The United Kingdom has sanctioned 25 targets who are allegedly involved in smuggling of people, under a new financial sanctions’ regime targeting those facilitating the travel of refugees and migrants across the English Channel via small boats. The individuals and entities targeted on Wednesday include a small boat supplier in Asia and gang leaders based in the Balkans and North Africa. “Middlemen” putting cash through the hawala money transfer system in the Middle East, which is used in payments linked to Channel crossings, are also targeted.

It is unclear how effective the new sanctions regime will be, since British authorities can only freeze assets that are in the UK, and most of the smugglers are based elsewhere. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday that it was a “landmark moment in the government’s work to tackle organized immigration crime [and] reduce irregular migration to the UK”.“From Europe to Asia, we are taking the fight to the people smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions,” he added. The move follows legislation being introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to ramp up enforcement powers for police forces and partners to investigate and prosecute people smugglers. As part of the new sanctions regime, which was introduced two days ago, the government can now freeze assets, impose travel bans and block access to the country’s financial system for individuals and entities involved in enabling irregular migration, without relying on criminal or counterterrorism laws.

Credit =Aljazeera