The United Kingdom and Turkey have reached an agreement to deal with the increase in illegal immigration, focused on coordinated measures to interrupt and dismantle people smuggling gangs, official sources reported this Wednesday (08.09.2023).
The cornerstone of this deal will be the establishment of a new operational center by the Turkish National Police, which, with the support of the UK, will tackle organized immigration crime with the help of intelligence information.
“We must do everything we can to crack down on people-smuggling gangs and stop the ships (crossing the English Channel, between England and France,” British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said in a note.
The partnership with Turkey, a “close and allied” country, will allow the two sides to work together on “this international issue and address the small vessel supply chain,” it added.
For his part, the British Secretary of State for Immigration, Robert Jenrick, said that the two countries “will intensively share intelligence, people and technology to disrupt and dismantle human smuggling gangs and the manufacture and supply of materials that allow small boat crossings.”.
“I am determined that the UK will be a leading force in the fight against illegal immigration and a partner to all those allies who share our determination to defeat it,” he added.
This pact became known after several asylum seekers began to be accommodated this week on a boat anchored off the coast of Dorset, in the south of England.
The barge, which bears the name of Bibby Stockholm, has three floors and is made up of 222 cabins.
The Executive of the United Kingdom is confident that this barge will reduce the bill it pays in hotels to accommodate new arrivals, although the measure has been criticized by humanitarian organizations and local entities in Dorset county.
