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Migrant smuggling/ Britain sanctions gangs of traffickers, here's what they will face!

2025-07-22 13:26:55Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Migrant smuggling/ Britain sanctions gangs of traffickers, here's what they

The United Kingdom, starting tomorrow (July 23), will begin applying the first sanctions against gangs responsible for smuggling migrants.

They will face asset freezes, exclusion from the British financial system and a travel ban to the UK.

The measures come within the framework of a new regime that targets income and materials that enable irregular migration.

The new sanctions are the latest tool in the UK's arsenal for securing borders, reducing irregular migration and implementing the Plan for Change.

Anyone who helps smuggle people into the UK will risk having their assets frozen and being banned from travelling to Britain, under new powers announced by the Foreign Secretary today [Tuesday, July 22].

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 23, the FCDO will impose the first set of sanctions on gangs involved in people smuggling and encouraging irregular migration to the UK, as well as on their enablers, such as financiers and companies involved in the sale of equipment for small boats.

These plans are a prime example of the FCDO’s use of innovative foreign policy approaches to deliver the “Plan for Change” for the British people. This regime will be the first in the world dedicated to cracking down on people smuggling and organised migration crime, where vulnerable people are exploited by criminals and their networks, a key driver of irregular migration to the UK. Migrants who pay smugglers also face a high risk of working in conditions of modern slavery, being returned to their country of origin or losing their lives at sea.

The sanctions could cut off the flow of money and materials, including freezing property, bank accounts and other assets, that enable organised crime gangs to facilitate irregular migration to the UK. The sanctions are designed to target individuals anywhere in the world, who will be publicly named so that it is illegal for the UK financial system to deal with them.

As part of the “Plan for Change” and mission-led approach, FCDO has been working closely with National Crime Agency investigators, Border Security Command and other key partners to identify the most impactful targets, with the first sanctions planned for tomorrow.

The first targets targeted will include a range of offences, from the supply of small boats for crossings across the Channel, to the trade in counterfeit passports, as well as the brokering of payments through Hawala networks, to the gang leaders themselves.

This regime will complement the new law enforcement powers being introduced in the Borders, Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, ensuring that we have the broadest possible tools to crack down on gangs. Sanctions can be used to target organised migration crime gangs and their enablers, wherever they are, including where traditional law enforcement and criminal justice approaches fail. Smuggling and human trafficking are global security challenges, and the Government is working to strengthen relationships with key partners, including the EU, to better secure the UK’s borders.

Foreign Minister David Lammy said:

"For too long, criminal gangs have lined their corrupt pockets and exploited the hopes of vulnerable people with impunity, while encouraging irregular migration to the UK. We will not accept this situation."

"It is our moral duty and a key part of the Plan for Change to do everything we can to dismantle these gangs and secure Britain's borders."

“That is why the UK has created the world’s first sanctions regime against gangs involved in people smuggling and the facilitation of irregular migration, as well as their enablers. From tomorrow, those involved will face asset freezes, exclusion from the UK financial system and a travel ban to the UK.”

Today's announcement reflects how the whole of government is working together on the single mission of securing Britain's borders. The new regime complements the work of the National Crime Agency and Border Security Command to tackle organised immigration crime and address the causes of irregular migration in countries of origin and transit. The Border Security Command has received a budget increase of £280 million a year until 2028 to fund specialist investigators, new technology and advanced surveillance equipment to disrupt and dismantle criminal gangs.

The Minister of the Interior, Yvette Cooper, said:

"The new sanctions regime marks a decisive step in our fight against criminal gangs that profit from people's misery. It will allow us to target the assets and operations of smugglers wherever they operate, cutting off their financing and dismantling their networks one by one."

"Through the Border Security Command and key partners like the National Crime Agency, we are strengthening ties with other countries to combat this global problem."

"Together, we are sending a clear message that those who exploit vulnerable people and risk lives for profit have nowhere to hide."

This announcement is part of FCDO’s three-pillar strategy of ‘interrupt, stop, return’ to address irregular migration globally. In addition to disrupting organised crime networks through sanctions, FCDO works with countries of origin and transit to discourage potential migrants from undertaking dangerous journeys and collaborates with the Ministry of the Interior to negotiate the return of persons who do not have the right to remain, including criminals and rejected asylum seekers. Since the elections, over 35,000 people have been returned, a 13% increase compared to the same period last year.

Based on the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act (Sanctions Act), the Government has submitted secondary legislation to Parliament introducing a new global sanctions regime for Irregular Migration and Human Trafficking. The regulations will be discussed by both Houses of Parliament after the return from the summer recess, in accordance with the urgent approval procedure.

An asset freeze prohibits any British citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with funds or economic resources owned, held or controlled by the person concerned. UK financial sanctions apply to all persons within the territory and territorial waters of the UK, as well as to all British nationals, wherever they may be. It also prohibits the provision of funds or economic resources to, or for the benefit of, the sanctioned person.

A travel ban means that the sanctioned person should be refused permission to enter or remain in the United Kingdom if he/she is an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971.

Where sanctions are applied to disqualify directors, it will be considered a criminal offence if a designated person, subject to these sanctions, acts as a director of a company or takes part in the management, establishment or promotion of a company in the UK.


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