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Germany Passes New Law to Crack Down on People Smuggling to UK

People smuggling gangs storing small boats and engines in Germany now face 10 years in jail under new German legislation



Germany Passes New Law to Crack Down on People Smuggling to UK
Germany Passes New Law to Crack Down on People Smuggling to UK

Criminal gangs will face up to 10 years in jail after Germany passed landmark new legislation on Friday 19 December to crack down on the criminal gangs involved in smuggling illegal migrants to the UK.


Due to come into force before the end of the year, this law means activities in Germany that facilitate migrant smuggling towards the UK are now a criminal offence resulting in up to 10 years in jail.



The new legislation will mean gangs can no longer store small boats and engines in Germany before transporting them to France to use in Channel crossings and will strengthen existing UK-German law enforcement co-operation.


UK and German law enforcement agencies will now have stronger powers to take down the criminals behind the small boats, giving prosecutors more tools to tackle people smuggling and criminality of supply and storage of small boats equipment.


The legislation will also strengthen sharing of information between the UK and German law enforcement to bring more people smugglers to justice.


This forms a key part of this government’s work to crack down on small boat crossings and secure UK borders by working in partnership with international allies. It follows the landmark UK-Germany joint action plan on illegal migration agreed last December.


This all comes as the government has announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times. These new reforms will restore order and control to our border, removing the incentives which draw people to the UK illegally and increasing removals of those with no right to be on British soil.



The legislation follows the Prime Minister’s work to reset international relations in order to broker deals that benefit working people back home, including returns deals with France, Iraq, a new treaty with Germany and tighter law enforcement co-operation across the Western Balkans.


Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said:

Together with our German allies, we are cracking down on the criminal gangs operating the illegal migration trade. I thank Minister Dobrindt for Germany’s strong co-operation with the UK in tackling this issue. This government is restoring order at our borders by scaling up removals and removing the incentives that draw people here illegally.

The change in German legislation was agreed in a first of its kind bilateral deal with Germany to tackle illegal migration and is a key example of the government’s wider work to reset the UK’s relationship with international partners. Signed just over a year ago, both countries have worked closely together at pace to push forward these changes and ensure the criminal gangs undermining both countries’ respective border security face justice.


This will support the strong existing co-operation between the UK and Germany as part of the joint action plan, which has already seen joint activity targeting smuggling organisations.

The plan has had a further focus on:


  • removing migrant smuggling content from social media platforms

  • strengthening our co-operation in Europol on tackling the end-to-end routes of criminal migrant smuggling networks

  • working with European and regional partners to tackle illegal migration upstream


This legislative change underlines the strength of the partnership established between the UK and Germany through the landmark Kensington Treaty. It exemplifies how both countries are working together to make progress against the 17 lighthouse projects, that are in turn driving forward real-world outcomes.



Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

Criminal smuggler gangs operate across borders, so governments and law enforcement need to co-operate across borders to bring them down. This major change in German law is the result of our close partnership working to tackle illegal migration and organised immigration crime. We will continue to ramp up our international co-operation to strengthen our own border security. These are the partnerships we build abroad to make us stronger at home.

On Thursday 13 November, a joint investigation between UK and German authorities led to the arrest of a suspected high ranking member of a Syrian people smuggling gang. In March 2025, the Germans issued a warrant for his arrest and, following intelligence that he had entered the UK, passed the case on to the NCA who tracked him down to his home address in Manchester. Since early 2023, the NCA has worked with partners across Europe to seize more than 950 boats and engines.


Securing this change in legislation will enable further action between the UK and Germany and builds on existing work by the government to reduce small boat crossings including our historic one-in one-out agreement with the French and the passing of the Borders Act.


Director of Intelligence at the National Crime Agency Adrian Matthews said:

We welcome the legislative change in Germany. It will help boost our efforts against the small boats threat and it builds on our close working relationships with German partners who are key to helping disrupt organised crime groups operating from the continent.

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