New Greek deal for Britain to crack down on people smuggling

• New investment for upstream deterrence projects in North Africa to prevent dangerous journeys fuelled by criminal smuggling gangs.
• Foreign Secretary agrees joint plan between the UK and Greece to tackle illegal migration.
• UK support for Greek law enforcement in fight against organised immigration crime.

The UK will ramp up work with Greece to strengthen border security and combat people-smuggling gangs as part of a new migration pact signed today by Yvette Cooper, as the UK doubles down on its whole of Government approach to tackling illegal migration.

Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, will meet with her Greek opposite number, George Gerapetritis, in Athens. She will forge a new partnership with Greece bringing together the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Home Office and their Greek counterparts to set in motion even greater cooperation on tackling illegal migration - creating the opportunity for closer collaboration across areas like returns, law enforcement and tackling the drivers of migration.

The UK will provide training to help Greek law enforcement fight organised immigration crime and disrupt the small boats supply chain.

Recent collaboration on operations with the National Crime Agency (NCA) has included a successful investigation initiated by the Greek authorities targeting an Athens-based network involved in migrant smuggling and document fraud. Officers made eight arrests and raided a travel agency used by the main suspect, dismantling a fully equipped forgery lab and seizing hundreds of counterfeit documents, passport components, biometric data sets, forgery equipment with two high-end laser printers, mobile phones, vehicles, drugs and over EUR 68 000 in cash.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

Illegal and dangerous boat crossings are undermining border security in both the Channel and the Mediterranean. Tackling and preventing illegal migration and going after the multimillion-pound criminal smuggler gangs is a top priority for both the UK and Greece.

Organised immigration crime is a global threat - so we are taking a whole government approach. Here in the Foreign Office we are increasing our work with other countries to tackle this issue at every stage of the people smuggling routes into Europe.

Our new agreement with Greece will help us tackle the criminal smuggling gangs upstream exploiting vulnerable people and driving dangerous crossings, helping to address these problems before they reach our shores.

The FCDO is also stepping up work in North Africa to help prevent dangerous crossings into Europe, with the Foreign Secretary announcing new funding for projects in Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia to help divert thousands of potential migrants into jobs closer to home, helping to reduce the factors causing them to make dangerous crossings across the Mediterranean.

The Foreign Secretary's visit to Athens follows a series of recent deals secured to counter illegal migration, including the ground-breaking UK France returns deal and new agreements with Germany, Iraq and Western Balkan countries to tackle migration at every step. Britain has also rolled out the world's first sanctions regime to freeze the assets and impose travel bans upon those complicit in people smuggling.

The Foreign Secretary is spearheading efforts to drive increased international cooperation on tackling illegal migration, including Foreign Ministries taking a more proactive role. At the recent G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Canada, the Foreign Secretary urged her key international partners to support her proactive approach and help deliver greater border security for Brits.

The visit comes following the Home Secretary's announcement of 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. Only by having a system that is strongly controlled and managed can Britain maintain the public's confidence in providing sanctuary for those genuinely fleeing danger.

Notes to editors:

• Additional funding of £1.5m will be used to support development projects in North Africa as part of the North Africa Migration and Development (NAMAD) programme - tackling the root causes of illegal migration in Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia.
• NAMAD provides people in North Africa with skills training and health and social support. This supports migrants to return to their country of origin and rebuild their lives, creating safe, dignified alternatives to dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean. The programme has already supported over 17,000 people, reducing the push factors that drive migrants to risk deadly crossings to Greece and the wider Mediterranean.