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UK launches sanctions regime targeting people-smuggling gangs
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
The UK has launched global sanctions targeting people-smuggling gangs, freezing assets and imposing travel bans to combat irregular migration.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain on Monday launched a new sanctions regime targeting people-smuggling gangs and their enablers in what the government said was the first move of its kind globally.
The United Kingdom will be able to freeze assets, impose travel bans and block access to the country's financial system for individuals and entities involved in enabling irregular migration, without relying on criminal or counterterrorism laws.
The regime was previously outlined by foreign minister David Lammy in January. The British government said it would complement new powers in the Border, Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill that has yet to be enacted.
The Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under pressure to meet a pledge to stop the flow of tens of thousands of people into Britain from across the Channel in small boats.
"For too long, criminal gangs have been lining their corrupt pockets and preying on the hopes of vulnerable people with impunity as they drive irregular migration to the UK," British foreign minister David Lammy said in a statement.
" That's why the UK has created the world's first sanctions regime targeted at gangs involved in people smuggling and driving irregular migration, as well as their enablers."
The government said the measures would target those who supply small boats, fake documents and financial services used by smuggling networks.
Chris Philp, in charge of the security and immigration portfolio in parliament for the main opposition Conservatives, said in a statement that it would take more to stop the crossings.
"The truth is you don't stop the Channel crossings by freezing a few bank accounts in Baghdad or slapping a travel ban on a dinghy dealer in Damascus," he said. "Swathes of young men are arriving daily, in boats bought online, guided by traffickers who laugh at our laws and cash in on our weakness."
Starmer has recently agreed deals with France and Germany to help stop the arrival of small boats as he tries to stem the rise of the right-wing populist Reform UK party, led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; editing by Mark Heinrich)
The UK government has launched a new sanctions regime targeting people-smuggling gangs and their enablers, allowing them to freeze assets, impose travel bans, and block access to the financial system.
The sanctions aim to disrupt the operations of criminal gangs involved in irregular migration to the UK by targeting those who supply small boats, fake documents, and financial services to smuggling networks.
The sanctions regime was outlined by Foreign Minister David Lammy and is part of the Labour government's efforts to control migration and respond to public pressure.
Critics, including Chris Philp from the opposition Conservatives, argue that simply freezing bank accounts will not stop the Channel crossings and that more comprehensive measures are needed.
The sanctions regime complements new powers in the Border, Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, reflecting the government's commitment to addressing irregular migration.
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