Latest news with #peoplesmugglers
The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
Small boat migrant found dead riddled with bullets on French coast after being gunned down ‘by people smugglers'
A SMALL boat migrant has been found dead after being shot seven times by suspected people smugglers - with a murder enquiry launched. The deceased man - in his late teens or early 20s – is the latest victim of a surge of shootings around a camp at Loon-Plage, on the outskirts of Dunkirk. 3 3 3 Investigating sources revealed on Monday: "He was hit by seven bullets. "The camp was full of people hoping to get to Britain, when he was confronted by gunmen. "Around twenty bullets were fired in all, and seven entered the man's body." The source added how emergency service workers were at the scene but tragically couldn't save him. The Dunkirk prosecutor visited the crime scene, which on Monday was blocked off, and surrounded by armed police. The hunt was meanwhile launched for the "suspected people smugglers" responsible for murder, said the source. It was the latest in a long list of heinous shootings around Loon-Plage beach, from where small inflatable boats with migrants onboard regularly set off for Britain. In June, a Sudanese man was shot dead and a mother-and-child wounded by suspected people smugglers the same camp. The horrific bloodbath unfolded when a gang opened fire on specific targets, while hitting passers-by. Two males – a man and a 17-year-old minor connected to a people smuggling gang – were then arrested, and face charges of "murder by an organised gang' and "attempted murder by an organised gang." There were also charges related to possession of a range of weapons, believed to include pistols and rifles. Migrant hotel protesters take to the streets again as demonstrations spread across the country in weekend stand-off Beyond the dead Sudanese man, three other men were seriously wounded and taken to hospital in Dunkirk. All of the violence is said to be linked to people smugglers "settling scores" against those who do not pay them. The cost of a single voyage to Britain in a small boat is now as much as £1500 cash. In December, a gun enthusiast was charged with the murders of five men including UK-bound migrants around Loon Plage. Frenchman Paul Domis, 22, was remanded in custody after confessing to a lethal shooting spree in the area. During less than an hour of intense violence, Domis allegedly targeted three former colleagues, and two Iraqi-Kurds who had intended to get to Britain on small boats. Charlotte Huet, the Dunkirk prosecutor, said Domis faced 'life in prison' for 'three targetted assassinations' of men he knew, and two further charges of 'murder' of the migrants. Domis will be remanded in custody until a quintuple murder trial is held later this year, or in 2026. The Loon-Plage camp is an illegal one, but growing everyday as migrants from all over the world arrive. In the first half of this year, some 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK, up almost 50 per cent on the corresponding period last year. Numbers of what the British government calls "irregular migrants" keep rising, with 638 arriving on the coast of England in the seven days to last Friday. Bruno Retailleau, France's Interior Minister, regularly pledges tougher action against the highly organised smuggling guns operating in northern France. He said: "Our government will intensify the fight against these mafias who are getting rich by organising these crossings of death."
Times
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
People smugglers to be named for first time in new sanctions regime
Corrupt police officers and people smugglers will be publicly named for the first time in a new sanctions regime targeting those aiding illegal immigration to Britain. On Wednesday about two dozen people will be named in the first ever list of those who will be barred from the UK and have their assets frozen. Among those to be named on Wednesday are two corrupt police officers from a foreign country suspected of facilitating people smugglers. The Foreign Office has not disclosed which country they work for. The new sanctions regime will target anyone involved in assisting illegal immigration to the UK.
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
UK to return some small boat migrants to France within weeks
The UK will begin returning migrants arriving in small boats to France within weeks under a new pilot scheme, Sir Keir Starmer has the "one in one out" deal, some arrivals would be detained and returned to France and in exchange the UK would accept an equivalent number of asylum seekers, subject to security checks and provided they had not tried to enter the UK at a press conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Sir Keir said the plan would demonstrate that trying to make the Channel crossing would "be in vain".He did not confirm how many people would be returned or accepted during the pilot. Asked if the deal would be big enough to act as an effective deterrent, Sir Keir said the pilot would help "break the model" of the people smugglers, and added that it would be ramped up if it was migrants accepted by the UK would need to have a connection to Britain, such as family a statement released after the press conference, the government said the agreement would be signed "subject to completing prior legal scrutiny in full transparency and understanding with the Commission and EU Member states".Macron said he was "totally committed" to the plans to tackle small boat also said Brexit had made it harder for the UK to tackle illegal migration arguing that the British people were "sold a lie... which is that the problem was Europe".During the press conference, the two leaders also announced that their countries would: co-ordinate their nuclear deterrentsstrengthen collaboration on supercomputers and AI "speed up and accelerate" co-operation on anti-ship missiles. Announcing the small boats pilot, Sir Keir said: "I know some people will still ask, why should we take anyone in - so let me address that directly."We accept genuine asylum seekers because it is right that we offer a haven to those in most dire need."But there is also something else, something more practical which is that we simply cannot solve a challenge like stopping the boats by acting alone and telling our allies that we won't play ball."Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the deal would "only return one in every 17 illegal immigrants arriving"."Allowing 94% of illegal immigrants to stay will make no difference whatsoever and have no deterrent effect."Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the crossings are "a national security emergency" and in a reference to payments made by the UK to support French policing efforts added: "Frankly the French owe us our money back."He said he didn't believe the pilot would work, saying: "If we even try to deport people across the Channel, we will run straight into the European Convention on Human Rights."Both the previous Conservative governments and current Labour one have struggled to stem the numbers coming to the UK in small Conservatives had proposed sending arrivals to Rwanda, however the scheme was delayed by legal challenges and the general election was called before it could be of Sir Keir's first acts as prime minister was to scrap the plan, calling it a said his government would focus instead on tackling the smuggling gangs that organise the have continued to rise, with nearly 20,000 people arriving in the UK in the first half of this year – a 48% increase on the same time period in 2024.
