UK plans to introduce tough measures to fight smugglers in the country

London: Suspected people smugglers in the UK could face severe punishments including travel bans, social media blackouts and phone restrictions if new laws, which are soon to be tabled, are passed. The government hopes the measures will deter people in the UK from collaborating with smugglers abroad to bring migrants to the country using irregular means.

Ministers in the UK hope to reduce and prevent migrant boat crossings in the English Channel by clamping down on those who might be assisting smugglers on the UK side under a new draft law.

The bill states that when a person falls under suspicion of aiding and facilitating the smuggling of migrants into the country, they can in the future be placed under an “interim” Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO).

This means they will suffer strict restrictions on their communications, such as limitations placed on using their phones, laptops or social media, a ban on accessing their finances as well as limitations on their freedom of movement, reaching up to a full travel ban.

Breaching an interim order could lead to up to five years in prison, under the proposed bill.

So far, imposing SCPOs on criminals involved a complex process that the government said was “restricting the use of this powerful tool” to intervene before illegal activities were committed.

But the draft legislation, which will be introduced in parliament in the coming weeks as part of the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, will allow law enforcement agencies to ask a high court to impose immediate restrictions while a full order is still being considered.

The announcement on the tabling of these changes comes just days after figures were presented, highlighting the fact that migrant arrival numbers from across the Channel continue to rise.

Last year’s figures were up by a quarter compared to 2023, with more than 7,000 additional arrivals in small boats. In absolute numbers, this means that roughly 36,816 people were detected crossing the Channel last year, compared to 29,437 the prior year.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that authorities needed to be given stronger powers to address the business of “vile gang networks.”

Cooper said that people smugglers “are profiting from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk” and that they should not “be allowed to get away with it.”

Cooper’s plans are in line with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s strategy, who upon being elected in July said he would prioritize the issue of tackling irregular migration by cracking down on the gangs who smuggle people across the English Channel.

However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that these measures would not act as a deterrent, adding that he perceived them as “laughable.”

Meanwhile, Conservative MP David Davis, himself a former cabinet minister, said the move “sounds unnecessarily draconian.”

SCPOs have been in use in the UK since 2008, but have in the past typically been applied to cases involving violent crime only, including knife crime, slavery and trafficking.

Meanwhile, the Refugee Council has criticized the UK government’s strategy to limit cross-Channel migrant journeys, saying in a new report that these latest efforts had made the crossings “even more dangerous.”

The Refugee Council said that smugglers were now cramming more people “into less seaworthy boats” to try to make more money, as the British government continues to try to stop boat arrivals.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) believes that at least 78 people died last year while attempting to make the dangerous journey.

The most recent fatal incident in the Channel occurred on 29 December, when three people drowned while trying to cross the Channel in a small boat.