People smugglers behind Channel crossings face UK sanctions in bid to end small boats crisis
People attempt Channel crossing in an overcrowded dinghy (Image: Getty)
Criminals selling desperate migrants places on small boats to cross the Channel into the UK could be sanctioned from tomorrow. They will have assets frozen, face a ban on using UK banks and be barred from travelling to the UK, under new regime targeting supply of money and material enabling illegal migration.
New sanctions are the latest tool in UK’s arsenal to secure Britain’s borders and cut illegal migration, according to the Government. Tomorrow, the Foreign Office will impose the first wave of sanctions on gangs involved in people smuggling and driving irregular migration to the UK, as well as their financiers and companies involved in the sale of small boat equipment.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said it would be the first campaign of its kind dedicated to targeting people smuggling and organised immigration crime. Migrants who pay people-smugglers are also at a high risk of working in modern slavery conditions in the informal economy, being returned to their home country, or losing their lives at sea.
Sanctions can include freezing property, bank accounts and other assets which allow organised criminal gangs to facilitate irregular migration to the UK, according to the Government. They are designed to reach individuals located anywhere in the world, who will be publicly named so that it is illegal for the UK financial system to engage with them.
The first targets will cover a range of wrongdoing, from the supply of small boats being used on cross-Channel journeys, to the trade in fake passports, as well as middlemen facilitating payments through Hawala networks, to the gang leaders themselves.
The regime will complement new powers for law enforcement being introduced in the Border, Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Sanctions can be used to target organised immigration crime gangs and their enablers, wherever they are.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: ”For too long, criminal gangs have been lining their corrupt pockets and preying on the hopes of vulnerable people with impunity as they drive irregular migration to the UK. We will not accept this status quo.”
He added: “That’s why the UK has created the world’s first sanctions regime targeted at gangs involved in people smuggling and driving irregular migration, as well as their enablers. From tomorrow, those involved will face having their assets frozen, being shut off from the UK financial system and banned from travelling to the UK.”.
Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “The new sanctions regime marks a decisive step in our fight against the criminal gangs who profit from human misery. It will allow us to target the assets and operations of people-smugglers wherever they operate, cutting off their funding and dismantling their networks piece by piece.
“Through the Border Security Command and key partners like the National Crime Agency, we are strengthening our ties with other nations to tackle this global problem.
“Together, we are sending a clear message that there is no hiding place for those who exploit vulnerable people and put lives at risk for profit.”
Today’s announcement is part of the Foreign Office’s three-pronged “disrupt, deter, return” strategy to tackle illegal migration globally. Since the election, over 35,000 people have been returned to their home countries.
