Social media ads promoting small boat crossings to UK to be banned | Immigration and asylum

Ministers are to outlaw social media adverts promoting journeys on small boats across the Channel to asylum seekers.

The government will create a UK-wide criminal offence that could lead to perpetrators being sentenced for up to five years in prison and a hefty fine.

Though facilitating illegal immigration is already a crime, the change will make it a specific offence to create material for online publication that promotes or offers services that would lead to a breach of UK immigration law.

This includes advertising small boat crossings, selling fake passports, visas and other travel documents, and promoting opportunities for illegal work in the UK.

Ministers will make the change via an amendment to the border security bill, which is making its way through its final stages in the House of…