UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer opened the INTERPOL General Assembly in Glasgow Nov. 4, 2024 (Credit: interpol.int)

By Gary Raynaldo    -DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK will treat people-smuggling gangs as terrorists to prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel.  “People-smuggling should be viewed as a global security threat similar to terrorism,” PM Starmer told a gathering at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland on Monday. Starmer announced the UK will provide an additional £75 million for the new Government’s Border Security Command that will double its funding over two years. Interpol, also known as the International Criminal Police Organization, is an intergovernmental organization that helps police forces work together to combat international crime.  Senior police and government officials from Interpol’s 195 member nations are attending the four-day meeting. More than 30,000 people have crossed the English Channel on small boats this year. 

The UK prime minister pointed out what the UK has done with counter-terrorism in utilizing powers to trace suspects’ movements using information from the intelligence services can also be applied to tackle people-smuggling.

“We don’t wait for them to act – we stop them before they act. And we need to stop people smuggling gangs before they act too,” the PM said.  Starmer added that the only way to defeat “this vile trade and save lives is to stop people being smuggled here in the first place.”  He said people-smuggling requires a global response. “Because without coordinated, global action, it will not go away.”   Starmer said that as the UK’s Prime Minister, it is his personal mission to “smash” people-smuggling gangs. However, he said “we’re still at the stage where the world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge” as criminals do not “respect” borders.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also addressed delegates, saying:  “Here in the UK, our new Border Security Command is leading the fight against the criminal gangs who every week are crowding vulnerable people into flimsy dinghies on the coast of France, leaving dozens this year to drown or be crushed to death as they attempt to cross the Channel.” She also stressed that the that the “best way” to strengthen UK border security is to work in partnership with other countries.