Yvette Cooper to lead summit on Channel Islands smuggling gangs | Immigration and asylum

Yvette Cooper will chair a summit aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs smuggling people across the Channel in small boats. The Home Office announced that MI5 officers have been given a key role in the operations.

Intelligence officers, Border Force personnel and representatives from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will attend Friday’s meeting at the National Crime Agency’s headquarters.

Cooper, the Home Secretary, is joined by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, and Richard Hermer, the Attorney General.

Twelve people died Tuesday attempting the perilous journey across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, while another 257 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Wednesday.

Cooper said: “Women and children were crammed into an unsafe boat that literally collapsed into the water this week. At least 12 people were killed as part of this evil trade.”

A statement from the UK Home Office said: “UKIC deploys a formidable covert capability to support the NCA in penetrating and dismantling gangs at every operational level, from facilitators to financiers.”

Law enforcement ministers and partners will examine the findings of an analysis of the operational capabilities of the criminal smuggling gangs, the Interior Ministry said.

In recent weeks, in cooperation with Bulgarian authorities, more than 40 small boats and engines have been seized, the statement said.

Downing Street said the head of the new Border Security Command would be appointed within weeks in a further development of the government’s plans to tackle illegal migration.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “One of the first things the Government did was to launch the recruitment campaign for the Border Force Commander. We obviously want to have the most competent person in the role. The process has been thorough and we expect to provide an update in the coming weeks.”

Charities have called on the Home Office to open safe routes for asylum seekers to reduce the number of boats crossing the Channel. Some claim the UK money is being used to ‘militarise’ the French coastline, forcing asylum seekers to take greater risks.

Enver Solomon, the Refugee Council’s director, said: “Any plan to tackle the Channel crossings that is to be successful must go beyond enforcement. It must include expanded safe routes, such as refugee visas, family reunification schemes and much better cooperation with European partners.”

A pregnant woman and six children were among those killed on Tuesday in what has been described as the second deadliest Channel crossing in recent years, when their boat was “torn apart” and sank off the northern French coast at Cap Gris-Nez.

The number of arrivals with small boats is provisionally expected to be 21,977 in 2024.