Suspected people-traffickers will submit to phone bans, social exclusions and travel restrictions under the new interim orders, which could take place before any conviction, which officials are keen to speed up action.
The crackdown will form part of the government’s border security bill to be published in the coming weeks, among the new highs in the number of people coming to the UK in 2024 was the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats. up to a quarter last year, the figures show.
In the last days of December alone, 1,776 people crossed the Channel on 38 different Home and National Office boats Criminals Agency initiatives to prevent crossings, seize dinghies and arrest people smugglers.
The servants will hope for new orders of England and Wales – where crimes can lead to up to five years in prison – will make the operations of suspected traffickers much tougher. But several migration experts said the new enforcement would only serve as a minimal deterrent.
They include travel restrictions and a ban on laptops, mobile phone use and social media access, including through third parties, as well as restrictions on meeting or communicating with other people and on access to funds. The high court would determine the length of the restrictions.
Meanwhile, a new crime prevention order will be ordered, which home secretary Yvette Cooper said was intended to be a faster solution that could be applied immediately by the High Court to suspects.
But Enver Salomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said it was likely that tougher enforcement would make the only difference in figures.
“Furthermore, simply enforcing action without even addressing the reasons why people want to risk their lives in the first place is likely to lead to more dangerous travel and more human tragedies, as men, women and children from war-torn countries like Afghanistan. Sudan should seek safety with family and communities already settled in the UK,” he said.
“The government will propose a safe and legal road strategy as a clear priority by 2025.”
A serious crime prevention order is a civil order that a court can impose to prevent a person from engaging in dangerous crimes, even when the person has not been convicted of any crime. However, implementation can be a complex and time-consuming process.
The new bill will allow the National Crime Agency, police and other law enforcement agencies to apply directly to the Supreme Court for immediate restrictions while the full order is considered.
Officials hope it will stop business operations while investigations and possible prosecutions take place. The interim order could lead to up to five years in prison. Meanwhile, orders can be made for many serious offences, from trafficking to drug smuggling, money laundering and firearms offences.
Madeleine Sumptio, director of the Undergraduate studies The Observatory at the University of Oxford said the new enforcement actions are likely to make only a difference to the margins of the people’s business, perhaps by making transit costs higher.
“Increased enforcement action may well have an impact on the smugglers themselves, bringing more of them to justice,” he said.
“It is less clear whether it will have any impact on the number of people on boats crossing the canal. In theory, the rifts would make the transitions more expensive, and perhaps some of the cost to the margins. But the people smuggling trade across the Channel is decentralized and profitable. If a smuggler is removed, new ones can simply move in to fill the space.
Cooper said the changes the government figures are one of a number of measures it will introduce this year to tackle criminal gangs.
“Dangerous criminals are profiting from people smugglers to undermine border security and put lives at risk. That must not go away,” he said in a press release.
“Stronger international cooperation has already led to the largest arrests and operations against dangerous gangs over the last few months. We will give the stronger forces of law necessary to pursue and stop more of these vile gang networks.
“Border security is one of the cornerstones of this government’s change strategy, including making people better off, delivering safer roads and strengthening our NHS, and we will do everything in our power to deliver people working.”
Cooper said last month that the government had a moral responsibility to take over the Channel crossing but refused to set a deadline when the target acquisition numbers were met with a sharp fall.
The government said it was also making significant efforts to arrest gangs involved in the riots. He mentioned that a joint operation between the NCA and the Belgian authorities, which disrupted a major Afghan ring, was responsible for transporting thousands of migrants to Europe and committing serious sexual offenses against child male migrants.
Other measures in the bill will include new powers for the Border Security Council, a new initiative by the government that has faced some criticism from the Conservatives for replicating similar policies from the previous government.
Cooper said the government’s focus would also be on dealing with the new return deals and the asylum backlog – which has seen almost 13,500 people deported since July, but thousands more will have the right to remain.
Home Office sources blamed the increase in transit on the fact that there were more sunny days, saying there were 88 such days in the second half of 2024 compared with 50 in the second half of 2023.
Chris Philp MP, the shadow home secretary, said: “Labour’s jaw is hard on the herds of adzans – they voted against previous sentences for the same adzans herds in the last parliament. As the NCA said, what would have stopped the boats would have been to deter removals – but Labor destroyed Rwanda before it had even begun.”