New crime of endangering lives to target small boat crossings

Endangering lives at sea is to be a new criminal offence carrying a jail term of up to five years as part of plans to tackle people smuggling, the Home Office says.

Border officials will also get powers to seize migrants' phones in the search for intelligence about who helped them cross the Channel.

Those convicted of acts in preparation of smuggling, such as buying boat parts, face up to 14 years in jail, in an attempt to tackle gangs at a far earlier stage in their preparations.

The package retains some powers introduced by the Conservatives, including longer forms of detention for some migrants and restricting when someone who says they have been trafficked into slavery can stay in the UK.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC's political editor Chris Mason the government was planning to bring in the new laws this year.

She said counter-terror style powers would mean "we can step in much earlier to take action on those who are facilitating the boats".

However, Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was "a weak bill from a weak government", which re-announces steps taken by his party when it was in power.

He described the changes as "minor tinkering" and said a real deterrent was needed, after Labour scrapped a scheme which would have seen some migrants sent to Rwanda.

The new offence of endangering lives at sea could lead to the prosecution of anyone arriving in the UK on a small and unsafe boat who has been involved in intimidating or coercing others passengers to take part in the journey, or who has refused to be rescued outside of British waters.

Boat launches from French beaches are often terrifying and dangerous, investigators say, with some of the passengers doing the work of gangs by forcing reluctant travellers to climb on board.

Officials say they have come across migrants who had managed to get into a small boat then held out babies to stop others climbing in.

A senior law enforcement official said investigators often found themselves dealing with "traumatised victims in a floating crime scene".

The five-year term for endangering lives is in addition to existing laws, such as grievous bodily harm or attempted murder, that may result from people smuggling.

The planned new tools, inspired by successes in counter-terrorism cases, also include court orders to ban suspects from travelling, or promoting smuggling on social media.

Asylum and refugee campaigners say the government's focus on policing powers is at the expense of devising more safe routes for people genuinely in need.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the government was right to tackle smuggling gangs.

"But we are very concerned that by creating new offences, many refugees themselves could also be prosecuted," he added.

Other measures in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill aim to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to pursue gangs as they prepare to smuggle people into the UK, rather than have to wait to charge them with crimes after a movement has occurred.

Ministers hope these powers will mean the police will be able to arrest and charge more gang members, or seek their extradition from abroad, before boats have left France.

The proposed powers are based on legal principles that have been used for 20 years to apprehend suspected terrorists at much early stages of their planning.

One of these "preparatory" powers will be a crime of being involved in the handling or selling boat parts, where there is a suspicion the trade is for people smuggling.

People who promote crossings, take bookings and arrange for potential passengers to meet boats in northern France could also face prosecution.

Serious Crime Prevention Orders, a power to restrict the liberties of offenders, will be reformed so that the National Crime Agency can temporarily impose conditions on the lives of suspected smugglers, while they build a case.

Those conditions could include bans on travel, internet and mobile phone use and how they can move money.

Ministers say the new legislation is part of a broader strategy including giving the recently-created Border Security Commander powers to co-ordinate operations and lead talks with foreign law enforcement agencies.

A recent deal with Germany has seen the country agree to introduce a new crime of illegal immigration to the UK, so investigators can target gangs operating in the country. Bulgarian authorities have begun using health and safety laws to seize shipments of inflatables from Turkey.

But law enforcement chiefs say they have wanted new powers at home too.

Police believe people smuggling involves hundreds rather than thousands of perpetrators, and was "not like the drugs trade".

"With concerted effort and legislation you can make a difference" they told reporters, in a background briefing on the basis that those speaking would not be named.

In one recent example, Amanj Hasan Zada was jailed for 17 years for organising small boat crossings from Preston.

The National Crime Agency only won the case last November with evidence linking his activities to specific crossings.

Under the proposed new powers, investigators would simply have to show suspects such as Zada had made preparations, such as funding boats or promoting crossings.

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