Prime Minister wants more intelligence-sharing and security collaboration with other governments to crack down on illegal migration
A “criminal empire” of people smugglers is at work on the continent, Sir Keir Starmer has warned, as he prepares for talks with other European leaders on fighting illegal migration.
The Prime Minister will urge his counterparts to do more to tackle gangs behind small boat crossings in the Channel at the European Political Community summit in Budapest.
He will announce agreements with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo to increase intelligence-sharing and bust more gangs.
Downing Street said the Balkan countries, which are not in the European Union, were a key route for migrants hoping to reach the Channel and Britain.
“There is a criminal empire operating on our continent, exacting a horrendous human toll and undermining our national security,” said Sir Keir, who will chair a meeting on migration in Hungary’s capital city.
Almost 100,000 migrants crossed the Western Balkans last year before entering the EU through Hungary’s border with Serbia.
A total of 29,437 people entered Britain on small boats in 2023. As of November 2, more than 31,000 have crossed this year. More than 50 people have died trying to make the crossing this year, according to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration.
Sir Keir said: “Backed by our new Border Security Command, the UK will be at the heart of the efforts to end the scourge of organised immigration crime – but we cannot do it in isolation.”
He added: “We need to go further and faster, alongside our international partners, and take the fight directly to the heart of these vile people smuggling networks. I will be making this the central feature of my discussions at the European Political Community meeting today.”
Sir Keir will say that all European countries bear a responsibility to work together to end the devastation caused by people smugglers. Earlier this week, he said organised immigration crime must be treated like terrorism at the Interpol conference in Glasgow.
The Prime Minister wants to strike a deal with the EU to replace the Dublin rules the UK left at Brexit, which will allow Britain to return migrants crossing the Channel to France.
Despite calls from Paris and Berlin for Brussels to negotiate such a deal, no UK-EU negotiations on it have yet taken place.
Sir Keir, who hosted the last EPC at Blenheim Palace, will hope the Budapest summit will bolster his efforts at resetting UK-EU relations after Brexit, and build political will for a migrant deal with the bloc.
Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo are candidate members to join the EU.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said: “Our work with our partners in the Western Balkans is absolutely key to dismantling the criminal networks that orchestrate the exploitation of vulnerable people for financial gain.
“Working more closely with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo, we will share information and intelligence, and work across borders to map out what is happening and where, to break the business models of these unscrupulous gangs at source.
“Through our intensified work, criminals will soon realise they have nowhere to hide.”
The deals build on existing agreements between the UK and Albania, which includes joint activity targeting illicit finance flows underpinning the people smugglers’ operations.
Discussion at the EPC is expected to be dominated by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, which has raised questions over US support for Ukraine.
The Prime Minister will discuss Britain’s continued backing of Ukraine at the summit with other European leaders.
Viktor Orban, the host and Prime Minister of Hungary, is one of the EU’s most fiercely anti-migrant leaders and supports the Balkan countries’ bids to join the bloc.
He is also a prominent Trump supporter and opponent of Western sanctions against the Kremlin, who has called for an end to the war in Ukraine.
