The UK Government will work with Chinese intelligence officials to try and block criminal gangs from moving migrants across the English Channel in small boats, Sir Keir Starmer will announce on Thursday.
During his visit to Beijing, the Prime Minister is set to seal a deal to cooperate on migration crime with the Chinese authorities despite concerns over the country’s espionage efforts against Britain.
Under the terms of the pact, China will help to identify boat engines made in the country which risk falling into the hands of people smugglers operating in the Channel.
It comes after British police previously opened talks with China to request a crackdown on the manufacture and export of small boat engines that are being used by Channel smugglers.
Blocking the supply of powerful Chinese-made engines is seen as crucial to making the people smuggling business model less financially viable, as it could force gangs to use smaller boats that could carry fewer migrants.
Inflatable dinghies using parts manufactured in China can currently carry over 100 people.
It remains to be seen how successful a UK-China deal would be in disrupting the complex supply chain of small boats, which spans several continents. In 2021, France implemented restrictions on the sale of inflatable boats in Channel coastal areas to combat migrant smuggling operations but it has done little to curb crossings.
The agreement is the Prime Minister’s latest attempt to show that diplomatic success on the world stage can have a direct benefit on the lives of the British public.
Confiscated small boats and outboard motors used to cross the Channel from France, held at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent (Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA)Much of his international action has been praised by observers, but it has done little to rescue Labour’s flagging poll ratings and Starmer has sometimes been accused of neglecting UK domestic politics in favour of global glamour.
He appeared to acknowledge that perception on Wednesday night as he addressed British business leaders who have come with him to China, promising them that the tour would end up helping British voters and saying: “Whatever goes on in the world, I’m afraid, their number one issue is the cost of living.”
The new migration policy also risks accusations that he is not serious enough about the threat to UK security posed by Chinese aggression, including a long-running campaign of hacking and spying on key figures in Westminster.
The deal is set to be finalised after Starmer meets China’s President, Xi Jinping, and the country’s premier Li Qiang on Thursday. British law enforcement officials will work with their Chinese counterparts to identify the supply routes used by smugglers and help manufacturers in China to avoid being exploited by criminal gangs.
A majority of the engines used on Channel small boats last year were found to be made in China, according to the Government.
Many small boats engines are supplied via China, according to the Government (Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA)Starmer said: “Organised immigration crime and the business model of the smuggling gangs goes beyond borders and our approach to shut them down must do the same.
“This deal will help us cut off the supply of boats at source – stopping crossings before lives are put at risk and restoring control to our borders. This is Britain back at the top table, delivering real results for the British people through our international relationships.”
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Rick Jones of the National Crime Agency (NCA) added: “This agreement will enable us to work with Chinese law enforcement to tackle those gangs who exploit the most vulnerable, and prevent legitimate companies being drawn into this criminality. We are committed to working with them constructively going forward.”
The UK and China will also work to help stop the flow of deadly synthetic opioids into Britain, as well as the chemicals which can be used to make them after being exported from China in apparently harmless packages.
Starmer is the first British Prime Minister to visit China since Theresa May in 2018, and has said he views his trip as a key way to build international partnerships that can help to ensure against global instability.
Complex web of small boats crime
The operations behind small boat crossings to the UK span several continents and involve a complex international network of organised crime.
Criminal gangs across Europe, North Africa, and Asia oversee the supply of boats and fake identity documents, illicit payments, and squalid migrant camps, with the sole aim of smuggling people to the UK.
Last July, the Government sanctioned a criminal gang based in North Africa, which controlled people smuggling to Europe, a former police translator in Serbia who led a smuggling gang with the assistance of corrupt officers and an Iraqi Hawala banker receiving payments for migrants to be smuggled from the Kurdistan region of Iraq to Europe via Turkey.
Meanwhile, Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co, a company based in China, was sanctioned for advertising their small boats online explicitly for the purpose of people smuggling.
Another sanctions package introduced in October targeted crime groups across the Balkans, supplying fake documents, including a Kosovo-based gang who ran a sophisticated forgery lab.
The UK is not alone in its effort to tackle the international smuggling network behind Channel crossings. France banned the sale of inflatable dinghies from Channel towns in 2021, while Belgian authorities earlier this month assisted the NCA in arresting a Turkish national who had overseen the supply of thousands of boats and engines, as well as the smuggling of 10,000 people to the UK via small boat crossings.
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