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About us

The command provides leadership for the UK border security system, prioritising a coordinated approach to disrupting organised immigration crime, particularly the networks facilitating illegal migration, including small boat crossings.

Who we are

The Border Security Command (BSC) was established on 5 July 2024 and is led by the Border Security Commander. Spanning the operational capacity of maritime and small boats operations, Home Office Intelligence, and policy and strategy, the BSC brings together and leads a single integrated system. 

The BSC has set a clear long-term vision for tackling organised immigration crime (OIC) and reducing illegal small boat crossings, providing leadership across the system, both at home and overseas, to protect the integrity of the UK’s border and immigration systems. Over time, this vision will evolve to enable a more flexible, system-wide response to a broader range of border security threats as our priorities develop.

Under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act (BSAI) 2025, the Border Security Commander has a statutory duty to set strategic priorities for the border security system to enable a coherent and coordinated response. This includes working closely with other government departments such as HMRC and the FCDO, as well as operational partners including Border Force, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement, policing and the UK intelligence community (UKIC) to deliver against those priorities.

Responsibilities

The main responsibility of the BSC is to tackle OIC and reduce small boat crossings. However, where border security goes beyond irregular migration, the BSC will evolve and change to reflect this.

The Border Security Command is leading the system by:

  • providing system leadership for international partnerships to introduce new ways of working to undermine the business model of organised crime gangs

  • investing in international cooperation by securing migration and security agreements and improving returns arrangements with partners around the globe

  • upholding international collaboration across key illegal migration routes to improve upstream border security and across Europe to disrupt criminals and illegal migrants before they reach the UK border
  • delivering government priorities with direct operational activity by working with France, Belgium, and our near neighbours on counter measures against small boats, detecting and intercepting those which make it to UK waters and processing all arrivals in a secure, humane and lawful manner
  • operating a 24/7 intelligence capability and global network, enabling a coordinated, whole system response, ensuring that the UK border is protected through a joined-up, intelligence led and threat driven approach

  • coordinating the UK’s maritime assets and technology to secure the border, maximise operational impact and efficiency and respond to threats to security and law and order in the marine environment

  • overhauling capabilities to disrupt criminal activity; the BSAI Act 2025 introduced new powers to seize migrants’ phones to identify routes and smuggling networks; criminalise those who endanger lives at sea and supply boats, equipment, and engines, and promote illegal migration online

  • maintaining maximum pressure on facilitators and enablers of illegal migration operating in the UK, while fundamentally changing the asylum system to reduce demand for illegal entry to the UK
  • building on these achievements through sharing capabilities, intelligence, and knowledge, to strengthen cooperation across the whole irregular migration route, from source to destination countries

Approach

The Border Security Commander’s vision for the border security system is to deliver a secure and effective border.

OIC groups target UK borders and exploit vulnerable people generating wider economic and societal costs that undermine legitimate businesses and employment opportunities.

Our strategic approach to tackling OIC is structured around the 4P framework adapted from the UK’s world leading CONTEST strategy. It provides the flexibility to pivot towards other priority threats should significant displacement occur from the current near-term focus on small boat crossings to alternative entry routes. These are:

Prevent

Changing migrant and criminals’ intentions, so that fewer of them target the UK.

Pursue

Targeting criminals’ capabilities, so they are less able to successfully facilitate OIC and profit from it.

Protect

Closing and reducing vulnerabilities at and near the border itself, so that fewer migrants are successful in entering illegally.

Prepare 

Readying the immigration and asylum system to respond to criminally facilitated illegal migration, and to learn what we can from it, and build capabilities to improve the future response.

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