People Smuggling
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with international counterparts to help tackle organised immigration crime.
Answered by Seema Malhotra
We are determined to disrupt the small boats gangs and work with international partners more closely to take Organised Immigration Crime (OIC), and this is why the Foreign Secretary convened leading Foreign Ministers to discuss this at the Munich Security Conference in February.
In the 18 months to 31 January 2026, 58,539 foreign nationals were returned;
Last year, 3625 disruptions of OIC were recorded, up to 37% on the previous year.
With new agreements including with Ethiopia and Angola we are determined to remove those who have no right to be here further undermining the business model of people smuggling gangs.
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