Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Ministers pledge coordinated action on migrant smuggling

Germany will close a legal loophole that enabled human traffickers to store the small boats they use to cross the English Channel.

Ministers pledge coordinated action on migrant smuggling
FILE PHOTO: In this drone view, an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants makes its way towards England in the English Channel, Britain, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe.

MINISTERS from Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium will meet in London on Tuesday (10) to step up cooperation in the fight against gangs smuggling migrants into Europe.

The representatives of the so-called Calais Group will agree on "enhanced efforts to break the business model of people smuggling gangs and ensure that those responsible for this dangerous trade are brought to justice", the British Home Office said in a statement.


Representatives of the European Commission and the Frontex and Europol agencies will also participate in drawing up the action plan.

In particular, the parties will seek to improve intelligence sharing to disrupt illicit financial flows and facilitate the prosecution of smugglers in Europe.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and German counterpart Nancy Faeser on Monday (9) announced the signing of a joint action plan between London and Berlin.

The plan "strengthens operational capabilities of UK and German law enforcement to tackle the challenge of migrant smuggling, the trafficking of persons", the statement said.

Germany will also agree to "clarify" its law to make it a crime to smuggle migrants to the UK.

"This will give German prosecutors more tools to tackle the supply and storage of dangerous small boats equipment and allow the UK and Germany to better counter the continually evolving tactics of people smuggling gangs", the statement said.

"Many of these crimes are planned in Germany," Faeser acknowledged. "Together, we are now countering this unscrupulous business with even more resolve.

"This includes maintaining high investigative pressure, exchanging information between our security authorities as best as possible, and persistently investigating financial flows to identify the criminals operating behind the scenes."

In November, prime minister Keir Starmer called for greater international cooperation against smuggling networks, which he described as a "global security threat similar to terrorism".

Nearly 34,000 migrants have arrived in Britain on makeshift boats since January, and at least 70 people died in 2024, the deadliest year on record.

(AFP)

More For You

Modi-Xi-Putin

Narendra Modi talks with Vladimir Putin and Xi jinping ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Centre in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

SCO declaration slams Pahalgam attack, calls for united action on terror

Highlights:

  • SCO condemns terror attack in Pahalgam and echoes India’s stance on “double standards”.
  • Leaders call for justice for perpetrators of attacks in Pahalgam and Balochistan.
  • Declaration criticises Israeli military strikes in Gaza causing civilian casualties.
  • SCO stresses UN’s central role in global counter-terrorism strategy.

THE SHANGHAI Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Monday condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam and agreed with India’s position that “double standards” in tackling terrorism are not acceptable.

Keep ReadingShow less
Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

Anti-migrant protesters demonstrate outside the Cladhan Hotel on August 30, 2025 in Falkirk, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

BRITISH police said they arrested five people on Saturday (30) after masked men tried to force their way into a hotel used by asylum-seekers, a day after the government won a court ruling on the use of another hotel to house migrants.

Two groups of anti-asylum protesters marched to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Heathrow Airport before some demonstrators tried to break in, London's Metropolitan Police force said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi backs peaceful Ukraine settlement in call with Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskiy (L) and Narendra Modi

Modi backs peaceful Ukraine settlement in call with Zelenskyy

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his support for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Modi's office said.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address on Saturday (30), said Modi supported Ukraine's call for a ceasefire in the war with Russia and hoped that notion would be heard at the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi says "peace and stability" achieved on China border in Xi meeting

India's prime minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Chinese president Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China, August 31, 2025. India's Press Information Bureau/Handout via REUTERS

Modi says "peace and stability" achieved on China border in Xi meeting

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi was committed to improving ties with Beijing in a key meeting with China's president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional security forum on Sunday (31).

Modi is in China for the first time in seven years to attend a two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, along with Russian president Vladimir Putin and other leaders from Central, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East in a show of Global South solidarity.

Keep ReadingShow less
wasim bashir

Bashir retired from the force while under investigation but will still face misconduct proceedings. (Photo credit: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Former West Yorkshire Police officer jailed for misconduct

A FORMER West Yorkshire Police officer has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison after being convicted of misconduct in a public office.

Wasim Bashir, 55, who worked as a detective constable in Bradford District, was found guilty of one count of misconduct in a public office for forming a sexual relationship with a female victim of crime. He was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, 29 August.

Keep ReadingShow less