Britain Moves to Curb Migrant Trafficking, and Ease Anger at Home

British authorities on Wednesday imposed sanctions on more than a dozen people and organizations suspected of smuggling migrants into Britain, cutting them off from the country’s financial system and barring them from entering.

It was the first use of a new legal authority aimed at disrupting the human-trafficking networks run by gangs and organized-crime syndicates that transport desperate migrants into the country. The migrants’ journeys often conclude with the dangerous crossing of the English Channel in small, rickety boats.

It was also the latest attempt by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to confront growing political anger about the rising number of migrants trying to cross the channel. While overall migration, including foreign students and workers, is down, the number of migrants arriving in small boats has spiked to about 42,000 this year as of June 30 — a 34 percent increase over the same period last year.

The British Foreign Office said the 25 people and criminal organizations targeted on Wednesday had been supplying the small boats, producing fake passports and specializing in moving money outside traditional financial networks to facilitate the illegal movement of people.

Among them were a person who the government said ran safe houses along the smuggling routes and seven people reported to be involved with the Kavac Gang, a Balkan-based group that it said created fake passports.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has called the crackdown part of the country’s moral duty to stop the crossings.