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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Rachael Burford

People smugglers to be 'treated like terrorists' in small boats crackdown, vows Keir Starmer

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover - (PA Wire)

People smugglers who traffic migrants into Britain will be treated like terrorists in a Government crackdown on small boat crossings, the Prime Minister announced on Monday.

Sir Keir Starmer said tackling the gangs who are paid thousands of pounds to bring people to the UK was his "personal mission".

"We're going to treat people smugglers like terrorists," the PM told the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow.

"So, we're taking our approach to counter terrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs."

In the first four days of November more than 400 people made the perilous journey from France, according to Home Office data.

It means almost 31,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in 2024 so far. There have been over 50 deaths reported in the Channel this year.

"People smuggling should be viewed as a global security threat similar to terrorism," Sir Keir said.

"We've got to combine resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream, working together to shut down the smuggling routes."

He added: "When I was the director of public prosecutions, it was my personal mission to smash the terrorist gangs and we worked across borders to ensure the safety of citizens across Europe and across the world.

"Now, as the UK's Prime Minister, it is my personal mission to smash the people-smuggling gangs, and, look, that starts here in the UK."

On November 1 and 2, a total of 433 people crossed the Channel in 11 boats.

This takes the provisional total for the year so far to 30,864.

Some £75million of Government funding allocated to Britain's border security command will be used for an immigration crime intelligence unit, the PM said.

He added: "We're giving our new border security command an additional £75 million of new funding on top of the £75 million we've already committed.

"This will support a new organised immigration crime intelligence unit - hundreds of new investigators and intelligence officers backed by state-of-the-art technology.

"We're also investing a further £58 million in our National Crime Agency, including strengthening its data analysis and intelligence capabilities, and we'll also legislate to give those fighting these gangs enhanced powers too."

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