- New agreements to be signed with Western Balkans countries to increase intelligence sharing and intercept criminal smuggling gangs.
- PM to chair migration meeting at European Political Community meeting in Hungary today and call on European partners to identify new ways to reduce irregular migration across the continent.
- Intervention follows speech to Interpol Conference in Glasgow this week, where the PM warned organised immigration crime must be treated like terrorism.
A major upgrade in international co-operation is needed to tackle the vile criminal gangs who trade in people’s misery for profit, the Prime Minister will say in Hungary today (7 November).
Attending the European Political Community meeting in Budapest, he will meet key European partners and urge concerted action to reduce the number of deaths in the Channel as a result of dangerous and illegal small boats crossings.
He will say that all European countries bear a responsibility to end the devastation caused by people smugglers and that lawful, international co-operation will be key to these efforts.
To support this, the Prime Minister will announce new UK plans to clamp down on organised immigration crime abroad by signing new agreements with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo.
The deals will increase intelligence sharing, expertise and co-operation in order to intercept the criminal gangs as they transit vulnerable people through these countries, arrest them, and break their business models at source.
Almost 100,000 migrants transited through the Western Balkans last year, making it a key route used by those who end up in the EU or UK illegally.
These agreements build on the existing partnership between the UK and Albania, which includes joint operational activity targeting the illicit finance flows that underpin the operations of the criminal gangs who seek to compromise Britain’s border.
These results demonstrate the impact of increased international collaboration on irregular migration – which the Prime Minister has made a key focus of his wider work to reset the UK’s relationship with its international partners since taking office.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said
There is a criminal empire operating on our continent, exacting a horrendous human toll and undermining our national security.
Backed by our new Border Security Command, the UK will be at the heart of the efforts to end the scourge of organised immigration crime – but we cannot do it in isolation.
We need to go further and faster, alongside our international partners, and take the fight directly to the heart of these vile people smuggling networks. I will be making this the central feature of my discussions at the European Political Community meeting today.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said
Our work with our partners in the Western Balkans is absolutely key to dismantling the criminal networks that orchestrate the exploitation of vulnerable people for financial gain.
Working more closely with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo, we will share information and intelligence, and work across borders to map out what is happening and where, to break the business models of these unscrupulous gangs at source.
Through our intensified work, criminals will soon realise they have nowhere to hide.
While at the EPC, the Prime Minister will also chair a meeting on migration with fellow European leaders and stress the need for a better collective response on organised immigration crime, as well as more upstream co-operation with transit and origin countries.
It follows his speech to the Interpol Conference in Glasgow this week, where he warned that organised immigration crime must be treated in the same way as terrorism, with greater sharing of international intelligence and more joint operational work in order to dismantle the networks used by smuggling gangs.
As part of this, he announced £75 million in additional funding for the UK’s Border Security Command, which will boost state-of-the-art tech and see extra staff hired to lead enforcement and intelligence work in order to protect the UK’s borders.
It comes as the latest figures confirmed the government has returned 9,400 people with no right to be in the UK – including 2,590 enforced returns, an increase of 19% on the same period in 2023.
The EPC is the latest in a series of international engagements for the Prime Minister, as he seeks to rebuild Britain’s reputation abroad in order to deliver tangible results for the British people at home.
He will also discuss how closer collaboration can drive economic growth in the UK, and our enduring support for Ukraine in the face of Putin’s ongoing illegal invasion.
