Less than a week afterBritish foreign secretary Philip Hammond stated that Immigration into the UK could threaten our living standards, the news comes that traffickers from both within and outside of the UK are involved in smuggling illegal migrants into the country. The Times revealed yesterday, 14th, that four members of an Albanian people-trafficking gang, who smuggled 149 migrants into the UK over a period of six months, were arrested this week in Calais.
These figures come as part of an escalation in people-smuggling activities from France to the UK, with officials stating that they have uncovered and broken up a total of 19 trafficking networks in and around Calais so far this year, compared with only six over the same length of timein 2014.
Seven of the 19 networks uncovered were Albanian, however the BBC has also pointed out that smugglers from the UK have been involved in the illegal activities. The mayor of Teteghem, near Dunkirk, has said that UK-registered cars, driven by who he described as being 'English mafia', could often be spotted in the area. A migrant backed up the claims that many of the criminals involved were from the UK, while the BBC confirms that it saw cars with UK number plates in a camp on the outskirts of Dunkirk.
The migrants in Dunkirk are using different tactics from those in Calais, in order to get into the UK. In Calais, hundreds of migrants attempt to get aboard lorries and climb fences each night to gain access to the Channel Tunnel.
In Dunkirk, however, migrants are driven to places where they can try to get into lorries.
According to reports from migrants themselves, the traffickers are very violent, with the sole intent of making money from their situation. This news comes the same day that David Cameron defends his use of the word 'swarm' to describe the number of people coming across the Mediterranean towards Western Europe.
The Prime Minister stated that illegal immigrants are attempting to break into the UK, oftenfor economic reasons, and as such he isresolute that the border be secure. A UN report released in June has stated that a record 60 million refugees are currently fleeing conflict across the world.
