UK to step up deportations and crack down on ‘people smuggling gangs’

The British government has announced measures to tackle illegal migration, promising to crack down on “people smuggling gangs” and increase deportations.

Migrants and refugees arrive on British shores via the English Channel almost daily. Since 5 July, when the new Labour government took office, more than 5,700 people have reached Britain via this route.

“We are taking strong and decisive action to strengthen our borders and ensure regulations are respected and enforced,” British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement, as reported by the Athens News Agency.

The fight against illegal migration was one of the main themes in the election campaign for the July 4 general election, which returned the Labour Party to power in Britain after 14 years.

One of the first measures announced by the new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, was the cancellation of the ‘Rwanda Plan’, adopted by the previous government, which provided for the deportation of illegal migrants to the African country, a law that has attracted much criticism.

Hire border guards

Starmer has pledged to tackle migration with “humanity” but also to reduce the number of migrants, both legal and illegal, entering Britain.

To achieve this goal, the Ministry of the Interior has presented a series of measures specifically aimed at tackling human traffickers.

“Up to 100 new officers will be recruited to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to tackle people smuggling gangs and prevent dangerous boat crossings across the Channel,” Cooper stressed.

The interior minister also promised to increase the number of deportations. “Staff will be deployed to increase the number of deportations of rejected asylum seekers,” she noted, explaining that the number of deportations “has fallen by 40% since 2010.”

Cooper wants to reduce the number of deportations to 2018 levels within the next six months.

Criminal prosecution of employers of migrants

In addition, the Ministry of the Interior will tackle employers who hire illegal migrants by imposing fines and sanctions, such as closure of their business or even criminal prosecution.

Opinion polls show that border control is the top issue for British voters for the first time in eight years, following far-right riots that broke out in several English cities in early August after the murder of three girls in Southport.

Fake news, falsely claiming that the perpetrator was a refugee, was spread through far-right social media accounts.

Far-right groups targeted hotels housing asylum seekers and businesses owned by migrants, sparking widespread anti-racist and anti-fascist demonstrations across Britain, helping to stem racist violence.

(philenews with information from in.gr)