In response to the high number of asylum seekers arriving illegally on small boats from France, the British government has announced a series of new measures to address the issue.
According to the Home Office, the government will recruit 100 “new specialist intelligence and investigation officers” to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to help dismantle the smuggling gangs responsible for organizing the dangerous Channel crossings.
Additionally, the government aims to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers in the past five years over the next six months. The Labour government, which won a landslide victory in last month’s election, also intends to increase detention capacity at removal centers and sanction employers who hire people without the right to work in the UK.
“We are taking strong and clear steps to boost our border security and ensure the rules are respected and enforced,” said Interior Minister Yvette Cooper in a statement.
Stopping the small boat arrivals was a key issue in the July 4 election, which saw the Labour party win a commanding majority. One of the new government’s first actions was to scrap a controversial scheme to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda, a policy championed by the previous Conservative administration.
Instead, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to focus on dismantling the people-smuggling gangs who organize the crossings and are paid thousands of euros by each migrant. The Home Office is also recruiting a “Border Security Commander” to work with European countries against these criminal networks.
Starmer has also vowed to strengthen cooperation with French President Emmanuel Macron in addressing the surge in undocumented migrant numbers. However, the problem remains significant, with more than 19,000 people crossing the Channel in small boats so far this year, a 10% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
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The Home Office has stated that the NCA is pursuing around 70 investigations against criminal networks involved in human trafficking.
The government has also announced plans to issue financial penalties, business closure orders, and possible prosecutions against employers of illegal workers.
As the UK government works to implement these new measures, the effectiveness of its efforts to tackle the Channel crossing crisis will be closely watched in the coming months.
