Interior minister gives ‘moral obligation’ to fight smuggling gangs as authorities…

September 6, 2024, 12:01 AM

The Home Secretary will convene a summit of ministers and law enforcement officials today, setting out a “moral duty” to tackle criminal gangs smuggling people across the Channel.

The meeting comes just days after 12 people, including children and a pregnant woman, died during the perilous crossing.

Yvette Cooper will be joined in London by ministers including Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Attorney General Lord Hermer and representatives from the National Crime Agency (NCA), Border Force and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

As part of the announcement, Ms Cooper confirmed that the NCA and Bulgarian authorities have seized 40 small boats and engines in recent weeks, potentially preventing 2,400 fatal crossings.

Speaking ahead of the summit, Yvette Cooper said: “Exploiting vulnerable people is at the heart of the business model of these despicable criminal trafficking gangs.

“Women and children were crammed into an unsafe boat this week that literally collapsed into the water. At least 12 people were killed as part of this evil trade. We will not rest until these networks are dismantled and brought to justice.

“Encouraging progress has been made over the past two months, with significant seizures of boats and equipment in Europe.

“But there is work to be done, and Border Security Command will bring together all relevant agencies to investigate, arrest and prosecute these networks, and to deepen our ties with key international partners.”

The UK Intelligence Service (UKIC) will attend the summit, where the government wants to highlight the progress it is making in preventing small boat crossings of the Channel.

Ministers will study the findings of the analysis commissioned by Ms Cooper when Labour took office as leader.

Graeme Biggar, Director General of the NCA, said: “People smuggling puts lives at risk.

“Tackling the unscrupulous criminals behind organised immigration crime is one of the NCA’s highest priorities and we continue to expand our activities to deliver an ever greater impact against the threat.”

In recent weeks, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has attempted to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU in a bid to improve security against small boat gangs.

It remains to be seen whether these talks will lead to a reduction in the number of Channel crossings.

A pregnant woman was among at least 12 people who died when the rowing boat they were crossing the Channel in from France capsized on September 3.

About 70 people were on the seven-metre boat, 51 of whom were rescued by the French coastguard on Tuesday morning, in the deadliest disaster in the Channel so far this year.

Two people are still in critical condition after the incident. Fewer than eight people on board were wearing life jackets

Many of the migrants on board were women from the Horn of Africa, in the eastern part of the continent. French officials said 10 of the dead were women.

Emergency services were sent en masse to the Channel at around 09:30 GMT on Tuesday.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the incident “appalling and deeply tragic”, saying “vital” efforts to dismantle “dangerous and criminal smuggling gangs” and improve border security “must continue apace”.

France’s outgoing Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said: “Terrible shipwreck in Pas-de-Calais, off the coast of Wimereux. The provisional death toll is 12, two missing and several injured.”

The ship is said to have run into trouble about 28 miles southwest of Calais.

Angela Eagle, the UK’s minister for borders and asylum, spoke of a “worrying trend” of boats being fuller than in the past.

She added that the quality of the boats is “deteriorating”, meaning “these crossings are becoming more and more dangerous as time goes on”.

Amnesty International UK said: “No amount of ‘smash the gangs’ policing and government rhetoric will prevent these disasters from happening again and again if the needs of people exploited by these gangs are not addressed.”

Safe Passage International said: “Today’s tragedy must be the last. We cannot accept this government’s refusal to prioritise the opening of new safe routes.”