Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications of the findings of the report by Europol, Migrant Smuggling in the EU, published in February 2016, for her policies on tackling smuggling through the criminal justice system.

The Government’s system-wide approach to tackling Organised Immigration Crime is based on information and intelligence from a wide variety of sources. The Government takes Organised Immigration Crime very seriously – we are working to smash the criminal gangs that are fuelling this terrible trade in people. In June 2015 the Prime Minister announced the creation of the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce bringing together officers from the NCA, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service. The Taskforce was subsequently expanded in November 2015 to more than 100 officers, and has had its funding extended until 2020. The Government values the intelligence-led approach to tackling Organised Immigration Crime Europol helps to facilitate, including through Joint Operational Team Mare, and welcomes the launch by Europol on 22 February 2016 of the new European Migrant Smuggling Centre which will proactively support EU Member States in dismantling criminal networks involved in organised migrant smuggling. The UK has been at the forefront of calls in the EU for a robust approach to tackling Organised Immigration Crime.