Germany and Great Britain fight against smugglers – DW – December 12, 2024

Just a few days ago, a major raid in Germany made headlines: an Iraqi-Kurdish network is said to have smuggled refugees “in small, inferior inflatable boats” across the English Channel to Great Britain. Some of the boats and components for them are said to have been obtained illegally in Germany. The investigation was led by France, and ten arrest warrants were issued in Germany alone. “Today’s raids and arrests are another harsher blow to the brutal international smuggling crime,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

She has now signed a long-planned agreement with her British colleague Yvette Cooper in order to work more closely together in the fight against smugglers in the future. “These gangs, which use threats and violence to force people into rubber dinghies and send them across the English Channel, are putting human lives at risk,” said the Social Democratic politician Faeser.

The preparation for these acts often takes place in Germany. “Together, we are now taking even stronger action against this unscrupulous business of people’s need.” The focus of the agreement is on closer cooperation between the police, particularly in tracking the routes of smuggling networks and illegal money flows. In addition, direct connections will be established with the British Border Security Command, Great Britain’s new border security force.

Great Britain, a country of longing

For years, more and more migrants from France have been crossing the English Channel into Great Britain. Many people come from Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran. Most people want to go to England because of the language or because they have relatives and friends there. Many people are convinced that it is easier to find work in the UK without a residence permit. The long asylum procedures in France have an additional deterrent effect.

According to the British Home Office, there were around 8,000 people in 2020, but this year more than 33,000 people are expected to have reached Great Britain this way – as of the beginning of December. Migrants once hid in ferries or as stowaways on Eurostar trains, but this is no longer possible due to increasingly strict controls. For many people, the only option left is the inflatable boat, which can become a death trap on the sometimes stormy English Channel.

When attempting to cross the English Channel, serious accidents occur again and again. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, at least 72 people died during the dangerous crossings across the English Channel in 2024.

The fight against irregular migration is becoming increasingly fierce

The new agreement is also linked to Britain’s migration policy. The previous government wanted to deport migrants who arrived irregularly to Rwanda, Africa – regardless of their actual origin. For this they were sharply criticized by the Supreme Court in Great Britain and human rights organizations.

Border controls were also increasingly tightened. At the end of 2022, France and Great Britain concluded an agreement that provides for more police patrols on the beaches of northern France. Up to 100 additional security forces, helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs are to be deployed on the French side. According to the agreement, Great Britain will pay around 72 million euros for this. Now the government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer is relying on even stronger border protection and more decisive action against smuggling gangs.

“The new agreement is linked to other tightening measures in Europe, such as the introduction of border controls,” Sabine Hess from the University of Göttingen, whose chair focuses on migration and border regimes, told DW. “Great Britain will continue to prevent migration with any tightening measures.”

Due to the tightening, “business is flourishing”

For Hess, combating smuggling is “hypocrisy”. “These tightening measures create the problem that they then want to combat,” she says. “Business is flourishing thanks to the tightening policy.” If more and more controls are carried out, more and more smugglers are needed who are well versed in the supposed blind spots of controls.

“In addition, it is probably not a big mafia business, but that smuggling consists of many small pieces of the puzzle,” Hess told DW. They are often “small fish” who are caught while trying to escape and are criminalized. “Often the people were on the run themselves. The organized smugglers, on the other hand, know how not to put themselves in danger.” This is also confirmed by scientist David Suber from University College London in an interview with the media service Integration. “Most people do it ad hoc. Often, for example, they are refugees or migrants who are currently on their way to another country.” Large smuggler networks, on the other hand, “represent a small minority.”

According to a United Nations convention, a smuggler is anyone who acts “intentionally and with the aim of obtaining, directly or indirectly, financial or material advantage.” The EU Parliament is considering tightening a smuggling directive this week. Sea rescuers criticize the new draft because the aspect of financial advantage should no longer play a role in it. This means: “Even if you take migrants with you for humanitarian reasons and don’t ask for money in return, you are considered a smuggler,” says Hess.