Home Secretary orders police and border 'hit squads' to Albania to stamp out people smugglers
Shabana Mahmood will send hit squads of police and border force teams to Albania in a fresh drive to stamp out people-smuggling gangs upstream.
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The Home Secretary has ordered officials overseas to several Western Balkan states to scope out work on how to beef up security operations alongside their EU counterparts.
It comes as a Frontex agreement on sharing vital data about people smuggling gangs is extended to countries including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
The teams will be embedded with local police forces to improve their borders, training border guards in how to use British drones, deploying biometric technologies to track movement of illegal migrants, and crack down on visa and passport fraud.
More than 33,500 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats in 2025 so far, with figures pointing to a record-breaking year.
Ms Mahmood said: “Criminal gangs have turned the Western Balkans into a major transit route for illegal migration.
“I have instructed UK law enforcement to explore all options including deploying operations in the West Balkans to tackle illegal migration routes. “I have pledged to do whatever it takes to secure our borders.
"That is exactly what I am doing.”
The deal comes after the Home Secretary hosted the Western Balkans Interior Minister’s Meeting in London yesterday, where she warned that migration was risking undermining trust in government, and the state itself.
In some of the toughest language on migration yet, the Home Secretary all but admitted that the UK had lost control of its borders.
Up to one in four small boat migrants come to the UK through Western Balkan nations, the government believes, with around 22,000 making the dangerous crossing from these areas in 2024.
The UK has already signed a range of agreements with countries including Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia as part of its efforts to tackle the small boats crisis.
Sir Keir Starmer will host leaders from several Western Balkan countries next week to agree more measures to go further to try and disrupt the criminal gangs who smuggle people through Europe and into the UK.
The government's tough approach is in part a bid to tackle the soaring popularity of Reform, who are consistently outperforming Labour in the polls.