Closer international collaboration will be key to smashing the criminal gangs

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). 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.