Human Trafficking: Organised Crime

Home Office written question – answered at on 10 September 2021.

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Photo of Gareth Thomas Gareth Thomas Shadow Minister (International Trade)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people-smuggling gangs operating to smuggle people into UK in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Photo of Kit Malthouse Kit Malthouse Minister of State (Ministry of Justice and Home Office)

The Organised Immigration Crime (OIC) threat to the UK is exceptionally complex, spanning multiple countries, nationalities and criminal methodologies. The Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) behind this crime range from large, sophisticated, poly-criminality networks to individuals in a single area who provide smuggling services as an extension to an otherwise legitimate business. There is therefore no comprehensive estimate of the total number of gangs involved in people smuggling to the UK over the last five years.

The Government and law enforcement agencies work tirelessly to tackle the criminal networks who facilitate people smuggling from source countries to Europe and then the UK, knowingly putting people in life-threatening situations. The National Crime Agency alone has around 50 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals involved in the highest harm of OIC or human trafficking; and is supporting partner agencies in more than 40 other cases.

Since the inception of the multi-agency UK OIC Taskforce in 2015, the UK government’s multi-agency response to tackling people smuggling, it has been involved in more than 1000 arrests, both in the UK and overseas, with suspects convicted sentenced to more than 720 years in prison. It takes a whole of route approach, deploying over 150 officers to operate in 17 countries, with Crown Prosecution Service prosecutors placed in key source and transit countries to disrupt OCGs profiting from people smuggling.

In March 2021, the Government published the New Plan for Immigration containing provisions to establish legislation to deter illegal entry into the UK, thereby breaking the business model of criminal people smuggling networks and protecting the lives of those they endanger. In July 2021, the Government introduced this legislation through the Nationality and Borders Bill.

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