{"id":37254,"date":"2026-09-09T23:19:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T23:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/37254\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T23:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T23:19:22","slug":"uk-strikes-intelligence-deal-with-belgium-to-tackle-migrant-boat-crossings-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/37254\/","title":{"rendered":"UK strikes intelligence deal with Belgium to tackle migrant boat crossings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Home Secretary<\/a> has finalised an intelligence-sharing agreement with Belgium<\/a> in a bid to prevent migrant boats setting sail from the country.<\/p>\n

Ministers hope the pact will allow law enforcement in both nations to act more swiftly against people smuggling and organised criminal networks.<\/p>\n

Belgian officers will now join the UK-France intelligence cell located in northern France, according to the Home Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The deal was signed on Wednesday by Shabana Mahmood<\/a> and Belgian interior minister Bernard Quintin. Increased French policing near Calais is likely to force smuggling gangs further along the coast to avoid detection.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, a boat departing Cherbourg \u2014 roughly 280 miles from Calais \u2014 was intercepted off Hampshire after one of the longest journeys recorded. That rare arrival near Portsmouth triggered hostile protests.<\/p>\n

While dinghy departures from Belgium rose earlier this year, they remain less common than launches from France.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The deal has been struck in an attempt to stop small boat crossings<\/p>\n

Speaking about the deal, the Home Secretary said: “This agreement will help UK and Belgian police tighten the net around the criminal gangs behind small boat crossings.<\/p>\n

“The migrant smuggling trade doesn’t start and stop on the beaches of northern France.<\/p>\n

“These gangs operate across borders, so we’ll work with every international partner available to track them down, shut them down and bring them to justice.<\/p>\n

“Our efforts are delivering results. Small boat crossings are down significantly. But we know there is much more to do.<\/p>\n

“I will do whatever it takes to bear down on these vile criminals and bring them to justice.”<\/p>\n

Before the agreement, specific information exchanges required judicial approval, the Home Office noted. The pact may also help combat broader organised crime, including drugs and firearms smuggling.<\/p>\n

Mr Quintin said: “Belgium and the United Kingdom are neighbouring countries and friendly nations.<\/p>\n

\"Shabana<\/p>\n

Shabana Mahmood and Belgian interior minister Bernard Quintin signed the deal on Wednesday (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

“We have close operational police cooperation, which has already delivered very concrete results both on the ground and in investigations.<\/p>\n

“Our shared ambition is to continue working together to combat migrant smuggling and drug-related organised crime, which operate on both sides of our borders and exploit human misery.<\/p>\n

“This text strengthens our tools to fight these crimes together, with ever greater effectiveness.”<\/p>\n

Joint enforcement between both countries has already led to more than 50 arrests connected to migrant smuggling, the Home Office added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Home Secretary has finalised an intelligence-sharing agreement with Belgium in a bid to prevent migrant boats setting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[2537,7,3992,3846,19411,20008,12994,20009,20007],"class_list":["post-37254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgian-police","tag-belgium","tag-bernard-quintin","tag-home-office","tag-intelligence-sharing","tag-northern-france","tag-organised-crime","tag-people-smuggling","tag-shabana-mahmood"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/117243646313231087","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}