ReutersThe government has announced that suspected people smugglers will face travel bans, social media blackouts and phone restrictions under the new laws.
Ministers plan to introduce “interim” serious crime prevention orders (SCPOs) to impose immediate restrictions on the activities of suspects while a full court order is considered.
According to the figures, the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats would have more than quarterd to 7,000 in 2023.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said stronger powers were needed to tackle “vicious gang networks” – but shadow home secretary Chris Philip said These measures are “ridiculous” and will not work as a deterrent.
Under the proposals announced by the Home Office, suspects could be banned from using laptops or mobile phones, accessing social media networks, associating with certain people or accessing their finances.
SCPOs can be assisted in advance to prevent the movement of people involved in organized immigration crime. However, the government said the measures were not being fully used and it planned to introduce new “interim” orders.
The Home Office said the police, National Crime Agency and other law enforcement agencies would be able to apply for these orders directly to the High Court without going through the Crown Prosecution Service.
Violation of the interim order can result in imprisonment for up to five years.
The changes will be included in the government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is expected to be introduced to Parliament in the coming weeks.
Cooper said: “Dangerous criminal people smugglers are profiting by undermining our border security and putting lives at risk.
“They cannot be allowed to get away with it.
“We will give law enforcement the stronger powers they need to pursue and stop these nefarious gang networks.”
Philip called the moves “ridiculous” and said the government should revive the defunct Rwanda scheme, which began under the Conservatives and planned to send some refugees from Britain to Rwanda.
He said: “Labour has the cheek to claim to be tough on people-smuggling gangs – they voted against higher sentences for the same smuggling gangs in the last parliament.”
He added that “what would have stopped the boats would have been a removal ban – but Labor canceled Rwanda before it started”.
Meanwhile, Sir David Davis, a former Conservative cabinet minister, described the measures announced by the Labor government as “unnecessarily draconian”.
This comes after the English Channel Watch. Last year was its deadliest year on record. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency that keeps track of deaths crossing the Channel, told BBC News that 78 people had died trying to make the journey.
The latest episode was seen on December 29. Three people died trying to cross the channel. In a small boat, the French coast guard said.
P.AThe Refugee Council said the small boats used to cross the Channel were becoming “increasingly untenable”, with more people traveling on each vessel.
“This change is certainly a result of the UK and French government’s efforts to stop the criminal gangs that profit from dangerous travel and focus on enforcement as the main way of doing this,” the charity said. said
Temporary Home Office No Released on New Year’s Day. It showed that 36,816 people arrived in the UK by small boat in 2024, a quarter more than in 2023 (29,437).
Afghanistan was the single largest group of arrivals in the first nine months of 2024, accounting for 17 percent of the total arrivals by the end of September. Iranians were the second largest group (13%), followed by Vietnamese and Syrians (12%).
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said earlier that his government had “inherited a very bad position” with record numbers of immigrants in the first half of last year because until we hold an election the focus is on a The trick was on, Rwanda’s trick, and not enough. The focus was on dismantling the gangs that are running this nefarious business.”