Germany and the United Kingdom have taken measures aimed at closer cooperation when it comes to dealing with human trafficking — specifically making it easier to prosecute syndicates involved in small-boat crossings to the UK.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the UK's Yvette Cooper on Monday signed a joint action agreement aimed at combating the smuggling of migrants across the English Channel in rubber dinghies.

Earlier this year, a lengthy undercover investigation by the BBC shone the light on the west German city of Essen and its alleged links to human trafficking across the English Channel.

Germany to change law to tackle smugglers

The British Home Office, or interior ministry, said in a statement, that Berlin has committed to "clarify their law by making it a criminal offence to facilitate the smuggling of migrants to the UK," as per the joint agreement.

"This will give German prosecutors more tools to tackle the supply and storage of dangerous small boats equipment and allow the UK and Germany to better counter the continually evolving tactics of people smuggling gangs," Cooper said.

"For too long organized criminal gangs have been exploiting vulnerable people, undermining border security in the UK and across Europe while putting thousands of lives at risk," Home Secretary Cooper said.

Germany's Interior Minister Faeser acknowledged that some of these trafficking crimes are planned from Germany. 

"We are now stepping up our joint action to fight the brutal activities of international smugglers," she said.

Faeser said that the two countries would maintain "high investigative pressure” along with the exchange of information between security agencies while "persistently investigating financial flows to identify the criminals operating behind the scenes."

Starmer seeking European cooperation

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has prioritized clamping down on irregular migration by targeting human trafficking syndicates.

"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 research focuses on migration and border regimes, told DW. "Britain wants to further prevent migration with all the tightening measures."

In September, he struck a deal with Italy's Giorgia Meloni, to work more closely together and to share intelligence.

According to British government statistics, as of 1 December, 33,684 people had crossed the Channel and arrived in the UK via small boats in 2024.

Dozens of migrants have died making the journey in overcrowded rubber dinghies, with the French Le Parisien newspaper reporting at least 70 dead in crossings this year.

Raids on suspected smuggling syndicate in Germany

German authorities have conducted raids against suspected people smugglers transporting migrants to the UK via France.

Last week, hundreds of officers swooped on locations in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the southern state of Baden-Württemberg.

The raids were coordinated with Europol and French security services and targeted an alleged Iraqi-Kurdish criminal network.

Europol said the suspects, all based in Germany, organized the purchase, storage and transport of inflatable boats to smuggle migrants from France to the UK.

For Hess, combating people smuggling is "hypocrisy." 

"These tightening measures only create the problem that they then want to combat," she said. "The business is flourishing as a result of the tightening policy."

Stephanie Höppner contributed to this article.

kb/rmt (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

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