Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what criteria are used to determine which (a) individuals and (b) companies involved in people smuggling should be recommended for sanctions.

The new regime has been established by this government to prevent and disrupt the operations of criminal gangs who smuggle people along dangerous migrant routes to attempt the channel crossing into the UK. This new regime boosts our ability to prevent, combat, deter, and disrupt irregular migration and hold smugglers and their enablers accountable.

The Government has set out the following factors relevant to the consideration of designations under the Global Irregular Migration regime in a policy note here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-irregular-migration-sanctions-consideration-of-designations/global-irregular-migration-sanctions-consideration-of-designations#interaction-with-law-enforcement-activities. These include wider government irregular migration policy priorities and the scale, nature and impact of the activity. Sanctions are a foreign policy and national security tool under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and the exercise of sanctions functions under that Act is a matter for the Foreign Secretary.