Corrupt foreign officials, including police officers who profit from people smuggling, face being banned from the UK and having their assets frozen.
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has announced a sanctions regime that from Wednesday will target anyone involved in assisting illegal immigration.
It is understood this will include foreign officials such as border guards and police officers who have taken bribes from those involved in supplying and financing small boats.
Producers of fake passports and “middlemen” who transfer cash through the hawala legal money transfer system will also be targeted.
The move is part of a series of measures intended to disrupt the activities of people smugglers after a pledge from Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to “smash the gangs”.
Lammy said: “Those involved will face having their assets frozen, being shut off from the UK financial system and banned from travelling to the UK.”
Legislation is being introduced under the border security, asylum and immigration bill to increase enforcement powers for police forces and partners to investigate and prosecute people smugglers.
The government is under growing pressure over irregular migration. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, claimed on Monday that women and girls were facing a “public safety crisis” as a result of crimes committed by “illegal immigrants”.
Philp’s comments were delivered in the Commons after six people were arrested after a protest outside an Essex hotel believed to house asylum seekers.
A series of demonstrations has taken place outside the Bell Hotel in Epping since Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, a 38-year-old asylum seeker, was charged with sexual assault over allegedly trying to kiss a girl of 14.
He denied the charge at Chelmsford magistrates court last Thursday.
Philp told MPs: “Numbers in asylum hotels are now higher than at the time of the election. This is a border security crisis, but it is also a public safety crisis, especially for women and girls.”
He urged the government to “record and publish the immigration status of all offenders” and to close the hotel in Epping.
Diana Johnson, the crime and policing minister, said it was “vital that the criminal justice procedures are able to run their course”.
She added that the government took any allegation of sexual assault “incredibly seriously” and was changing the law to ensure those convicted of sexual offences were not granted asylum.
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