UK sanctions 25 in new strategy

AFP :

The UK on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen people, groups and suppliers from China, the Middle East and Balkans accused of helping to smuggle migrants across the Channel, in what it called a “landmark” first use of new powers.

The move comes as Britain’s government faces growing domestic pressure to stem the migrant arrivals on small boats from northern France, as numbers hit record levels this year. The asset freezes and travel bans announced target individuals and entities “driving irregular migration to the UK,” and include four “gangs” and “gangland bosses” operating in the Balkans, the Foreign Office said. They also hit a small boat supplier in China, so-called “hawala” money movers in the Middle East, and seven alleged people-smugglers linked to Iraq. Foreign Secretary David Lammy called it “a landmark moment in the government’s work to tackle organized immigration crime” impacting the UK.