UK hopes new German law will cut migrant small boats
Ministers say the new measures will stop people-smuggling gangs storing small boats or engines in Germany before using them in Channel crossings.
Friday 19 December 2025 14:51, UK
The British government is hoping a change in German law will help stop small boat crossings to the UK.
The measures to criminalise the facilitation of migrant smuggling towards the UK, agreed more than a year ago, have now been passed by German legislators.
British ministers say they mean gangs will no longer be able to store small boats or engines in Germany before transporting them into France to cross the Channel.
It will also strengthen existing UK-German law enforcement cooperation and information sharing, they say.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Together with our German allies, we are cracking down on the criminal gangs operating the illegal migration trade.
"I thank minister [of the interior] Alexander Dobrindt for Germany's strong cooperation with the UK in tackling this issue.
"This government is restoring order at our borders by scaling up removals and removing the incentives that draw people here illegally."
The law passed on Friday is set to be in force by the end of the year, the government said.
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The first 10 months of 2025 saw record numbers of people crossing in small boats, although the total number of people arriving across the Channel has since fallen below the peak seen in 2022.
For 28 days no crossings were recorded in official figures before hundreds of people made the journey last weekend.
Illegal small boat migration has become one of the most contentious issues in British politics, symbolising frustration with migration levels and a perceived lack of control from multiple prime ministers.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer moved away from the Rwanda deportation scheme and pledged instead to "smash the gangs" before his election victory.
However, the failure to make a substantial difference to the number of people crossing has been seized upon by both the Conservatives and Reform.
Others, like the Green Party's Zack Polanski, have called for safe asylum routes to be opened to discourage people crossing clandestinely.
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Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Criminal smuggler gangs operate across borders, so governments and law enforcement need to cooperate across borders to bring them down.
"This major change in German law is the result of our close partnership working to tackle illegal migration and organised immigration crime. We will continue to ramp up our international cooperation to strengthen our own border security. These are the partnerships we build abroad to make us stronger at home."
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Adrian Matthews, director of intelligence at the National Crime Agency, said: "We welcome the legislative change in Germany.
"It will help boost our efforts against the small boats threat and it builds on our close working relationships with German partners who are key to helping disrupt organised crime groups operating from the continent."
Chris Philp MP, shadow home secretary, said: "Immigrants don't cross the Channel because of laws in Berlin. They cross because Labour refuse to deport them once they get here - since Labour took office, just 5 per cent of illegal arrivals have been removed. That is the pull factor, and until deportations start, the crossings will keep coming.
"Labour are outsourcing responsibility to foreign governments while doing nothing at home. Germany may close a warehouse, but Starmer still won't close the door."