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Shkruar nga PamfletiLondon will deploy high-tech surveillance in the Balkans to identify gangsters who smuggle people.
The UK has started using drones and thermal imaging cameras to track and identify illegal immigrants trying to cross into the UK via the Balkans, The Telegraph reports . The decision was made by Martin Hewitt, the British government's border security chief, during a meeting with the heads of border police from Balkan countries in Sarajevo.
According to official data, around 22,000 people were trafficked through Balkan routes in 2024, while criminal groups in the region, particularly Albanian ones, remain closely linked to trafficking networks in Britain. It is also estimated that 25 percent of migrants who have crossed the English Channel have previously passed through the Balkans on their journey to the United Kingdom.
The drones will be used to detect smugglers and traffickers who try to evade border patrols by using narrow mountain roads to enter and exit the region.
In addition, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras have been installed on the Albania-Kosovo border, with the aim of identifying British vehicles that may have previously been used by smuggling groups. This data will be passed on to British authorities to help identify members of UK-based criminal gangs.
In many cases, Albanian immigrants who crossed the Channel were then recruited to work on cannabis farms in Britain, where, according to authorities, Albanians have replaced Vietnamese as the main drivers of this illegal market.
Martin Hewitt stated: "Illegal immigration and organized crime are global challenges that require global solutions. No country can tackle this alone. Only through cooperation and intelligence sharing can we dismantle the criminal gangs that exploit vulnerable people and harm our communities."
The development coincides with a summit of Balkan home ministers in London, hosted by Shabana Mahmood, the British Home Secretary. She warned that countries’ failures to control their borders were undermining citizens’ trust in their politicians and their countries. “Britain is working with our friends in the Balkans to significantly reduce the number of illegal immigrants who end up on British soil. We will use the most advanced technology, drones and night-time equipment, to track them and ensure border security. I promised to do everything necessary to protect our borders, and that is exactly what I am doing,” she said.
The next meetings between the Balkan border police chiefs, where cooperation and new surveillance technologies will be discussed, will be held annually under the chairmanship of Martin Hewitt. According to the British Home Office, the new cooperation has received full support from partners in the region to prevent the flow of migrants passing through Europe to the UK.
So far, over 35,000 people have crossed the English Channel this year, an increase of more than 30 percent compared to the same period last year, almost reaching the record levels of 2022.
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