Getty ImagesPeople smuggling gangs could be jailed for up to five years under a new criminal offence of endangering lives at sea, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced.
Border officials will also get powers to seize migrants’ phones in the search for intelligence about who helped them to cross the Channel.
Those convicted of handling or selling boat parts face up to 14 years in jail, as part of a plan to tackle gangs at a far earlier stage in their preparations.
The package retains some powers introduced by the Conservatives, including longer forms of detention for some migrants and restricting when someone who says they have been trafficked into slavery can stay in the UK.
The new offence of endangering lives at sea could lead to the prosecution of anyone arriving in the UK on a small and unsafe boat who has been involved in intimidating or coercing others passengers to take part in the journey, or they have refused to be rescued outside of British waters.
Boat launches from French beaches are often terrifying and dangerous, investigators say, with some of the passengers doing the work of gangs by forcing reluctant travellers to climb on board.
Officials say they have come across migrants who had managed to get into a small boat then held out babies to stop others climbing in.
A senior law enforcement official said investigators often found themselves dealing with “traumatised victims in a floating crime scene.”
The planned new tools, inspired by successes in counter-terrorism cases, also include court orders to ban suspects from travelling, or promoting smuggling on social media.
Lessons from terrorism
Asylum and refugee campaigners say the government’s focus on policing powers is at the expense of devising more safe routes for people genuinely in need.
Natasha Tsangarides from Freedom from Torture, a specialist charity that supports traumatised refugees who have asked the UK for protection, said the bill would not end movements.
“Cracking down on the methods refugees use to escape war and persecution will only make their journeys more dangerous,” she said.
“So long as torture exists, smugglers will continue to profit from desperate people who need a place of sanctuary.”
Other measures in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill aim to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to pursue gangs as they prepare to smuggle people into the UK, rather than have to wait to charge them with crimes after a movement has occurred.
Ministers hope these powers will mean the police will be able to arrest and charge more gang members, or seek their extradition from abroad, before boats have left France.
The proposed powers are based on legal principles that have been used for 20 years to apprehend suspected terrorists at much early stages of their planning.
One of these “preparatory” powers will be a crime of being involved the handling or selling boat parts, where there is a suspicion the trade is for people smuggling.
People who promote crossings, take bookings and arrange for potential passengers to meet boats in northern France could also face prosecution.
Serious Crime Prevention Orders, a power to restrict the liberties of offenders, will be reformed so that the National Crime Agency can temporarily impose conditions on the lives of suspected smugglers, while they build a case.
Those conditions could include bans on travel, internet and mobile phone use and how they can move money.
NCACooper said: ”Over the last six years, criminal smuggling gangs have been allowed to take hold all along our borders, making millions out of small boat crossings.
“This bill will equip our law enforcement agencies with the powers they need to stop these vile criminals, disrupting their supply chains and bringing more of those who profit from human misery to justice.
“These new counter terror-style powers… will turbocharge efforts to smash the gangs. ”
Cooper has also confirmed that the former government’s £700m plan to forcibly transport some asylum seekers to Rwanda would be repealed.
Ministers say the new legislation is part of a broader strategy including giving the recently-created Border Security Commander powers to co-ordinate operations and lead talks with foreign law enforcement agencies.
A recent deal with Germany has seen the country agree to introduce a new crime of illegal immigration to the UK, so investigators can target gangs operating in the country. Bulgarian authorities have begun using health and safety laws to seize shipments of inflatables from Turkey.
But law enforcement chiefs say they have wanted new powers at home too.
Police believe people smuggling involves hundreds rather than thousands of perpetrators, and was “not like the drugs trade”.
“With concerted effort and legislation you can make a difference” they told reporters, in a background briefing on the basis that those speaking would not be named.
In one recent example, Amanj Hasan Zada was jailed for 17 years for organising small boat crossings from Preston.
The National Crime Agency only won the last November case with evidence linking his activities to specific crossings.
Under the proposed new powers, investigators would simply have to show suspects such as Zada had made preparations, such as funding boats or promoting crossings.
Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt said: “These crucial measures will underpin our enforcement action across the system, and together with our strengthened relationships with international partners, we will bring down these gangs once and for all.”
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