A major new international plan that aims to smash the criminal gangs responsible for smuggling illegal migrants into the UK was agreed on Friday, the Home Office said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper signed off the G7 Anti-Smuggling Action Plan, which the Government hopes will “bolster border security, combat organised crime and protect the vulnerable from exploitation by migrant smugglers”.
It will see joint investigations carried out by law enforcement agencies to target criminal gangs and result in more intelligence sharing between the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States to “ensure faster identification and disruption of dangerous networks”, the Government said.
Nations will also work with social media platforms to remove content that promotes illegal migration services or advertises fake job opportunities, as part of the agreement.
The UK’s new Border Security Command, led by ex Met chief Martin Hewitt, will play a major part in delivering the plan.
More than 25,000 people have made the perilous journey from France to the UK in small boats this year, according to Home Office data.
Ms Cooper, who had had discussion with G7 Interior and Security Ministers’ in Avellino, Italy this week, said: “Criminal smuggling gangs who organise small boat crossings undermine our border security and put lives at risk.
“Our new government is rapidly accelerating cooperation with other countries to crack down on these dangerous gangs.
“Today’s newly agreed G7 action plan provides an important focus on international law enforcement and reflects our determination to work with global partners on these shared challenges.
“New international joint investigative teams will help coordinate cross-border action and supplement the measures we have already taken to set up the UK Border Security Command and back it with new funding.
“The plan will help to increase both voluntary and enforced returns of migrants to countries of origin. It aims to offer migrants more choices and improve the overall management of migration flows.”
It comes as more than a dozen migrants who crossed the Channel in a small boat were brought to shore on Friday - the first arrivals following a spell of bad weather.
Pictures show people wearing life jackets arriving in Dover on a Border Force vessel on Friday, after a period of windy conditions.
These are the first crossings since Sunday, when 59 people were recorded as arriving in one boat, according to Home Office figures, taking the provisional total for 2024 to date to 25,244.
Following latest data released on Thursday, the total for the year so far is down 0.3 per cent on this time last year (25,330) and 25 per cent lower than the same period in 2022 (33,611).
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
"As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.
"We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice."
