UK's Starmer calls for coordinated fight against people smugglers

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Monday for nations to pool resources to tackle the problem of illegal migration at "every step" of the route, from North Africa and the Middle East to Britain's streets.

Starmer spoke at a meeting of more than 40 countries and organisations, including the United States, France and Vietnam, aimed at coordinating global efforts to counter illegal migration and the people-smuggling gangs who profit from it.

Starmer, like his predecessors for more than a decade, is seeking ways to stop migrants coming illegally to Britain, where immigration remains a major issue for voters worried by pressure on scarce resources like healthcare and housing.

"This evil trade exploits the cracks between our institutions, it pits nations against one another, it profits from our inability at the political level to come together," he told the Organised Immigration Crime summit.

"I simply don't believe that organised immigration crime cannot be tackled. So we've got to combine our resources, share intelligence and tactics and tackle the problem upstream at every step of the smuggling journey."

Migrants pay thousands of pounds to traffickers for places in small inflatable boats that then try to cross one of the world's busiest shipping channels to reach the English coast.

Traffickers often promote their services on social media, and representatives from Meta, X and TikTok were attending the London summit.

Starmer was elected in July last year, promising to "smash the gangs" behind the crossings. He immediately ditched the previous Conservative government's policy to deter migrants through a scheme to deport them to Rwanda.

He said Britain had deported more than 24,000 people who had no right to be in the country since his Labour government had taken office, which his government said was the highest return rate for eight years.

However, the number of people arriving in small boats has grown. More than 36,800 people made the crossing in 2024, 25% more than the previous year, while over 6,600 people have crossed successfully so far this year, 43% higher than the same period last year.

(Reporting by William James and Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Jane Merriman, Aidan Lewis)