Overview

• The government named 25 individuals, four gangs and one company under its new sanctions regime, triggering asset freezes and travel bans for anyone complicit in people smuggling.
• Designations cover Balkan gang bosses, North African networks, a Chinese small-boat supplier, hawala financiers in the Middle East and corrupt officials.
• Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the move a landmark step in dismantling organised smuggling networks and said it complements powers in the pending Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.
• The measures respond to a more than 50% rise in small-boat crossings, which reached nearly 24,000 arrivals so far in 2025, and aim to cut off the multi-million-pound revenue streams that fuel criminal gangs.
• Sanctions experts caution that many smugglers operate in cash or via informal transfer systems beyond UK financial reach, casting doubt on the practical impact of asset freezes.