UK hosts first major international summit to tackle the global threat of illegal migration

The UK is spearheading the toughest-ever international crackdown on Organised Immigration Crime as the Prime Minister and Home Secretary host a landmark summit today (31 March). 

The Organised Immigration Crime (OIC) Summit brings together over 40 countries, including the United States, Vietnam, Iraq, and France, to unite behind a new approach to dismantle people smuggling gangs and deliver on working people's priorities for secure borders.

This is the first time the full range of factors driving illegal migration – from the supply chain in small boats to anti-trafficking measures, illicit finance, and social media advertising – have been explored at a global summit of this scale.

The summit will also see representatives from Meta, X and TikTok discuss how to jointly tackle the online promotion of irregular migration. 

Through the summit, the government will use all available levers at its disposal to push forward progress in bringing gangs to justice, tackle the global threat of Organised Immigration Crime and protect vulnerable people from exploitation.

To back this drive, the Home Secretary has today announced £30 million of funding going directly to high-impact operations from the Border Security Command to tackle supply chains, illicit finances and trafficking routes across Europe, the Western Balkans, Asia, and Africa. 

An additional £3 million will enable the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to increase its capacity to prosecute organised international smugglers and expand its international footprint to support the Border Security Command to pursue, disrupt and arrest those responsible for dangerous people smuggling operations. 

This reflects the Prime Minister's long held view, informed by his work as Chief Prosecutor, that cross border cooperation is the foundation of tackling international gangs and securing Britain's borders.

In remarks delivered later today the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is expected to say: 

“This vile trade exploits the cracks between our institutions, pits nations against one another and profits from our inability at the political level to come together. 

“When I was the Director of Public Prosecutions, we worked across borders throughout Europe and beyond to foil numerous plots, saving thousands of lives in the process. We prevented planes from being blown up over the Atlantic and brought the perpetrators to justice. 

“I believe we should treat Organised Immigration Crime in the same way. 

“I simply do not believe Organised Immigration Crime cannot be tackled. We've got to combine our resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream at every step of the people smuggling routes.” 

The summit will deliver concrete outcomes across Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and North America by strengthening international partnerships, enhancing intelligence-sharing, and implementing targeted disruptions to Organised Immigration Crime networks. As a direct result, we will be able to strengthen UK borders and security and create a more efficient and manageable asylum system – taking the burden away from housing, the NHS and schools, and giving hotels back to the local economy.  

Speaking ahead of the summit, Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said:   

“Smuggler and trafficking gangs make their money crossing borders so law enforcement needs to work together across borders to bring them down. Only a coordinated international response, across the whole irregular migration route, can effectively dismantle these networks.  

“The Organised Immigration Crime Summit is the first of its kind and will reinforce the UK's position as a leader by securing international commitments to disrupt Organised Immigration Crime at every stage of the business model.   

“The summit demonstrates mine and the Prime Minister's absolute dedication to disrupting the callous Organised Criminal Gangs, strengthening our borders and ultimately save countless lives.” 

The UK's global leadership on this is issue is already delivering results. France has agreed to launch a unit of specialist officers who are mobile, highly trained and equipped to respond dynamically to prevent small boat launches. 

Germany has committed to strengthen their laws against those who facilitate smuggling to the UK and a new UK-Italy taskforce is hitting people-smugglers' financial flows. After boosting the resources for the National Crime Agency to work with international law enforcement partners, they have seized 600 boats and engines since July. 

Along with this, work continues at home through giving law enforcement tougher powers than ever to smash the smuggling gangs, ramping up removals to record levels and surging illegal working raids to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats. 

This comprehensive approach is a vital aspect of the government's Plan for Change, with the threat from organised immigration crime increasing in scale and complexity.  

Organised Immigration Crime spans multiple countries, nationalities, and criminal methodologies, with recent estimate of the total global income from migrant smuggling reaching $10 billion last year.

Criminal gangs headed by hundreds of kingpins are using sophisticated online tactics, the abuse of legitimate goods and services, and illicit financial networks to facilitate dangerous and illegal journeys which undermine border security and put thousands of lives at risk each year.  

The summit will also examine the government's Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) in supporting the US, by providing innovative space-based maritime surveillance capability to monitor and dismantle any vessels along Haiti's north coast suspected to be involved in illegal immigration, illegal fishing activities and drug smuggling. The JMSC is harnessing cutting edge technology and capabilities to provide 24/7 monitoring of UK waters and ensure our borders are secure, by using satellite to provide a better overall understanding of incoming threats to the Turks and Caicos Islands. The UK Government is working with our partners in Turks and Caicos to support and protect the Island from irregular migration. 

This collaboration demonstrates the UK Government's commitment to deploying advanced capabilities against illegal migration while protecting overseas territories. 

There has also been a series of major arrests of smuggling kingpins, including: 

• Arrests linked to a major Syrian organised crime group responsible for smuggling at least 750 migrants into the UK and Europe.
• The arrest of a Turkish national suspected of being a huge supplier of small boats. 
• The conviction of two men in Wales who ran a smuggling ring moving thousands of migrants across Europe.
• The arrests of six men last month wanted in Belgium over their suspected involvement in a major people smuggling ring.

These arrests come alongside the NCA working with the authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for the first time to facilitate the arrests of three men linked to a Kurdish people smuggling Organised Crime Group, as well as an increase in the takedown of social media accounts linked to people smugglers. 

Notes to Editors: 

• The recent estimate of the total global income from migrant smuggling reaching $10 billion last year, has been attributed to the latest UNODC data across routes and provided a global estimate of $10bn. More details can be found here: Data on smuggling of migrants 
• For more information contact the Home Office newsdesk on 0300 123 3535 or out of hours on 07623 514 628. 

**STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 MONDAY 31 MARCH**

OIC operational footage

• We are determined to secure our collective borders, protect vulnerable people from exploitation, and tackle the global threat of Organised Immigration Crime.   
• These criminal gangs are increasing in scale and complexity, spanning multiple countries, nationalities, and criminal methodologies.   
• We will not shy away from the very real threat people smuggling gangs pose, undermining our border security and putting thousands of lives at risk each year.  
  
  Link to footage: https://f.io/3Usbo0na

NCA: People-smuggler ring arrest

Three men convicted in Belgium over their involvement in a major people smuggling ring following a joint investigation by the National Crime Agency and Belgian police were arrested in the UK.

The men – all Afghan nationals – were apprehended by National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police Service officers in south London, Hertfordshire and Essex after warrants were issued for their arrest by Belgian courts.

Ziarmal Khan (AKA Boxer Bhai), aged 24, was arrested on 6 December by MPS officers at Stansted Airport in relation to a domestic violence offence, and further arrested on behalf of the Belgians while in custody.

Specialist NCA extradition officers then arrested 20-year-old Zeeshan Banghis (AKA Bangash Zeeshan and in the provided clip) at an address on New Kent Road on 18 December and Saifur Rahman Ahmedzai (AKA Raees Hamza), 23, at an address in Hemel Hempstead on Monday 30 December.

Prosecutors in Belgium say the trio's gang were involved in organising the transport of migrants from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkey and the Balkans into western Europe, mainly France and Belgium.

Many would eventually be put on small boats from northern France to the UK, with the gang suspected of transporting thousands of people this way.

The group also committed serious sexual offences against male migrant minors, including rape which they would video and use footage to blackmail the victims into criminality and further sexual abuse.

NCA investigators supported the Belgian investigation for around two years, supplying intelligence and evidence to the Belgian Federal Police around suspected members of the network.

A court in Antwerp convicted and sentenced the trio and 20 other members of the gang to a total of 170 years imprisonment, with sentences ranging from two to 18 years.

Eleven members were tried in their absence, including the three men arrested in the UK.

Ahmedzai was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, while Khan and Banghis were each sentenced to three years in jail. All three were also fined 3,000 Euros.

They now face being returned to Belgium to serve their sentences and extradition proceedings have commenced.

Officers also worked with colleagues from Border Force and Immigration Enforcement to identify migrants and victims of the network who had been transported to the UK, conducting safeguarding checks.

NCA: Small Boat Smuggler Arrest

Six people wanted in Belgium over their suspected involvement in a major people smuggling ring following a joint investigation by the National Crime Agency and Belgian police were arrested in the UK.

The men – all Afghan nationals – were apprehended on 12 February 2024 as part of coordinated action in Belgium and Italy in which 10 people were arrested.

National Crime Agency officers arrested the men at addresses in Leicester, Birmingham, Essex and south London after warrants were issued for their arrest by the Belgian courts.

Belgian prosecutors say the men arrested today were allegedly involved in organising the transport of migrants from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkey and the Balkans (via the Serbian / Hungarian border) into western Europe, mainly France and Belgium.

The organised crime group has been running since 2022 and allegedly used social media platforms to communicate with migrants.

Those migrants who had their asylum claims rejected in Belgium would then be moved on to the UK using small boats. The gang is suspected of transporting significant numbers in this way.

Officers from the NCA's International Network have supported the Belgian investigation for around two years, supplying intelligence and evidence to the Belgian Federal Police around suspected members of the network.

The six arrested are accused by the Belgian authorities of people smuggling offences and being members of a criminal organisation.

NCA: Zada Arrest

The NCA arrested an Iranian national who organised cross-Channel small boat crossings from his home in Lancashire. He has now been found guilty of people smuggling charges, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Amanj Hasan Zada, aged 34, of Stefano Road in Preston, was convicted on November 8^th following a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

NCA investigators were able to link him to three separate crossings made from France to the UK in November and December 2023. Each involved Kurdish migrants who had travelled through eastern Europe, into Germany, Belgium and then France.

Zada, who was known by those he smuggled as Amanj Zaman, advertised his services on social media, sometimes using videos of those he had successfully smuggled thanking him for his help. One such video showed a group of men on a boat to Italy praising him.

Another video, found on YouTube by the NCA and thought to have been recorded in Iraq in 2021, showed him at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish feting him as “the best smuggler”, saying “all the other smugglers have learned from him”, while he throws cash at them and fires a gun in the air in celebration.

Following Zada's arrest in May 2024 his phone was seized. Analysis showed it was linked to a number of social media accounts used to post material, and phone numbers advertised on them.

NCA: OIC, KRI

Three men suspected of being part of a global people smuggling network moving migrants from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) into the UK and Europe were arrested, following an operation involving the National Crime Agency, Kurdistan Region Security Council and Kurdistan Region Security Agency.

The group detained were linked to the same network as Amanj Hassan Zada, a UK-based facilitator convicted and jailed for 17 years in November 2024 following an NCA investigation.

Zada, who lived in Preston at the time of his arrest and was known by those he smuggled as Amanj Zaman, advertised his services on social media, sometimes using videos of those he had successfully smuggled thanking him for his help. One such video showed a group of men on a boat to Italy praising him.

Another video, posted on YouTube and thought to have been recorded in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2021, showed him at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish feting him as “the best smuggler”, saying “all the other smugglers have learned from him”, while he threw cash at them and fired a gun in the air in celebration.

One of those arrested, a 38-year-old male from Sulaymaniyah, is accused of working with the network to co-ordinate the movements of more than a dozen yachts transporting migrants into Greece or Italy.

Each boat would contain 60 to 70 people, who would then be moved on to Northern Europe or the UK.                                                                                                                                                                                

A Hawala banker, aged in his 40s and also from Sulaymaniyah, who is accused of processing financial transactions on behalf of Zada, has also been detained along with another man in his 30s from Sulaymaniyah who is accused of being a middleman gathering migrants for movement by Zada's network.

The arrests in the KRI took place between Wednesday 8^th and Sunday 12^th January, with NCA officers deploying to the region from the UK to assist.

All three remain in custody, and face prosecution for human trafficking offences by the KRI authorities.

The operation is the first time the NCA has worked with Asayish (security) agencies in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah to target high-ranking people smugglers who are risking migrants' lives in trying to transport them across Europe and into small boats to the UK.

Zada himself was jailed in the UK for organising at least three Channel crossings, though investigators believe he was behind the movement of many more, advertising his services on social media and then posting clips of those he had successfully smuggled.