The UK and Germany signed a "friendship treaty" on July 17, which includes plans to make people smuggling to Britain a criminal offense in Germany. The new pact comes a week after the UK and France announced a 'one-in, one-out' migrant return scheme, which also aims to disrupt the traffickers' business model.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a landmark defense treaty on July 17 that includes new cooperation to combat human trafficking.
The deal comes a week after French President Emmanuel Macron and Starmer announced a "one-in, one-out" migrant return scheme, in which the UK would send back to France about 50 people a week who had made risky crossings of the English Channel. In return, the UK would admit a similar number of migrants with legitimate ties to the UK.
Germany will "make it illegal [. . .] to facilitate illegal migration to the UK with the law change to be adopted by the end of the year," said Starmer’s office in a press release on the Anglo-German treaty.
"The change will give law enforcement the tools they need to investigate and take action against warehouses and storage facilities used by migrant smugglers to conceal dangerous small boats intended for illegal crossings to the UK," the statement said.
Under German law, people smuggling into non-EU countries was previously not a crime, wrote the British online newspaper The Independent. This meant that trafficking migrants to the UK was technically not illegal since Brexit, making it difficult for German police to confiscate the vessels used by smuggling networks to make the deadly crossings.
This is about to change. By prosecuting those involved in smuggling, Germany will close the legal loophole that enabled human smugglers to store the small boats they use to cross the English Channel.
Read AlsoUK border security chief seeks to intercept smuggling networks
Germany is considered a major transit point for the inflatable boats used by thousands of migrants to cross the Channel. A few years ago, the vessels could be purchased from sporting goods stores in France. As the police cracked down, smugglers began importing the boats from China and Turkey, and storing them in Germany. In the final step, the boats are transported to French beaches around Calais, from where thousands of migrants embark across the Channel in hopes of reaching the UK.
Smugglers have become increasingly violent as they vie for control over a highly competitive and multimillion-euro market. InfoMigrants witnessed a shooting in July at a food distribution point at Loon-Plage in northern France, which the authorities attributed to traffickers. It was the latest in a series of shootings witnessed in the coastal city in recent weeks.
On the British side of the Channel, irregular migration remains a major challenge for Starmer's Labour government, which is closely watching the rise in support for the anti-immigration Reform UK party.
Over 20,000 people have managed to reach the UK in small boats since the beginning of the year, piling pressure on the prime minister, who promised to "smash the gangs" smuggling people across the Channel upon entering office last year.
Read AlsoGermany: Raid on suspected migrant smuggling network
Prior to the German chancellor’s visit, Starmer said, "Chancellor Merz’s commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome," Sir Keir said.
"As the closest of allies, we will continue to work closely together to deliver on the priorities that Brits and Germans share."