§ Mr. MalinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress his Department has made in the last 12 months in breaking up and/or bringing criminal charges against members of organised gangs who smuggle people into the UK; and if he will make a statement. [75406]
§ Mr Bob AinsworthThe UK Government are determined to tackle organised immigration crime, both the smuggling and the trafficking of human beings. Reflex, the multi-agency task force was set up in 2000 specifically as the enforcement arm of our comprehensive strategy to combat organised immigration crime.
Since April 2001, Reflex has launched 83 operations, disrupted or dismantled 15 organised crime groups involved in organised immigration crime, and arrested 135 facilitators of whom 40 have been charged and 35
240WInformation on asylum appeals is published quarterly. The next publication will be available from 29 November 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration 1.html.
convicted. Currently, Reflex has 47 proactive operations underway and a further 55 under development.
Reflex has posted a senior police officer and a chief immigration officer to Romania as part of a joint project with the Romanian authorities (Reflex Romania), to target organised immigration criminals involved in smuggling and trafficking through the region. It has also established a network of Immigration Liaison Officers (ILOs) who work with other Governments to encourage and support action to disrupt criminal gangs and create a joint intelligence structure. ILOs are already posted at nine key locations across Eastern Europe and the Balkans.