Migrant smugglers to be named publicly as they face new sanctions | Politics | News

Migrant smugglers are facing sanctions similar to those imposed on terrorists, spies and oligarchs under new Government plans.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy will on Thursday confirm plans to make the UK the first country in the World to use sanctions to tackle organised immigration crime.

Suspected smugglers will be publicly named for the first time, as will their criminal groups, it is understood.

They could have their cash seized and be banned from entering the UK, under the proposals.

The sanctions regime is expected to come into force later this year, the Foreign Office said, adding that it will prevent organised crime groups from raking in millions from cramming migrants into dinghies.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “We must dismantle the crime gangs facilitating breaches of our borders. By crippling illicit finance rings allowing smugglers to traffic vulnerable people across Europe, we will deliver on our Plan for Change and secure UK borders.

“That means being bold and innovative in our policy making to ensure we are leaving no stone unturned. My Government will do everything in our power to save lives and protect our borders for years to come.”

Anyone caught breaching sanctions will face severe penalties, it is understood, including potentially being sent to prison for up to seven years. Assets held outside of the UK cannot be frozen, the Daily Express understands.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “It is completely unrealistic to combat irregular migration without a role for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

“It is an issue which ties together the foreign and the domestic most acutely. I’m proud to announce that the UK is set to be the first country in the world to develop legislation for a new sanctions regime specifically targeting irregular migration and organized immigration crime.

“This will help to prevent, combat, deter and disrupt irregular migration and the smuggling of migrants into the UK.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper added: “With these new sanctions, we will target those profiting off putting lives at risk and disrupt the gangs’ finances, making it harder for them to operate.

“This builds on our work to launch the Border Security Command backed by £150 million, major deals signed with countries including Iraq and Germany to disrupt supply chains and tackle the root of the issue, as well as an anti-Smuggling Action Plan signed with G7 nations.

“And this year we will introduce new legislation which will go even further to restrict the people smuggling gangs.”

Migrant smugglers are already facing travel bans and having their bank accounts frozen before they are convicted.

The Home Office is introducing new court orders in another attempt to disrupt the vile organised crime gangs.

The National Crime Agency will be able to apply for Interim Serious Crime Prevention Orders to restrict travel, ban smugglers from using mobile phones or laptops, introduce social media bans, prevent them from meeting other members of their gangs.

Restrictions could also be imposed on their bank accounts, to prevent money “going under the radar”.

The Interim Serious Crime Prevention Orders – which the NCA can apply for before a suspect is convicted – can only be enforced in England and Wales.

Home Office sources insist many of the gangs have members in the UK, who help “facilitate crossings” and collect payments for spaces on a dinghy.

The new orders could help the National Crime Agency to “squeeze” the smuggling gangs, insiders believe.

It will also be crucial in hindering gangs who prosecutors are struggling to gather enough evidence on to haul them before judges.

Migrant smuggling gangs are launching more overcrowded boats than ever before as police attempt to destroy their supply chains.

Home Office sources admit “the increased overcrowding of dinghies has been one of the starkest and most dangerous features of the past year and has tragically resulted in 2024 recording the highest number of fatalities among those trying to cross the Channel.”

Insiders said many of the deaths are because of migrants suffocating as the boat folds in on itself when it begins to deflate.

Others drown when the boat breaks down because it is so overcrowded.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is prioritising hunting the smuggling gangs – particularly the Kurdish organised crime networks that control many of the crossing routes – to end the crisis.

The Home Secretary also believes greater cooperation with European nations will allow police to disrupt the smugglers’ supply chains and seize more boats and engines.

Counter-terrorism powers will be extended to cover organised immigration crime, giving officers the right to search people suspected of being involved in people smuggling, close bank accounts, restrict their travel and trace their movements before an offence has taken place.

Sources have told the Daily Express that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s team is hoping MI5 spies will treat people smugglers like foreign spies and terrorists.

This newspaper understands that this could see them bug smugglers’ phones and trace their movements.

Some 36,816 people made the journey in 2024, a jump of 25% from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.

The total is down 20% on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.