G7 leaders vow to tackle migrant smuggling and foreign interference

BANFF, ALTA. — The leaders of the world’s seven wealthiest democracies ended their annual summit Tuesday with promises to tackle six pressing policy issues, including artificial intelligence, transnational repression and migrant smuggling. As the two-day summit in Kananaskis, Alta., came to a close, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the U.S. and the U.K. issued six joint statements tackling wildfires, quantum and critical minerals as well as the three aforementioned issues. Absent from the list was a joint statement from all leaders on the war in Ukraine, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s attendance at the summit Tuesday. Among the most comprehensive was the statement on artificial intelligence in which countries committed to developing an “AI adoption roadmap”. Member countries agreed to accelerate their AI readiness and competitiveness and lower barriers to adoption in the private and public sector. The statement specifically targets AI adoption in the public service, arguing that it is necessary “ to drive efficiency and better serve our publics”. Transnational repression (TNR), a form of foreign interference, and illegal migration, which has become an issue of critical importance for many of the G7 member nations, are major issues in Canada. Member states issued a joint statement committing to further combat TNR, a particularly virulent form of foreign interference that uses coercion and threats to silence dissidents and quiet critics. The Canadian government has been seized with the issue of foreign interference, particularly in the case of Chinese interference in elections and India, which is alleged to have carried out an assassination on Canadian soil. “(Transnational repression) undermines national security, state sovereignty, the safety and human rights of victims, and principles of international law. It has a chilling effect in our countries,” reads the statement. The G7’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), a unit housed within Global Affairs Canada that monitors the internet for foreign state-sponsored disinformation, will also be taking on a larger role in the international combat against transnational repression. Transnational repression was highlighted by Foreign Interference Inquiry Commissioner Marie-Josée as a “growing scourge” in her final report earlier this year. It is also very likely to come up during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday afternoon. In its 2024 annual report, Canada’s spy agency said that India continues to be one of the main perpetrators of foreign interference operations in Canada, including transnational repression. “Transnational repression plays a central role in India’s activity in Canada,” reads the Canadian Security Intelligence Service report. In the statement, G7 members promised to develop a framework allowing countries to better share information about foreign TNR in their countries and how best counter it. They also committed to creating a TNR “detection academy” with will help members and their allies with “the technical skills and tools for identifying and responding to the latest technology-enabled threats,” reads the statement. The countries also adopted the “Kananaskis Wildfire Charter”, noting the record-breaking wildfires that have burned across every forested continent in recent years. The charter promises to increase global cooperation when it comes to preventing, fighting and recovering from wildfires worldwide. In 2024, more than 1,300 migrants crossed illegally into Canada and subsequently made refugee claims, according to Canadian government statistics, and even legal immigration has become controversial, given rapid increases in the growth of the Canadian population. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the leaders of the G7 nations agreed to “enhance border management and enforcement and dismantle the transnational organized crime groups profiting from both migrant smuggling and human trafficking.” The leaders said that it is in the national interest of the respective nations to counter human smuggling and human trafficking. The leaders said that migrant smuggling is often linked to money laundering, trafficking in persons and drugs, and other serious crimes. “It can expose vulnerable smuggled persons to grave and life-threatening risks,” the leaders said. In 2024, the G7 adopted an action plan on migrant smuggling, and with Tuesday’s statement says the leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the plan. The leaders vowed to use a “follow the money” strategy of using financial intelligence to identify criminals, hold them accountable and seize their assets and profits. They also pledged to increase strengthen border management and work with social media companies to prevent advertising and co-ordination of migrant smuggling via online platforms. The statement also says that the leaders will work to tackle the use of irregular migration as a “hybrid warfare tactic” or to undermine national stability. “We will explore, consistent with our legal systems, the potential use of sanctions to target criminals involved in migrant smuggling and human trafficking operations from countries where those activities emanate,” the statement says.

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