Endangering lives at sea is to be a new criminal offence carrying a jail term of up to five years as part of plans to tackle people smuggling, the Home Office says. Border officials will also get powers to seize migrants’ phones in the search for intelligence about who helped them cross the Channel. Those convicted of acts in preparation of smuggling, such as buying boat parts, face up to 14 years in jail, in an attempt 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.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was “a weak bill from a weak government”, which re-announces steps taken by his party when it was in power. He described the changes as “minor tinkering” and said a real deterrent was needed, after Labour scrapped a scheme which would have seen some migrants sent to Rwanda.
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 other passengers to take part in the journey, or who has 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.
A senior law enforcement official said investigators often found themselves dealing with “traumatised victims in a floating crime scene”. The five-year term for endangering lives is in addition to existing laws, such as grievous bodily harm or attempted murder, that may result from people smuggling.
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. 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.
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