Starmer vows crackdown on people-smuggling as Britain returns over 24,000 immigrants

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday that Britain has returned over 24,000 illegal immigrants since the Labour Party took office - marking the highest number in the past eight years.

The announcement came as Britain hosted representatives from 40 countries at Lancaster House for a two-day summit focusing on combating organized immigration crime.

Starmer described people-smuggling as a global security threat comparable to terrorism and urged summit attendees to adopt counter-terrorism methods to combat smuggling gangs.

He said the government would "pull every lever available" and enhance international coordination to "tackle the problem upstream" by targeting every stage of the people-smuggling chain.

Citing cooperation with France and Germany as models of effective international collaboration, Starmer noted that Britain and France are enhancing border patrols and deploying specialist units along the French coast, backed by advanced surveillance technology. He also noted Germany's move to criminalize the facilitation of illegal migration to non-EU countries.

He also urged British employers to tighten checks on illegal workers, warning that companies failing to meet these requirements would face "tough" new rules. Britain would no longer be a "soft touch" for illegal immigration, he said.

In a bid to reinforce border security, Starmer announced the creation of an elite Border Security Unit composed of hundreds of specialist investigators drawn from the police, Border Force, and intelligence agencies. The government will invest approximately 150 million pounds (194.07 million US dollars) over the next two years in this initiative.

Additionally, police will be granted new powers to seize phones and electronic devices from arriving migrants to extract intelligence on suspected smuggling operations, and to act where there is evidence of potential criminal activities.

Despite the government's efforts, local media reported that nearly 25,000 people crossed the English Channel to reach Britain between July 2024 and February 2025 - a 28 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, Home Office data showed that detentions under immigration authorities in 2024 rose by 12 percent from 2023, a reversal of the decline observed since 2015. (1 pound = 1.29 US dollar)