Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to work with French authorities to identify and prosecute people traffickers operating across the English Channel.

We will do everything we can to stop these crossings and make this route unviable.

The danger to life from Channel crossings and the criminality behind it are simply unacceptable.

These journeys are often illegally-facilitated and are totally unnecessary; France and other EU countries are safe with fully functioning asylum systems.

The UK and France jointly investigate criminal groups engaged in these crossings, sharing intelligence and prosecuting cases on both sides of the Channel. The Joint Intelligence Cell, founded in July 2020 and resourced by both UK and French staff, is central to those efforts, enabling the sharing of information between UK and French law enforcement

In 2020, we arrested 113 individuals and secured 56 convictions for facilitation related to small boats resulted in sentencing of over 29 years. A further 35 disruptions were recorded against gangs and individuals engaged in organised immigration crime related to small boats