The Secretary of State for the Home Department ():...We have created a new
small boats operational command, with more than 700 new staff;
doubled National Crime
Agency funding to tackle smuggling gangs; increased
enforcement raids by 50%; signed a deal with Albania, which has
already enabled the return of hundreds of illegal arrivals; and
are procuring accommodation, including on military land, to end
the farce of accommodating migrants in hotels...
(Newport West) (Lab): The
people in my constituency were outraged by the fact that last
year there were just four prosecutions for people smuggling a
month, while 46,000 people crossed the channel. Why is there
nothing in this Government’s widely trailed plans to tackle these
criminal gangs?
: Tackling the
criminal gangs at the root of this problem is absolutely
essential. That is why we have increased our funding to the
NCA to ensure that there is better
operationalising, better intelligence sharing and better
co-operation with European partners, and that is why I am very
pleased that many criminal gangs have been shut down and 500
convictions have been secured.
(Islwyn)
(Lab/Co-op): There has to be a strong deterrent when these
criminal gangs are found people smuggling. As my hon. Friend the
Member for Newport West () has said, there were only four
prosecutions per month against 46,000 crossings last year. How is
the Home Secretary going to target the criminal gangs? When they
are caught, they have to know that they are going to be punished
for their evil trade.
: I actually joined a
dawn raid with the National Crime
Agency a few months ago as it was going to arrest a
people smuggler. There is a huge programme of work ongoing to
ensure that there is proper intelligence sharing, proper resource
and adequate funding to take a tough line against the criminal,
evil people-smuggling gangs.
(Gedling) (Con): On
behalf of all the residents of Gedling who have raised the issue
of small boats with me, may I warmly welcome the Home Secretary’s
statement? Will she confirm that the forthcoming legislation will
end the morally reprehensible practice whereby smugglers are a de
facto part of the asylum process, and does she agree that, given
the dangers of cross-channel smuggling, a robust approach is
right, fair and humane?
: One of the root
causes of this problem is the proliferation of sophisticated,
well co-ordinated and well-resourced criminal gangs operating
across transnational boundaries on the continent. That is why we
have increased resources for the National Crime
Agency and increased co-operation and intelligence
sharing with the French. Only by working together with our
European partners will we be able to smash the business model of
the people smugglers.
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