The UK on Sunday unveiled plans for a new law that will crack down on criminal gangs behind social media advertisements promoting dangerous small boat crossings and other forms of illegal immigration into the country.
Under a new amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently going through the Parliament, a UK-wide offence will be introduced to criminalise the creation of material for publication online, which promotes or offers services facilitating a breach of Britain's immigration law.
This could include small boat crossings across the English Channel, the creation of fake travel documents like passports or visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK, in an effort to target people smugglers based anywhere in the world.
Individuals caught under the new offence face a prison sentence of up to five years and a hefty fine.
"Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country - whether on or offline - simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral," said UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
"These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. We are determined to do everything we can to stop them - wherever they operate.
"We have to stay one step ahead of the ever-evolving tactics of people-smuggling gangs and this move, part of our Plan for Change to boost border security, will empower law enforcement to disable these tactics faster and more effectively, ensuring people face proper penalties," she said.
While facilitating illegal migration is already a crime in the UK, the proposed changes are designed to provide an additional tool for law enforcement and better enable them to disrupt the gangs who publicise people-smuggling activities.
The UK Home Office said its analysis shows that approximately 80 per cent of migrants arriving illegally via small boats told officials that they used social media during their journey to the UK, including to locate or communicate with an agent or facilitator associated with an organised crime group.
"We know many of the people-smuggling networks risking lives transporting people to the UK promote their services to migrants using social media," said Rob Jones, National Crime Agency (NCA) Director General for Operations.
"The majority of migrants arriving in the UK will have engaged with smugglers in this way. This is why we work with social media companies to target smugglers' accounts, and we've increased the pace of takedowns.
"These proposed new powers will offer UK law enforcement additional options to target criminal gangs and their business models as they use online platforms for their criminality," he said.
The proposed measure will also make it a crime to post online content that encourages someone to break UK immigration law in exchange for financial incentives.
Joanne Jakymec, a Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), added: "Once it's in force, the CPS won't hesitate to charge cases where we have evidence of suspects using social media to advertise small boat crossings, fake travel documents, or illegal working opportunities.
The Home Office, meanwhile, claimed a surge in enforcement action against illegal migration, with a 50 per cent increase in arrests of those caught working illegally and around 35,000 people with no right to be in the UK being deported.
It also claims to have imposed tougher sanctions against gang ring leaders, key intermediaries and suppliers of people-smuggling equipment.
It comes amid protests and counter-protests this weekend over asylum seekers being housed in taxpayer-funded hotels in London and other parts of the country.
"There have been nine arrests so far, with seven for breaching Public Order Act conditions," the Metropolitan Police said following a demonstration in north London on Saturday.
While the protest at the Thistle City Barbican Hotel was organised by local residents under the banner "Thistle Barbican needs to go - locals say no", a larger group staged a counter-protest in support of migrants with banners that read "Refugees are welcome".
Under a new amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently going through the Parliament, a UK-wide offence will be introduced to criminalise the creation of material for publication online, which promotes or offers services facilitating a breach of Britain's immigration law.
This could include small boat crossings across the English Channel, the creation of fake travel documents like passports or visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK, in an effort to target people smugglers based anywhere in the world.
Individuals caught under the new offence face a prison sentence of up to five years and a hefty fine.
"Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country - whether on or offline - simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral," said UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
"These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. We are determined to do everything we can to stop them - wherever they operate.
"We have to stay one step ahead of the ever-evolving tactics of people-smuggling gangs and this move, part of our Plan for Change to boost border security, will empower law enforcement to disable these tactics faster and more effectively, ensuring people face proper penalties," she said.
While facilitating illegal migration is already a crime in the UK, the proposed changes are designed to provide an additional tool for law enforcement and better enable them to disrupt the gangs who publicise people-smuggling activities.
The UK Home Office said its analysis shows that approximately 80 per cent of migrants arriving illegally via small boats told officials that they used social media during their journey to the UK, including to locate or communicate with an agent or facilitator associated with an organised crime group.
"We know many of the people-smuggling networks risking lives transporting people to the UK promote their services to migrants using social media," said Rob Jones, National Crime Agency (NCA) Director General for Operations.
"The majority of migrants arriving in the UK will have engaged with smugglers in this way. This is why we work with social media companies to target smugglers' accounts, and we've increased the pace of takedowns.
"These proposed new powers will offer UK law enforcement additional options to target criminal gangs and their business models as they use online platforms for their criminality," he said.
The proposed measure will also make it a crime to post online content that encourages someone to break UK immigration law in exchange for financial incentives.
Joanne Jakymec, a Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), added: "Once it's in force, the CPS won't hesitate to charge cases where we have evidence of suspects using social media to advertise small boat crossings, fake travel documents, or illegal working opportunities.
The Home Office, meanwhile, claimed a surge in enforcement action against illegal migration, with a 50 per cent increase in arrests of those caught working illegally and around 35,000 people with no right to be in the UK being deported.
It also claims to have imposed tougher sanctions against gang ring leaders, key intermediaries and suppliers of people-smuggling equipment.
It comes amid protests and counter-protests this weekend over asylum seekers being housed in taxpayer-funded hotels in London and other parts of the country.
"There have been nine arrests so far, with seven for breaching Public Order Act conditions," the Metropolitan Police said following a demonstration in north London on Saturday.
While the protest at the Thistle City Barbican Hotel was organised by local residents under the banner "Thistle Barbican needs to go - locals say no", a larger group staged a counter-protest in support of migrants with banners that read "Refugees are welcome".
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