Suspected traffickers to face travel restrictions and ban on social media

Suspected people smugglers will face phone bans, social media blocks and travel restrictions under new interim orders that can be applied before any conviction, which ministers say will drastically speed up curbs on traffickers' activities.

- Jessica Elgot & Diane Taylor

The crackdown will form part of the government's border security bill, due to be published in the coming weeks, amid new highs in the number of people arriving in the UK in 2024. The number of people crossing the Channel in small boats was up by a quarter on the previous year, figures show.

In the last days of December, 1,776 people crossed the Channel in 38 boats despite various Home Office and National Crime Agency initiatives to prevent crossings, seize dinghies and arrest people smugglers.

Ministers will hope the new orders in England and Wales – where breaches will lead to up to five years in prison – will make the activities of suspected traffickers far harder. But several migration experts said the new enforcement was likely to have only a minimal deterrent effect.

Curbs could include travel restrictions, a ban on laptop and mobile phone use, and blocked access to social media networks. Officials can also place restrictions on meeting or communicating with other individuals and on accessing money. The high court would determine the length of the restrictions.