Gang leaders, passport forgers and illicit financiers enabling people-smuggling through the Western Balkans have today been sanctioned by the UK.
- UK government disrupts key highway for illegal migration to the UK by sanctioning gangs exploiting Western Balkans route, and financiers supplying small boat equipment.
- Targets include Balkan-based criminal gangs involved in selling fake passports, and shadowy financial network supplying small boat engines
- Sanctions latest example of cooperation with Western Balkan countries to tackle organised immigration crime, as Prime Minister hosts European leaders in London.
Gang members and shadowy financiers enabling the vile people-smuggling trade, including a Kosovan passport forgery ring, have been banned from travelling to the UK and frozen out of the UK's financial system as part of the government's crackdown on the gangs exploiting a key transit route for illegal migration.
Today's sanctions restrict their ability to facilitate people-smuggling to the UK and demonstrate the government's determination to publicly expose anyone propping up the vile trade in people, wherever they are in the world. Naming and shaming these individuals, who benefit from remaining anonymous, makes it more difficult for them to operate.
The announcement comes as the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, hosts the Western Balkans Summit in London, bringing together Western Balkan and other European leaders to discuss regional cooperation, illegal migration, European security and economic development.
Prime Minister, Keir Starmer said:
There's a criminal route through the Western Balkans bringing illegal migrants to the UK, and we're determined to shut it down by working with European partners.
Our joint efforts have already halved irregular border crossings and cut Albanian small boat arrivals by 95%. Through a new Joint Migration Taskforce, British drones, and tougher sanctions, we're going after the smuggling gangs at every stage to put them out of business and deliver security for working people.
Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper said:
The Western Balkans is a major transit route for ruthless people-smuggling gangs who trade in human suffering.
Our world-leading sanctions regime is a crucial tool in pursuing gangs who operate beyond our borders and exposing the shadowy networks that prop them up. Working alongside our partners in the region, we are taking decisive action to secure our borders and make us stronger here at home.
Today's sanctions are the latest step in a crackdown by the UK government and partners on the criminal networks that drive illegal migration to the UK. These actions have seen the number of migrants recorded by Frontex as transiting through the Western Balkans drop from over 140,000 in 2022 to just over 21,000 in 2024.
Targeted today, with support from the Kosovan authorities are the Krasniqi forgery network, a Kosovo-based criminal gang who ran a sophisticated forgery lab producing fake documents. Nusret Seferović, whose gang supplied fake Croatian passports to Balkan gangs, has also been sanctioned.
The UK will additionally sanction several international financiers for their role in supporting people-smugglers, including the ALPA Trading FZCO, which processes money for smuggling gangs.
Alongside sanctions, the FCDO works with countries to deter would-be migrants from making a dangerous journey in the first place and works with the Home Office to negotiate the return of people who have no right to be here to their countries of origin, including criminals and failed asylum seekers.
Earlier this month, the Foreign Secretary announced £10 million of investment to combat people-smuggling across the Western Balkans and other regions across the world. This funding will drive a series of initiatives, including enhanced law enforcement training in Kosovo, reinforced border security measures, and expanded support services for individuals at risk of trafficking in Serbia.
