Afghan people smugglers seize market as illegal crossings into UK surge

Afghans have seized control of people-smuggling operations into Britain via the English Channel this year, with previously dominant Kurdish and Albanian organized-crime gangs losing business, The Times reported on Wednesday.

From January to July this year, 2,891 Afghans arrived in Britain on small boats, with 683 in the last month alone.

The figure contrasts with the trend of Albanians, who in 2022 made up 12,301 crossings but this year only 428.

A source told The Times: “Albanians who have tried to run their own operation have struggled to source their own boats and engines. The new actors operating the crossings are Afghans, this is a new feature this year.”

With Afghan people smugglers taking advantage of the demands of their compatriots to organize boat crossings, violence has erupted in migrant camps in northern France as Kurdish gangs attempt to subdue their competition.

The surging number of Afghans making the journey has been blamed on the UK’s struggling relocation schemes, which were launched in the wake of the Taliban takeover.