People smuggling should be treated 'like terrorism', UK PM Starmer says | BBC News

People smugglers have exploited "fragmented" policing, border force and intelligence agencies to smuggle thousands of illegal migrants into the UK, prime minister Keir Starmer has said.

He added that poor organisation meant the UK was "a soft touch" on illegal migration, which smugglers took as an "open invitation".

The prime minister made the case for tackling illegal migration like terrorism as he spoke at the first ever Organised Immigration Crime Summit in London - attended by more than 40 countries alongside tech giants like Meta, X and TikTok.

The Conservative party said the conference "will make no difference" and only Rwanda-style deportations would stop illegal migration.

The government announced a series of agreements with other countries in an effort to tackle the number of illegal migrants entering the UK.

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Post from BBC News on April 01, 2025

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