UK’s Starmer calls for coordinated fight against people smugglers

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Monday for nations to pool resources to tackle the problem of illegal migration at “every step” of the route, from North Africa and the Middle East to Britain’s streets.
Starmer spoke at a meeting of more than 40 countries and organisations, including the United States, France and Vietnam, aimed at coordinating global efforts to counter illegal migration and the people-smuggling gangs who profit from it.

Starmer, like his predecessors for more than a decade, is seeking ways to stop migrants coming illegally to Britain, where immigration remains a major issue for voters worried by pressure on scarce resources like healthcare and housing.

“This evil trade exploits the cracks between our institutions, it pits nations against one another, it profits from our inability at the political level to come together,” he told the Organised Immigration Crime summit.
“I simply don’t believe that organised immigration crime cannot be tackled. So we’ve got to combine our resources, share intelligence and tactics and tackle the problem upstream at every step of the smuggling journey.”