safe and legal routes, and to publish a report on existing, and any proposed additional safe and legal routes, within six months of the bill becoming law.

Together these will provide greater clarity and ensure progress on delivering our plans for safe and legal routes with an annual cap, agreed by Parliament, to ensure we are properly supporting people to rebuild their lives in the way communities would expect.

The UK will continue to play a world-leading role in protecting those in need who come to the country illegally. However, to tackle the abuse of the system which detracts from our ability to help those in need, further amendments are being made to ensure the UK can better protect its borders.

To speed up removals, amendments will make clear that the UK’s domestic courts cannot apply any interim measure to stop someone being removed if they bring forward a legal challenge, aside from in the narrow route available under the bill where they are at risk of serious and irreversible harm.

Instead, challenges would be heard remotely after the person concerned had been removed. This will ensure that someone would only be able to apply for a domestic injunction to prevent their removal if they were to face “serious and irreversible harm” in the country they were due to be removed to.

Amendments will also make clear that ministers may exercise discretion in relation to interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights, and set certain principles under which they would make a decision whether to comply or not.

Alongside the amendment, the government is having constructive discussions regarding reform to the Rule 39 process in Strasbourg, to support greater timeliness, accountability and representation in such cases.

Further amendments include:

  • giving immigration officers new powers to search for and seize electronic devices like mobile phones from people who come to the UK illegally – to help them assess whether someone has the right to be in the UK
  • increasing protections around the safeguarding risk caused by adults pretending to be children, by bringing in new regulations that will see age-disputed people treated as an adult if they refuse to undergo a scientific age assessment.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “The British public are rightly fed up with people coming to the UK through dangerous small boat crossings, and myself and the Prime Minister are absolutely committed to stopping the boats once and for all.

“The changes I am announcing today will help secure our borders and make it easier for us to remove people by preventing them from making last minute, bogus claims, while ensuring we strengthen our safe and legal routes.

“My focus remains on ensuring this landmark piece of legislation does what it is intended to do, and we now must work to pass it through Parliament as soon as possible so we can stop the boats.”

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said: “It is not fair that people can pay criminal gangs thousands of pounds and pass through multiple safe countries to come to the UK illegally.

“The only way to break the business model of the evil people smugglers and secure our borders is to make sure that if people come to the UK illegally, they won’t be able to stay.

“These amendments will make it easier to swiftly remove individuals who come here illegally from safe countries, whilst re-affirming our commitment to help those directly from regions of conflict and instability.”

These new powers are part of further amendments tabled by the government yesterday to strengthen the ‘landmark’ Illegal Migration Bill, which will see people who come to the UK illegally in scope for detention and swift removal.

The amendments relating to safe and legal routes were laid by Tim Loughton MP, and measures to prevent UK courts from interfering to stop a removal were laid by Danny Kruger MP – the government will support these measures when the bill goes back to the House of Commons for report stage next week. The remaining measures have been tabled by the government.

The amendments can be found on the Parliamentary website: Illegal Migration Bill publications – Parliamentary Bills – UK Parliament