{"id":203738,"date":"2024-12-28T15:56:19","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T15:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/28\/despicable-people-smugglers-targeting-migrants-on-tiktok\/"},"modified":"2024-12-28T15:56:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T15:56:19","slug":"despicable-people-smugglers-targeting-migrants-on-tiktok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/28\/despicable-people-smugglers-targeting-migrants-on-tiktok\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Despicable’ people smugglers targeting migrants on TikTok"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"‘Despicable’<\/div>


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“Despicable” people smugglers who are “exploiting vulnerable people” through social media face severe penalties, the Home Office has warned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said gangs were “peddling lies on social media and placing [people] in horrendous conditions, working for next to nothing”.<\/p>\n

They said the government is working with social media companies and authorities to remove online adverts promoting dangerous small boat crossings.<\/p>\n

The comments come after a Times investigation found<\/a><\/strong> smugglers were offering migrants “package deals” on TikTok to be smuggled to the UK.<\/p>\n

The adverts, mostly aimed at Albanian migrants, promise “specialised people” will collect new arrivals, give them accommodation and find them jobs.<\/p>\n

The adverts also suggest they take advantage of Christmas chaos at airports to sneak into the UK.<\/p>\n

In response, the Home Office said the UK has robust plans for the Christmas and New Year period.<\/p>\n

It also noted that arrests for illegal working have risen by nearly a third compared to the same time last year, while enforced returns are up by a quarter.<\/p>\n

In a Sky News investigation last year, Europe correspondent Adam Parsons<\/a><\/strong> exposed how people smuggling works, often starting with adverts on social media sites like TikTok.<\/p>\n

One advert removed earlier this year<\/a><\/strong> said in Albanian: “We take people to the UK by speedboat. It is a done deal within 45 minutes. The crossing is 100% guaranteed (safe).”<\/p>\n

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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player<\/p>\n

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\n 4:58<\/span>
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How people smuggling works<\/span>
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Since then, the National Crime Agency has stepped up efforts to disrupt gangs using online platforms to recruit migrants to cross the Channel on small boats.<\/p>\n

In July, it revealed adverts showing people smugglers offering a 100% safety guarantee and a competition to win \u20ac500 were among almost 12,000 taken down from social media by the agency.<\/p>\n

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One advert featuring the image of a speedboat’s two outboard motors said in Albanian: “We take people to the UK by speedboat. It is a done deal within 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

“The crossing is 100% guaranteed (safe). Do not waste [this opportunity]. Soon we will be ready [to depart]. Write privately.”<\/p>\n

On Friday, 305 migrants arrived in the UK in five small boats that crossed the English Channel.<\/p>\n

It came after arrivals by small boat reached 150,000 on Boxing Day – seven years after the government started recording the data in 2018.<\/p>\n

Sky News has approached TikTok for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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“Despicable” people smugglers who are “exploiting vulnerable people” through social media face severe penalties, the Home Office has warned.\u00a0 A spokesperson said gangs were “peddling lies on social media and placing [people] in horrendous conditions, working for next to nothing”. They said the government is working with social media companies and authorities to remove online […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/23\/10\/768x432\/2c678e7bd5872aacb7a804ce74af9bf0b7a4e177ef9ae4b974f3882be51f3bb4_6323474.jpg?20231016164418","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[607],"tags":[104183,53,124,13277,14456,231],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203740,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203738\/revisions\/203740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}