Controversial new people smuggling laws have recently been triggered in Europe.

A Turkish man who supplied thousands of small boats and engines to people smugglers in the English Channel has been jailed in Belgium and a teenager has become the first person to be charged in the UK with endangering others during a sea crossing to the UK without valid entry clearance.

Turkish national Adem Savas was described by the UK’s National Crime Agency, which previously listed him as its most wanted man, as “without a doubt the most significant supplier” to gangs behind the dangerous channel crossings.

Savas was sentenced to 11 years in prison and received a fine of €400,000 ($800,000) after admitting to offences of people smuggling and being a member of an organised crime group.

The NCA said he had likely made millions from the operation, having charged on average around £4,000 for packages of boats and engines.

The 45-year-old is also thought to have supplied equipment used in about half of all crossings in 2023, the agency said, “making him a key figure in the European people smuggling hierarchy”.

Savas was sentenced at a court in Bruges, Belgium, after a joint operation between the NCA and Belgian authorities, having been arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in November 2024.

Meanwhile Afghan Aman Naseri, 18, is accused of piloting a small boat with 46 people on board during the first Channel crossing of the year on January 5, the day the new law came into force.

He pleaded not guilty to the offence in a magistrate court hearing, saying he was forced to do so.

Naseri, who followed the proceedings through a Dari interpreter, has been remanded into custody to appear in a higher court.

The prosecutor told the court there were 46 other people on that boat and that by piloting the boat, Naseri put them in danger.

The new offence came into force under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, which became law in December and carries a sentence of up to six years in jail.

According to the Home Office, the charge of endangering others during a sea crossing is to stop more people being crammed into unsafe boats and would apply to those involved in physical aggression and intimidation, as well as anyone who resists rescue.

The new laws are part of sweeping changes to the UK’s refugee and asylum arrangements which will make refugee status temporary and quadruple the wait for permanent settlement to 20 years.

Refugee advocates say the new measures will increase insecurity, make it hard for refugees to integrate, separate families and remove the government’s statutory duty to provide accommodation and basic support to people seeking asylum.

UK Home Office data shows that a total of 41,472 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025 – almost 5,000 more than in 2024 – and the highest number since 2022, when nearly 46,000 migrants crossed.

According to the United Nations, at least 84 people died while attempting to cross the Channel in 2024.

Experts say the risks involved with the journey are increased by overcrowded boats.