Fury as criminal gangs make £500m out of small boats crisis

Criminal gangs behind the small boats scandal have raked in nearly half a billion pounds since the Channel crisis began, figures reveal.

More than 114,300 people have made the treacherous crossing since 2018, paying an average of £4,000 per head for each journey.

The amount of money made from the crisis has “skyrocketed” from just over £1million in 2018 when 299 people made the trip, according to Labour’s analysis of small boat figures.

It says a record 45,755 people crossed the Channel in 2022, enriching the smugglers by an estimated £183million.

But the true amount earned could be even higher, because the analysis does not include cash paid to gangs by would-be migrants who were brought back to France by that country’s coastguard.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The Conservatives have allowed an entire multi-million pound dangerous criminal industry to grow up along our border over the last five years.”

“Criminals are making big money from putting tens of thousands of lives at risk, and making a mockery of UK border security.”

She pledged that her party’s plan would “strengthen our border security, hitting hard at the heart of the criminal gangs, going after their whole network, including the money, in order to increase prosecutions and stop their dangerous trade in people’s lives”.

Last year alone, organised crime made an estimated £117,748,000 from nearly 30,000 people who came across the Channel.

Labour believes that since 2018, £457,288,000 has gone into the pockets of people smugglers.

Labour’s intervention on small boats is the latest sign that Sir Keir Starmer’s party intends to “park its tanks” on traditional Tory turf.

But the Conservatives last night turned their guns back on Labour, pointing out they voted against the plan to deter migrants from making the crossing by sending asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing.

Michael Tomlinson, the UK’s minister for tackling illegal migration, said: “Labour has consistently voted against our tough measures to stop the vile people-smuggling gangs and stop the boats.”

“The only solution Labour has come up with is to throw open Britain’s borders to up to 100,000 illegal immigrants every year as part of a new EU deal.”

“Our tough measures to stop the boats are working – with crossings down by over a third last year.”

“While Labour wants to frustrate our plans, the Conservatives are taking the long-term decisions to stop the boats for good.”

Numbers crossing the Channel rose from 299 in 2018 to a record 45,755 in 2022 – before dipping to 29,437 last year.

A source close to the Home Secretary blasted Labour for voting “over 70 times against our deterrent measures with our co-operation with Rwanda”.

They said: “This Conservative Government has been frustrating these people-smuggling gangs at every stage of their operations for over a year, with a targeted determination that has seen real results.”

“Vague Labour promises to do much less at some point in the future are not going to stop the boats or deter the gangs.”

“We will continue to do everything to smash the business model of these gangs, who don’t care if the people they smuggle live or die, just as long as they pay.”

Labour has promised that instead of pressing ahead with the Rwanda scheme it would use the cash saved to fund a “new elite cross border police unit”.

It would be charged with “stopping the boats from reaching the French coast in the first place” and seizing the gangs’ assets.

A key goal will be increasing prosecutions, freezing bank accounts and seizing the assets of UK-based organised crime gangs.

Alp Mehmet, of campaign group Migration Watch, warned Labour against abandoning the Rwanda scheme if it wants to break the criminal gangs. He said: “Labour are deluding themselves if they think they will stop the boats by abandoning the Rwanda scheme, going after the criminals and keeping the asylum queue down. This approach is more likely to increase the illegal crossings.”

Dover Tory MP Natalie Elphicke insisted bold action was already underway: “Tackling the small boats criminals is already an official key priority for the National Crime Agency – and their budget has been hugely increased. Labour’s plan does not add anything new to the action already being taken.”

Fellow Tory MP Marco Longhi said that a system of “immediate deportation” for illegal migrants is the “only solution” that would succeed in cutting off the demand which the smugglers exploit.

However, Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “The lack of options for people fleeing war and persecution is forcing them into increasingly dangerous situations and putting thousands at risk of exploitation by people smugglers.”

“Instead of addressing the problem of safe routes being so limited and ineffective, the Government continues to punish people desperate enough to risk their lives to cross the Channel, threatening them with deportation to Rwanda and leaving them trapped in a backlog for years on end.”

“Their efforts to deter people from making dangerous journeys do nothing to address the reasons people come. When there are no safe routes for people to take, smugglers will continue to take advantage of people’s desperation.”

In 2021, Dan O’Mahoney – the director of strategic operations for the Illegal Migration Operations Command – estimated the cost of a Channel crossing to be £4,000.

According to a 2022 report from the Commons Home Affairs committee, Channel crossings are “comparatively cheap to organise”, with an inflatable with an engine potentially costing under £5,000.

The row over Channel crossings comes as Rishi Sunak battles to deliver a centrepiece of his strategy to stop the boats. He wants planes carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing to take off in spring.

A parliamentary showdown is expected in the coming weeks, when a highly controversial draft law to ensure the scheme is not blocked by legal challenges comes before the Commons.

And with a general election widely expected in the autumn, Mr Sunak is under pressure to ensure there are not mass Channel crossings in small boats this summer.