Minister of the Interior Rantanen to attend meeting on organised immigration crime in London
Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen will attend the Border Security Summit in London on 31 March. The ministerial summit will focus on crime related to people smuggling and organised immigration crime. The aim is to identify the best ways to combat these phenomena.
Criminal networks organising illegal immigration exploit vulnerable groups of people. Criminals charge large sums for their services and often use life-threatening methods to transport migrants.
“Criminal networks are constantly looking for weak spots in the activities of public authorities and in companies' supply chains. International cooperation, information sharing and coordinated practices play a key role in countermeasures. In Finland, this has been taken into account in cooperation between the police, Finnish Customs and the Finnish Border Guard,” says Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen.
Smugglers’ activities must be made unprofitable
To identify shortcomings, it is also important to raise awareness of the phenomena among the private sector. In addition to logistics companies, banks and financial institutions must also be vigilant: smuggling fees and proceeds from human trafficking may create suspicious cash flows.
“It is essential to curb migration to Europe so that people would no longer be lured to take dangerous journeys and pay for smuggling. The EU is currently discussing innovative solutions for managing migration. One solution could be an arrangement where people rescued from outside the territorial seas of the EU would be transported to safe ports outside the EU,” says Rantanen.
The summit will also discuss the challenges of digitalisation. Illegal immigration is increasingly organised online and through various applications, which makes it more difficult to investigate and solve crimes. Countries must ensure that their legislation is in line with the changed operating environment.
Ministers from more than 30 countries will take part in the summit.
Inquiries:
Laura Yli-Vakkuri, Director General, tel. +358 40 720 2216, firstname.lastname@gov.fi