Home Secretary sets out 'moral imperative' to smash smuggling gangs as authorities seize 40 small boats

6 September 2024, 00:01

The Home Secretary will today convene a summit of Cabinet ministers and law enforcement officials as she sets out the “moral imperative” to smash the criminal gangs smuggling people across the Channel.

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

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

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

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

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

“The last two months has seen encouraging progress, with significant seizures of boats and equipment in Europe.

“But there is work to do, and the Border Security Command will bring all the relevant bodies together to investigate, arrest and prosecute these networks, as well as deepen our ties with key international partners.”

The UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) will attend the summit as the government looks to highlight the progress it is making on preventing small boat Channel crossings.

Ministers will examine the findings of analysis commissioned by Ms Cooper upon Labour’s entry into government.

NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said: “People smuggling puts lives in mortal danger.

“Tackling the callous criminals behind organised immigration crime is one of the NCA’s highest priorities. We continue to expand our activity to deliver 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 boost security against the small boat gangs.

It remains to be seen if these talks will lead to a decrease in Channel crossings.

A pregnant woman was among at least 12 people who died when the dinghy they were using to cross the Channel from France capsized on September 3.

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

Two people remain in critical condition after the incident. Fewer than eight people onboard were wearing life jackets

Many of the migrants on board were women from the Horn of Africa, on the east of the continent. French officials said that ten of the people who died were female.

Emergency services were deployed in large numbers to the Channel at around 9:30 GMT on Tuesday.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the incident "horrifying and deeply tragic" as she said "vital" efforts to dismantle "dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs" and to boost border security "must proceed apace".

France’s outgoing interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said: "Terrible shipwreck in Pas-de-Calais, off Wimereux. The provisional toll stands at 12 dead, two missing and several injured."

The vessel is said to have got into trouble around 28 miles southwest of Calais.

The UK's border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, told of a "worrying trend" of boats being fuller than in the past.

She added that the quality of the boats was "deteriorating", which means that "these crossings are getting more and more dangerous as time goes on".

Amnesty International UK said: “No amount of ‘smash the gangs’ policing and government rhetoric is going to stop these disasters from unfolding time and again if the needs of people exploited by those gangs remain unaddressed.”

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