British border security officers have been sent to the Balkans for the first time as part of efforts to stem the flow of migrants being smuggled into the UK.
The officers have been dispatched to explore new ways of working with European border patrol agency Frontex to track down and arrest people smugglers.
The UK is also training border guards in the Western Balkans to use British drones and biometric technologies to track migrants.
British law enforcement is also sharing techniques to identify visa and passport fraud to stop illegal movements in their tracks.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been hosting her counterparts from across the Western Balkans, as well as other European allies, at a London summit aimed at striking deals to tackle illegal migration.
She said: “I have instructed UK law enforcement to explore all options including deploying operations in the West Balkans to tackle illegal migration routes.
“I have pledged to do whatever it takes to secure our borders. That is exactly what I am doing.”
Some 22,000 people were smuggled by gangs along routes through the Western Balkans last year, according to the Home Office.
The region – comprised of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo – has become increasingly important to tackling illegal migration across Europe.
UK Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt has said the UK will provide night vision goggles and drones to police officers in the Balkans to help them to crack down on people smuggling gangs.
He made the pledge after he hosted the Balkans Border Police Chiefs’ Forum in Sarajevo last week.
Next week, Sir Keir Starmer is set to host a leaders’ summit with Western Balkan countries to agree further measures to bring down the number of migrants arriving illegally to the UK.
