UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged international allies to treat people-smugglers like terrorists, advocating for a hardline approach to irregular migration, Bloomberg reports.
This comes as the issue of immigration continues to fuel right-wing support across Western countries.
“Illegal migration is without question a massive driver of global insecurity,” in a speech on Monday as he opened the general assembly of the global policing body Interpol in Glasgow, Scotland. “Unless we bring all the powers we have to bear on this in much the same way as we do for terrorism, then we will struggle to bring these criminals to justice.”
Starmer, who assumed power just four months ago, is actively seeking a new approach to curb the influx of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats from France. This comes after his government scrapped the previous Conservative administration’s controversial plan to deport arrivals to Rwanda. Instead, Starmer has opted for a strategy of increased international cooperation and fortified border security, aiming to “stop the boats.”
The number of small boat arrivals to the UK has surged in recent years, with a record 30,661 people reaching British shores by the end of October 2024, representing a 15% increase over last year’s figures.
To address this, Starmer announced a fresh £75 million investment in efforts to combat the issue, bringing the total committed over the past two years to £150 million for Britain’s Border Security Command. “We’re taking our approach to counter-terrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs,” he said.
This move comes after the Conservative government spent around £270 million on its Rwanda plan, which ultimately failed to launch a single deportation flight.
