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LONDON: Britain says people who advertise fake passports or people-smuggling services on social medial could face up to five years in prison, in the government’s latest effort to deter migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.
The government said Sunday that anyone convicted of creating online materials intended to break UK immigration law will face prison time and a large fine.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the aim was to stop the “brazen tactics on social media” used by smuggling gangs.
“Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country — whether on or offline — simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral,” she said.
Assisting illegal immigration to the UK is already a crime, but officials believe a new offense — part of a border security bill currently going through Parliament — will give police and prosecutors more powers to disrupt gangs that send migrants on perilous journeys across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the crime gangs are a threat to global security and should be treated like terror networks.
Since taking office a year ago, Starmer’s center-left Labour Party government has adopted powers to seize the assets of people-smugglers, beefed up UK border surveillance and increased law-enforcement cooperation with France and other countries to disrupt the journeys.
Despite that, more than 25,000 people have reached Britain by boat so far this year, an increase of 50 percent on the same period in 2024. Small boat crossings have become a potent political issue, fueled by pictures of smugglers piling migrants into overcrowded, leaky inflatable boats on the French coast.
Opposition parties say the government’s plans aren’t working — though the government argues the problems built up during 14 years when the Conservative Party was in power,
The Conservatives say Starmer should not have scrapped the previous government’s contentious and expensive plan to send migrants arriving by boat on a one-way trip to Rwanda.
“This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing,” Conservative immigration spokesman Chris Philp said.
The government says it will take time to clear a backlog of applications that has left thousands of migrants stuck in temporary accommodation — often hotels — without the right to work.
The hotels have become flashpoints for tension, attracting protests fueled by a mix of local concern, misinformation and anti-immigrant agitation.

DHAKA: The first witness in the trial of Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina gave evidence on Sunday, a man shot in the face during protests that toppled her last year.

Hasina, 77, who has defied court orders to return from India to attend her trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity, is accused of ordering a deadly crackdown in a failed bid to crush the student-led uprising.

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations.

The first witness, among the 11 cases that the prosecution is expected to present to the court, was Khokon Chandra Barman, whose story reflects the violence of the protests.

The 23-year-old wears a mask to conceal his face, which was ripped apart by gunshot during the culmination of the protests on August 5, 2024, the same day that Hasina fled Dhaka by helicopter.

“I want justice for the ordeal I’ve been going through, and for my fellow protesters who sacrificed their lives,” he told the court.

Barman lost his left eye, while his right eye was damaged, as well as his lips, nose and teeth.

A video showing Barman’s blood-covered face was played in court, with the opening statements aired on the state-run broadcaster.

Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina — including failure to prevent mass murder — which amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.

“Sheikh Hasina was the nucleus around whom all the crimes committed during the July-August uprising revolved,” chief prosecutor Tajul Islam told the court on Sunday.

Hasina is on trial in absentia alongside two other accused.

One, her former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, is also a fugitive.

The other, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, the former inspector general of police, is in custody. He has pleaded guilty.

Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman said he wanted a “fair trial,” speaking to reporters outside the court.

“People were killed and maimed — we demand the highest punishment for the crimes committed,” Asaduzzaman said.

Amir Hossain, the state-appointed lawyer for Hasina, noted that Barman was shot during the chaotic final day of the weeks-long protests.

He pointed out that several police officers were also killed in clashes with protesters and it was “unclear who actually shot Barman.”

Hossain said he was not in contact with Hasina, who has refused to accept the authority of the court.

The trial continues.