UK mulls crackdown on social media ads, gangs promoting illegal migration

The UK on Sunday unveiled plans for a new law that will crack down on criminal gangs behind social media advertisements promoting dangerous small boat crossings and other forms of illegal immigration into the country.

Under a new amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently going through the Parliament, a UK-wide offence will be introduced to criminalise the creation of material for publication online, which promotes or offers services facilitating a breach of Britain’s immigration law.

This could include small boat crossings across the English Channel, the creation of fake travel documents like passports or visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK, in an effort to target people smugglers based anywhere in the world.

Individuals caught under the new offence face a prison sentence of up to five years and a hefty fine.

“Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral,” said UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

The UK Home Office said its analysis shows that approximately 80 per cent of migrants arriving illegally via small boats told officials that they used social media during their journey to the UK, including to locate or communicate with an agent or facilitator associated with an organised crime group.

The Home Office, meanwhile, claimed a surge in enforcement action against illegal migration, with a 50 per cent increase in arrests of those caught working illegally and around 35,000 people with no right to be in the UK being deported.