Germany will criminalise facilitation of migrant smuggling to the UK as part of bilateral action to enhance border security, the Home Office has confirmed.
The new action has been agreed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and German Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser and announced by the government on Tuesday.
Facilitating people smuggling, regardless of the destination country, is illegal in Germany.
However, legal loopholes in German law could hinder the prosecution of individuals involved in storing and supplying boats used for smuggling migrants across the English Channel to the UK.
In this light, Berlin has confirmed it will clarify in its legislation that activities in Germany that facilitate migrant smuggling towards the UK constitute a criminal offence.
Cooper described Germany as a “key partner” and said the new joint action will boost border security.
“For too long organised criminal gangs have been exploiting vulnerable people, undermining border security in the UK and across Europe while putting thousands of lives at risk. We are clear that this cannot go on,” she said.
Faeser said that Germany is committed to end “the inhumane activities of criminal immigrant smuggling organisations.”
“Many of these crimes are planned in Germany. Together, we are now countering this unscrupulous business with human hardship with even more resolve.
Illegal Crossings
The agreement comes as 33,973 illegal migrant crossings across the Channel were recorded this year. This is an increase from 29,090 at the same time last year and a drop from 44,633 in 2022.The Home Office has vowed to tackle the illegal immigration crisis that has so far seen a total of 148,295 immigrants arrive in Britain by boat across the Channel since 2018, when records began.
So far this year, more than 70 people have died attempting to cross the Channel in small boats, including a number of babies and children.
Last month, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
Closer Cooperation
The UK–Germany deal is the first of its kind and follows the visit of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to Berlin in August, when he met Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The initiative is also part of a wider UK ambition to “reset” its relationship with the European Union post-Brexit.Speaking at the European Political Community in Hungary last month, Starmer said that closer international cooperation was “vital” to stopping people smuggling networks.
Last week, a suspected people smuggler was arrested in Leicester as a result of a joint investigation between UK and German authorities.
At the beginning of December, the UK National Crime Agency aided German officers in a major operation that targeted an organised crime group suspected of being involved in smuggling people to the UK in small boats. As a result, 13 people were arrested and 21 boats and 24 engines were seized, alongside life jackets, pumps, and cash.
On Tuesday, Cooper and Faeser were joined by officials from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the EU agencies Europol and Frontex to agree on joint efforts in tackling people smuggling gangs. The discussions were part of the Calais Group meeting in London, co-chaired by Germany and Britain.
