Bloomberg: UK to sanction smugglers in bid to stop migration

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends to introduce sanctions against migrant smugglers in order to deliver on his campaign promise to ‘smash the gangs’ that help refugees enter the country illegally, Bloomberg reports

The new programme aims to tackle criminal immigration networks by stemming their financing, the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on January 8th in a statement, billing the plan as the first set of sanctions in the world aimed specifically at people smugglers. The new law will allow officials to seize financial assets and impose travel bans on people or companies they have reasonable grounds to suspect are involved in people trafficking.

“That means that if entities are suspected of providing materials to help smuggling gangs transport people, or if individuals buy assets such as real estate with the proceeds from the operations, they can be hit even if they live outside the UK,” the article said.