Yes the UK is right is trying to end illegal immigration. Every country's priority is to look after itself. Even Pak is now so very reluctant to accept more Afghan's only that being neighbours keeping them out is much more difficult. Many Afghan's have even been expelled from Pak too. Before someone points out past history when our forefathers arrived let me say his is not the 1960's when the UK was encouraging legal immigration needing workers from abroad. Times have greatly changed.
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hitthestump
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Obviously you're aware that there are proper systems in place for illegal migrants where they will be sure of housing, food and money whilst their applications are being processed.
It's no holiday camp but if they feel it's better than where they've came from then one should only wish them all the best.
cricketjoshila
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Systems or no systems, this is forceful migration. These people are illegally and forcefully entering another country. With resources of each nation being limited, its only time before nations take offensive actions against these illegal forceful immigrants.
hitthestump
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It'd be slightly hypocritical of Western Europe to uproar against force from abroad. These aren't 'forces' anyway, these are human beings who have felt the need to risk their lives and leave their countries behind in the hope for a better life.
Migration at these small levels isn't leaving any dents in Western economies and there's no shortage of resources for those who wish to seek asylum. Studies state that refugees pay it back with plenty of interest over the long term.
cricketjoshila
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Europeans worked hard to make their country a better place to live. They didn't go running to settle elsewhere.
You just cannot pack and go and live in another country since you dont like your own. Thats not how it works.
These economic migrants who forcefully enter another country and grab the resources will ignite anti immigrant sentiments sooner rather than later. Infact certain european countries already are actively pursuing ways to stop these people.
This will only increase in future as immigrants drain the resources and as their numbers rise, a clash of cultures will arise too.
KingKhanWC
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Europe became rich due to colonisation. You should know this as UK alone has stolen £4 trillion from India.
However Europe inc the UK would still have the right to stop people entering but they are the ones who invaded, bombed and changed regimes in numerous countries spending hundreds of billions. All because they claim they care about the people. With this logic, they should let those people in.
Besides by your own logic, as you've said to others, it applies here too. This is not the concern of anyone outside Europe esp Indians.
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Women with babies and children were among 56 migrants packed into a small room in “shocking” conditions in Dover, the Home Secretary has been told.
Priti Patel has been sent a letter by Yvette Cooper chair of the Home Affairs Committee raising “serious concerns” after MPs visited the Kent Intake Unit.
As well as concerns over overcrowding and the length of stays, the committee was “very concerned” about the “clear risk” of a Covid-19 outbreak.
In the letter, Ms Cooper said: “I am writing to raise serious concerns about the shocking conditions the committee observed during its visit to the Kent Intake Unit yesterday.
“The holding room facility, in which detained asylum seekers wait for onward placement and screening, is wholly inappropriate.
“Yesterday there were 56 people packed into the small waiting room. The space is clearly unfit for holding this many people.
a man holding a sign: Migrant Channel crossing incidents© PA Wire Migrant Channel crossing incidents
“Most people were sitting or lying on a thin mattress and those covered almost the entirety of the floor including the aisles between seats.
“Sharing these cramped conditions were many women with babies and very young children, alongside significant numbers of teenage and young adult men.
“We heard that the maximum period of time any individual should be held in this room is 24 hours but that in recent weeks some people have been kept in this small holding room for periods up to 36 and 48 hours.”
Ms Cooper said the committee also visited the atrium facility, where people stay when they are no longer in detention and awaiting onward travel.
She said atrium is “essentially an office space” with a large central room and several adjoining offices.
She wrote: “We heard that since Kent County Council stopped accepting unaccompanied child migrants on 14 June 2021, there have been five stays of over 200 hours (10 days) in this office space and increasing numbers of multiple-day stays.
“The Permanent Secretary has now confirmed in correspondence to the committee that one of the individuals held in this office space for over 10 days was an unaccompanied child.
“One girl was sleeping on a sofa in an office, as the only available separate sleeping accommodation.
“For children, this kind of accommodation for days on end is completely inappropriate.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...riate-conditions-mps/ar-AAMJDyK?ocid=msedgntp
Priti Patel has been sent a letter by Yvette Cooper chair of the Home Affairs Committee raising “serious concerns” after MPs visited the Kent Intake Unit.
As well as concerns over overcrowding and the length of stays, the committee was “very concerned” about the “clear risk” of a Covid-19 outbreak.
In the letter, Ms Cooper said: “I am writing to raise serious concerns about the shocking conditions the committee observed during its visit to the Kent Intake Unit yesterday.
“The holding room facility, in which detained asylum seekers wait for onward placement and screening, is wholly inappropriate.
“Yesterday there were 56 people packed into the small waiting room. The space is clearly unfit for holding this many people.
a man holding a sign: Migrant Channel crossing incidents© PA Wire Migrant Channel crossing incidents
“Most people were sitting or lying on a thin mattress and those covered almost the entirety of the floor including the aisles between seats.
“Sharing these cramped conditions were many women with babies and very young children, alongside significant numbers of teenage and young adult men.
“We heard that the maximum period of time any individual should be held in this room is 24 hours but that in recent weeks some people have been kept in this small holding room for periods up to 36 and 48 hours.”
Ms Cooper said the committee also visited the atrium facility, where people stay when they are no longer in detention and awaiting onward travel.
She said atrium is “essentially an office space” with a large central room and several adjoining offices.
She wrote: “We heard that since Kent County Council stopped accepting unaccompanied child migrants on 14 June 2021, there have been five stays of over 200 hours (10 days) in this office space and increasing numbers of multiple-day stays.
“The Permanent Secretary has now confirmed in correspondence to the committee that one of the individuals held in this office space for over 10 days was an unaccompanied child.
“One girl was sleeping on a sofa in an office, as the only available separate sleeping accommodation.
“For children, this kind of accommodation for days on end is completely inappropriate.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...riate-conditions-mps/ar-AAMJDyK?ocid=msedgntp
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The death of a five-year-old Afghan refugee who fell from a ninth-floor hotel window in Sheffield is an "unimaginable tragedy," the city's MPs have said.
Mohammed Munib Majeedi died shortly after his family's arrival in the UK as they fled the Taliban in Afghanistan.
South Yorkshire Police has issued an appeal for information following his death on Wednesday.
"The death of Mohammed Munib Majeedi is an unimaginable tragedy," the group of Sheffield Labour MPs said.
"Our hearts go out to his family and friends; and supporting them at this terrible time must be everyone's priority.
"After fleeing the harrowing situation in Afghanistan they sought asylum and protection in our country and it is devastating that this young boy lost his life in this way and here in the UK's first City of Sanctuary.
"His death is felt across Sheffield and across the country."
The MPs - Paul Blomfield, Clive Betts, Olivia Blake, Gill Furniss and Louise Haigh - called on the government to ensure the UK becomes a safe haven for those fleeing Afghanistan.
"Lessons must be learnt from this tragedy so it is never repeated," they said. "The Home Office have a duty of care for all those who they resettle under their programmes.
"We support the Refugee Council's call for an urgent investigation into the circumstances of Mohammed's death, which must be independently conducted to establish what was known by the Home Office about the suitability and safety of this accommodation, and what procedures were followed before commissioning its use for vulnerable families.
"The UK must be a safe haven for those fleeing the appalling horrors in Afghanistan, and we must see a clear commitment from the government to ensure this is the case."
Hotels are being used by the government to help support efforts to accommodate those who have left Afghanistan.
The government has been using hotels to help support efforts to accommodate those who have left Afghanistan.
A government spokesperson said: "We are extremely saddened by the tragic death of a child at a hotel in Sheffield.
"The police are providing support to the family while the investigation continues and we are providing accommodation and support."
The UK government's scheme to take in 20,000 refugees, with 5,000 in the first year, has been criticised for not being a fast enough response to events in Afghanistan.
Home Secretary Priti Patel told Sky News' Kay Burley it is "important" that the scheme "delivers" and that the UK "cannot accommodate 20,000 people in one go".
SKY
Mohammed Munib Majeedi died shortly after his family's arrival in the UK as they fled the Taliban in Afghanistan.
South Yorkshire Police has issued an appeal for information following his death on Wednesday.
"The death of Mohammed Munib Majeedi is an unimaginable tragedy," the group of Sheffield Labour MPs said.
"Our hearts go out to his family and friends; and supporting them at this terrible time must be everyone's priority.
"After fleeing the harrowing situation in Afghanistan they sought asylum and protection in our country and it is devastating that this young boy lost his life in this way and here in the UK's first City of Sanctuary.
"His death is felt across Sheffield and across the country."
The MPs - Paul Blomfield, Clive Betts, Olivia Blake, Gill Furniss and Louise Haigh - called on the government to ensure the UK becomes a safe haven for those fleeing Afghanistan.
"Lessons must be learnt from this tragedy so it is never repeated," they said. "The Home Office have a duty of care for all those who they resettle under their programmes.
"We support the Refugee Council's call for an urgent investigation into the circumstances of Mohammed's death, which must be independently conducted to establish what was known by the Home Office about the suitability and safety of this accommodation, and what procedures were followed before commissioning its use for vulnerable families.
"The UK must be a safe haven for those fleeing the appalling horrors in Afghanistan, and we must see a clear commitment from the government to ensure this is the case."
Hotels are being used by the government to help support efforts to accommodate those who have left Afghanistan.
The government has been using hotels to help support efforts to accommodate those who have left Afghanistan.
A government spokesperson said: "We are extremely saddened by the tragic death of a child at a hotel in Sheffield.
"The police are providing support to the family while the investigation continues and we are providing accommodation and support."
The UK government's scheme to take in 20,000 refugees, with 5,000 in the first year, has been criticised for not being a fast enough response to events in Afghanistan.
Home Secretary Priti Patel told Sky News' Kay Burley it is "important" that the scheme "delivers" and that the UK "cannot accommodate 20,000 people in one go".
SKY
James
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You heard of the British Empire old chap? lol
Or the French, Belgian, Portuguese, Spanish empires, etc
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Priti Patel has authorised Border Force to turn back boats carrying migrants at sea to prevent them reaching the UK.
More than 1,500 migrants have crossed the English Channel by boat this week.
The home secretary and her French counterpart discussed the issue on Wednesday but failed to agree new measures to prevent the crossings.
Her plan to force boats back into French waters is also likely to be opposed by French authorities who consider it to be dangerous.
Under international maritime law, people at risk of losing their lives at sea must be rescued.
The government has said it needs to use every possible tactic at its disposal to tackle people smuggling, while the Home Office said it continued to evaluate and test a range of safe and legal options to find ways of stopping small boats making the dangerous journey.
More than 1,500 migrants have crossed the English Channel by boat this week.
The home secretary and her French counterpart discussed the issue on Wednesday but failed to agree new measures to prevent the crossings.
Her plan to force boats back into French waters is also likely to be opposed by French authorities who consider it to be dangerous.
Under international maritime law, people at risk of losing their lives at sea must be rescued.
The government has said it needs to use every possible tactic at its disposal to tackle people smuggling, while the Home Office said it continued to evaluate and test a range of safe and legal options to find ways of stopping small boats making the dangerous journey.
Had the British not got involved in every American war then so many would not be seeking refuge. Had the UK not looted other countries then they would not feel guilty or morally obliged to take in so many people. It is impossible to separate the genuine asylum seekers escaping persecution from economic migrants. Most people have no idea the terrible things British army gets up to abroad.
Robert
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I concur with most of this. If UK insists on destabilising nations, it should take some refugees.
In my view, if someone is so desperate to reach UK that they will endanger the lives and those if their children, these are the sort of tough resourceful people I want to live here.
Where I draw the line is groups of young men who leave (stable) authoritarian regimes to the liberal West so they can have a drink and chase girls. These are not reasonable asylum seekers.
Robert
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Or the UK expats to Spain.
Oops, they voted for Brexit so have to come back to Britain….
Robert
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There was a retired Rear Admiral on LBC radio this morning. He said desperate people in boats will leap into the sea, in order to force Border Force vessels to rescue them. Patel’s plan is unworkable. Like this whole Cabinet she is an ideologue not a pragmatist.
Robert
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It is possible. All are subject to adjudication and 3/4 are deported.
Deportation dies not put them of from trying and getting through again. It is an endless cycle.
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Three migrants have died after being hit by a train in southwest France while they were lying on the tracks.
A police spokesperson said they had been on the train tracks near Saint-Jean-de-Luz at around 5am local time when they were hit by a train travelling to Bordeaux.
Three died instantly, while a fourth migrant was seriously hurt.
It was not clear why they were lying on the tracks, the spokesperson said.
Two of them had Algerian nationality, while the nationality of the others is not known.
An investigation has been launched.
The mayor of nearby Ciboure, Eneko Aldana-Douat, told BFM TV that the area near the Spanish border is a passageway for immigrants.
SKY
A police spokesperson said they had been on the train tracks near Saint-Jean-de-Luz at around 5am local time when they were hit by a train travelling to Bordeaux.
Three died instantly, while a fourth migrant was seriously hurt.
It was not clear why they were lying on the tracks, the spokesperson said.
Two of them had Algerian nationality, while the nationality of the others is not known.
An investigation has been launched.
The mayor of nearby Ciboure, Eneko Aldana-Douat, told BFM TV that the area near the Spanish border is a passageway for immigrants.
SKY
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Migrant tragedy is biggest loss of life in Channel
At least 27 people headed for the UK have drowned in the English Channel near Calais after their boat sank.
The International Organization for Migration said it was the biggest single loss of life in the Channel since it began collecting data in 2014.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "appalled" by what happened, adding the UK would leave "no stone unturned" to stop human trafficking gangs.
Five women and a girl were among the dead, France's interior minister said.
Gerald Darmanin also said two people were rescued and one was missing. It was earlier reported 31 people had died, but the total was revised down overnight on Thursday.
Four people had been arrested near to the Belgian border, he added, saying: "We suspect that they were directly linked to this particular crossing."
On Wednesday evening, Mr Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to step up joint efforts to prevent the crossings and stop the gangs putting people's lives at risk, Downing Street said.
A fishing boat sounded the alarm on Wednesday afternoon after spotting several people at sea off the coast of France.
French and British authorities are conducting a rescue operation by air and sea to see if they can find anyone.
Mr Johnson said the deaths were a "disaster", adding that it was vital to "break" the people trafficking gangs which, he said, were "literally getting away with murder".
Speaking after chairing an emergency Cobra meeting, the prime minister said more needed to be done to stop criminals organising crossings.
"It also shows how vital it is that we now step up our efforts to break the business model of the gangsters who are sending people to sea in this way," he said.
He also admitted efforts so far to stem the flow of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats "haven't been enough" and that the UK would offer to increase its support to France.
Downing Street later said Mr Johnson and Mr Macron agreed on the importance of close working with neighbours in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as other European countries, to tackle the problem before people reach the French coast.
The UK has pledged to give France €62.7m (£54m) during 2021-22 to help increase police patrols along its coastline, boost aerial surveillance and increase security infrastructure at ports.
Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted that the deaths were "starkest possible reminder" of the dangers migrants face attempting to cross the Channel.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59406355
At least 27 people headed for the UK have drowned in the English Channel near Calais after their boat sank.
The International Organization for Migration said it was the biggest single loss of life in the Channel since it began collecting data in 2014.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "appalled" by what happened, adding the UK would leave "no stone unturned" to stop human trafficking gangs.
Five women and a girl were among the dead, France's interior minister said.
Gerald Darmanin also said two people were rescued and one was missing. It was earlier reported 31 people had died, but the total was revised down overnight on Thursday.
Four people had been arrested near to the Belgian border, he added, saying: "We suspect that they were directly linked to this particular crossing."
On Wednesday evening, Mr Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to step up joint efforts to prevent the crossings and stop the gangs putting people's lives at risk, Downing Street said.
A fishing boat sounded the alarm on Wednesday afternoon after spotting several people at sea off the coast of France.
French and British authorities are conducting a rescue operation by air and sea to see if they can find anyone.
Mr Johnson said the deaths were a "disaster", adding that it was vital to "break" the people trafficking gangs which, he said, were "literally getting away with murder".
Speaking after chairing an emergency Cobra meeting, the prime minister said more needed to be done to stop criminals organising crossings.
"It also shows how vital it is that we now step up our efforts to break the business model of the gangsters who are sending people to sea in this way," he said.
He also admitted efforts so far to stem the flow of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats "haven't been enough" and that the UK would offer to increase its support to France.
Downing Street later said Mr Johnson and Mr Macron agreed on the importance of close working with neighbours in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as other European countries, to tackle the problem before people reach the French coast.
The UK has pledged to give France €62.7m (£54m) during 2021-22 to help increase police patrols along its coastline, boost aerial surveillance and increase security infrastructure at ports.
Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted that the deaths were "starkest possible reminder" of the dangers migrants face attempting to cross the Channel.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59406355
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A picture of the flimsy boat involved in the death of 27 people in the Channel has emerged as the French interior minister attacked the UK's migration approach.
Gerard Darmanin said that Britain had handled the crisis badly, and that other countries such as Belgium and Germany could do more to help France tackle illegal migrants and human trafficking issues.
In an interview with French radio station RTL he said migrants are "often attracted" to the UK's job market and described the sinking of a migrant boat as an "absolute tragedy" - blaming human trafficking gangs who promise people the "El Dorado of England" for large sums of money.
Pregnant woman among the dead amid fears smugglers will continue trafficking in the coming weeks - live updates
Mr Darmanin did not have further information about the circumstances of the boat's capsizing, or the victims' nationalities, but said the two survivors were Somali and Iraqi and had been treated for severe hypothermia.
He also said a fifth suspected people trafficker was arrested overnight and the boat used to cross the Channel was purchased in Germany and had a German vehicle registration.
"Those responsible for the tragedy which took place yesterday in the Channel are the smugglers, who for a few thousand euros promise Eldorado in England. The smugglers are criminals, this tragedy reminds us, painfully," he said.
"It's an international problem... We tell our Belgian, German and British friends they should help us fight traffickers that work at an international level," Mr Darmanin added.
Five women, including one who was pregnant, and a girl were among the victims after their boat capsized in the water on Wednesday, with fishermen reporting more than a dozen bodies motionless in the sea.
Two people were rescued and four suspected people-smugglers arrested shortly afterwards.
The boat which sank was very flimsy, with Mr Darmanin likening it to "a pool you blow up in your garden".
Around 60 migrants - some of them in life jackets - were transferred on to buses at Calais's main train station on Thursday morning.
"Have these deaths changed your mind about getting to Britain?" Sky's Europe correspondent Adam Parsons asked one man as he passed. "No, no," he replied.
Parsons said: "The political debate may have intensified but the familiar sense of purpose and determination, which I've heard many times before among those trying to get across the Channel, seems unabated."
Franck Dhersin, the vice president of transport for the northern Hauts-de-France region, told French TV station BFMTV that heads of human trafficking networks who live comfortable lives in the UK must be arrested.
"In France what do we do? We arrest the smugglers...To fight them, there's only one way - we need to stop the organisations, you need to arrest the mafia chiefs," he said.
"And the mafia chiefs live in London... They live in London peacefully, in beautiful villas, they earn hundreds of millions of euros every year, and they reinvest that money in the City. And so it's very easy for the tax authorities to find them".
French politician Bruno Bonnell said there are many reasons people are attracted to the UK.
"First the language, a lot of people have a basic understanding of English and they find it more comfortable finding a job there," he told Sky News.
"Plus they have heard from sources that the conditions are better," added the La Republique En Marche MP for Rhone.
Those who claim asylum in the UK are not normally allowed to work whilst their claim is being considered. They are instead provided with accommodation and support to meet their essential living needs.
The Home Office may grant permission to work to asylum seekers whose claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own. Under this policy, those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the shortage occupation list published by the department - which includes health services and the fields of science and engineering.
The Dover Strait is the world's busiest shipping lane and more than 25,700 people have completed the dangerous journey to the UK this year.
That's three times the total for 2020, according to data compiled by PA news agency.
The numbers have prompted some critics to blame Brexit while those in support of leaving the EU have questioned whether the UK has taken back its borders.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has previously said there is no "silver bullet" to solving the issue and the "only solution is wholescale reform of our asylum system".
In August, she promised to make the route across the Channel "unviable", but the number of people crossing in small boats has reached record highs.
The issue has become an increasingly tense subject for the UK and France, and each side has been blaming the other.
The government has accused the French of not stepping up patrols enough, despite giving them millions in extra funding to deal with the problem.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron last night and Downing Street said they had agreed to "keep all options on the table".
Mr Johnson offered to host and to help with joint patrols, while Mr Macron has called for an emergency meeting of European ministers and an "immediate strengthening" of Frontex, the EU's border agency.
SKY
Gerard Darmanin said that Britain had handled the crisis badly, and that other countries such as Belgium and Germany could do more to help France tackle illegal migrants and human trafficking issues.
In an interview with French radio station RTL he said migrants are "often attracted" to the UK's job market and described the sinking of a migrant boat as an "absolute tragedy" - blaming human trafficking gangs who promise people the "El Dorado of England" for large sums of money.
Pregnant woman among the dead amid fears smugglers will continue trafficking in the coming weeks - live updates
Mr Darmanin did not have further information about the circumstances of the boat's capsizing, or the victims' nationalities, but said the two survivors were Somali and Iraqi and had been treated for severe hypothermia.
He also said a fifth suspected people trafficker was arrested overnight and the boat used to cross the Channel was purchased in Germany and had a German vehicle registration.
"Those responsible for the tragedy which took place yesterday in the Channel are the smugglers, who for a few thousand euros promise Eldorado in England. The smugglers are criminals, this tragedy reminds us, painfully," he said.
"It's an international problem... We tell our Belgian, German and British friends they should help us fight traffickers that work at an international level," Mr Darmanin added.
Five women, including one who was pregnant, and a girl were among the victims after their boat capsized in the water on Wednesday, with fishermen reporting more than a dozen bodies motionless in the sea.
Two people were rescued and four suspected people-smugglers arrested shortly afterwards.
The boat which sank was very flimsy, with Mr Darmanin likening it to "a pool you blow up in your garden".
Around 60 migrants - some of them in life jackets - were transferred on to buses at Calais's main train station on Thursday morning.
"Have these deaths changed your mind about getting to Britain?" Sky's Europe correspondent Adam Parsons asked one man as he passed. "No, no," he replied.
Parsons said: "The political debate may have intensified but the familiar sense of purpose and determination, which I've heard many times before among those trying to get across the Channel, seems unabated."
Franck Dhersin, the vice president of transport for the northern Hauts-de-France region, told French TV station BFMTV that heads of human trafficking networks who live comfortable lives in the UK must be arrested.
"In France what do we do? We arrest the smugglers...To fight them, there's only one way - we need to stop the organisations, you need to arrest the mafia chiefs," he said.
"And the mafia chiefs live in London... They live in London peacefully, in beautiful villas, they earn hundreds of millions of euros every year, and they reinvest that money in the City. And so it's very easy for the tax authorities to find them".
French politician Bruno Bonnell said there are many reasons people are attracted to the UK.
"First the language, a lot of people have a basic understanding of English and they find it more comfortable finding a job there," he told Sky News.
"Plus they have heard from sources that the conditions are better," added the La Republique En Marche MP for Rhone.
Those who claim asylum in the UK are not normally allowed to work whilst their claim is being considered. They are instead provided with accommodation and support to meet their essential living needs.
The Home Office may grant permission to work to asylum seekers whose claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own. Under this policy, those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the shortage occupation list published by the department - which includes health services and the fields of science and engineering.
The Dover Strait is the world's busiest shipping lane and more than 25,700 people have completed the dangerous journey to the UK this year.
That's three times the total for 2020, according to data compiled by PA news agency.
The numbers have prompted some critics to blame Brexit while those in support of leaving the EU have questioned whether the UK has taken back its borders.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has previously said there is no "silver bullet" to solving the issue and the "only solution is wholescale reform of our asylum system".
In August, she promised to make the route across the Channel "unviable", but the number of people crossing in small boats has reached record highs.
The issue has become an increasingly tense subject for the UK and France, and each side has been blaming the other.
The government has accused the French of not stepping up patrols enough, despite giving them millions in extra funding to deal with the problem.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron last night and Downing Street said they had agreed to "keep all options on the table".
Mr Johnson offered to host and to help with joint patrols, while Mr Macron has called for an emergency meeting of European ministers and an "immediate strengthening" of Frontex, the EU's border agency.
SKY
The UK can not keep taking these asylum seekers considering most are not escaping persecution. It is impossible to differentiate between the genuine ones from economic migrants seeking better living standards. You can't keep bombing innocent people and countries on the behest of America then hope it does not effect you too like the British have always done. Having ruled and looted foreign lands for centuries it is only divine justice the UK should pay a price for it. Just from Africa alone the UK has stolen trillions over the centuries. Now, stop the counting.
Robert
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Well, if they are not escaping persecution they are not asylum seekers, by definition.
So you want us to stop taking asylum seekers, but somehow “pay a price” for bombing other countries. Which is it?
It is both. The UK has looted other countries over the centuries. Had they not done this would not feel morally obliged the take in all these migrants. You an call them asylum seekers or whatever you want, all that matters is they are coming here in droves. Just pay back the 45 trillion to the subcontinent and a similar amount to Africa and the Middle East then tell all these people to leave. Britain is directly responsible for the Kashmir and Palestine issues too. So I hear white people are unhappy over migrants taking their jobs, ehh? Too bad, hard luck.
The chickens have come home to roost!
Robert
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Let's unpick that a bit.
UK will never pay recompense to other nations to the tune of even £1T let alone £45T. We are mired in debt of £1.8T right now which will take decades to pay back. However, the Government send £B is overseas aid each year. This was recently cut because our hard-right authoritarian government (I won't call them Conservatives) wanted to appease their xenophobe vote.
Even if we paid all that money back, a decent country would not ask her BAME citizens to leave. That's fascist.
All nations who signed the 1951 UN Charter on Refugees will accept some. We are actually 14th in Europe. Germany is #1. Even Norway and Sweden are taking refugees and they never had empires, so this obligation thing is nonsense. It's just a question of doing the decent thing.
Since the Hard Brexit* which Johnson imposed on us, many people who do the dirty jobs such as nursing, fruit picking and animal slaughter have gone. So we need immigrants prepared to take on that work.
* before [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] jumps on me, I would have been fine with a compromise position where we stayed in the Single Market. That would have sorted out the NI problem, much of the supply chain issue and the labour shortages.
James
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The Norway/Switzerland style solution is what was actually promoted by the official Leave campaign... ironically enough. (and that would have suited me too)
Robert
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I suppose even SM membership was too much for the ERG / headbanger tendency to cope with.
Norway Minus would be ok with me.
James
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Norway style would have been a suitable compromise.
Remainers need to realise that there was simply not the appetite in the UK to continue as we were in the EU and the relationship had become broadly unpopular, so it was never going to continue as it was & whether in 2016 in later, this moment of change had become inevitable, so, you know, tough; likewise, Brexiters took a narrow victory and not a glorious win, and they need to realise that there is equally not a majority in the UK for a "Full English Brexit" of total deregulation, hard borders, and friction-heavy trade.
Go back into the Single Market (customs union not needed) and a lot of the problems disappear overnight.
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Home Secretary Priti Patel has warned that failure by European politicians to co-operate on the continent's migrant crisis will lead to "even worse scenes" in the English Channel this winter.
France is hosting German, Belgian and Dutch ministers and European Commission officials for talks.
Ms Patel was disinvited from the summit after a row between Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Labour accused them of "engaging in a blame game while children drown".
On Wednesday, 27 people died as they headed for the UK from France. Their boat sank in the Channel. The International Organization for Migrations said it was the biggest single loss of life in the Channel since it began collecting data in 2014.
Their deaths have raised questions about why so many people are attempting the journey despite the dangerous conditions, and how to tackle the problem.
The home secretary vowed to "continue to push" for improvements to tackle the crisis.
And Ms Patel said she would be holding "urgent talks with my European counterparts" later this week "to prevent further tragedies in the Channel".
On Sunday, she spoke to the Dutch minister for migration, Ankie Broekers-Knol. The Home Office said the pair agreed on the need to tackle the criminal gangs organising the crossings and on the importance of agreements for returning migrants to European countries.
On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson publicly shared a letter he had sent to the French president on how to deal with the current situation.
In it he set out five steps - joint patrols of the Channel, better use of technology such as sensors and radar, maritime patrols in each other's waters, stronger co-operation by intelligence services and negotiation on a policy of returning migrants who reach the UK to France
This letter angered Mr Macron and according to the French government, it demonstrated "double talk" from the UK.
This resentment from Paris led to the home secretary's invitation being revoked.
However the UK government said that even if the home secretary did not attend Sunday's meeting in Calais, British officials would be there.
In light of the Franco-British tensions, Ms Patel said: "The UK cannot tackle this issue alone, and across Europe we all need to step up, take responsibility, and work together in a time of crisis."
She added: "We will not shy away from the challenge we face, and next week I will continue to push for greater co-operation with European partners because a failure to do so could result in even worse scenes in the freezing water during the coming winter months."
Ms Patel said the conversations she had had on Thursday with her French counterpart, Gerald Darmanin, had been "constructive".
Speaking to Sky News, Labour's shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said it was "unconscionable" that France and the UK government were "engaging in a blame game while children drown off our coastline".
She said her party would work with international partners to "open up safe and legal routes" for refugees in order "to pull the rug out from under the business model that these smugglers currently rely on".
Controls tightened
For several years, people smugglers have sent migrants to the UK in lorries. Although this route is safer than small boats, there have also been tragedies, including the 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in 2019.
However, the security at the Port of Calais in France - where UK border controls operate - has been tightened.
This has meant that more attempts are being made to send people by boat, according to Tony Smith, former director general of UK Border Force.
So far this year, the number of people crossing the channel in small boats has far exceeded previous years.
Asylum claims to UK are at their highest since 2004, according to official estimates. However, other countries in Europe are also processing a high amount of asylum applications.
Many people fleeing conflict zones already choose to make an asylum claim in the first country they arrive in - such as Greece, Turkey or Italy - and only a minority choose to travel on to the UK.
Last year, Germany had the highest number of asylum applicants in the EU (122,015 applicants), while France had 93,475 applicants.
In the same period, the UK received the fifth largest number of applicants (36,041) when compared with countries in the EU (around 7% of the total). This represents the 17th largest intake when measured per head of population, according to UN Refugee Agency.
BBC
France is hosting German, Belgian and Dutch ministers and European Commission officials for talks.
Ms Patel was disinvited from the summit after a row between Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Labour accused them of "engaging in a blame game while children drown".
On Wednesday, 27 people died as they headed for the UK from France. Their boat sank in the Channel. The International Organization for Migrations said it was the biggest single loss of life in the Channel since it began collecting data in 2014.
Their deaths have raised questions about why so many people are attempting the journey despite the dangerous conditions, and how to tackle the problem.
The home secretary vowed to "continue to push" for improvements to tackle the crisis.
And Ms Patel said she would be holding "urgent talks with my European counterparts" later this week "to prevent further tragedies in the Channel".
On Sunday, she spoke to the Dutch minister for migration, Ankie Broekers-Knol. The Home Office said the pair agreed on the need to tackle the criminal gangs organising the crossings and on the importance of agreements for returning migrants to European countries.
On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson publicly shared a letter he had sent to the French president on how to deal with the current situation.
In it he set out five steps - joint patrols of the Channel, better use of technology such as sensors and radar, maritime patrols in each other's waters, stronger co-operation by intelligence services and negotiation on a policy of returning migrants who reach the UK to France
This letter angered Mr Macron and according to the French government, it demonstrated "double talk" from the UK.
This resentment from Paris led to the home secretary's invitation being revoked.
However the UK government said that even if the home secretary did not attend Sunday's meeting in Calais, British officials would be there.
In light of the Franco-British tensions, Ms Patel said: "The UK cannot tackle this issue alone, and across Europe we all need to step up, take responsibility, and work together in a time of crisis."
She added: "We will not shy away from the challenge we face, and next week I will continue to push for greater co-operation with European partners because a failure to do so could result in even worse scenes in the freezing water during the coming winter months."
Ms Patel said the conversations she had had on Thursday with her French counterpart, Gerald Darmanin, had been "constructive".
Speaking to Sky News, Labour's shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said it was "unconscionable" that France and the UK government were "engaging in a blame game while children drown off our coastline".
She said her party would work with international partners to "open up safe and legal routes" for refugees in order "to pull the rug out from under the business model that these smugglers currently rely on".
Controls tightened
For several years, people smugglers have sent migrants to the UK in lorries. Although this route is safer than small boats, there have also been tragedies, including the 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in 2019.
However, the security at the Port of Calais in France - where UK border controls operate - has been tightened.
This has meant that more attempts are being made to send people by boat, according to Tony Smith, former director general of UK Border Force.
So far this year, the number of people crossing the channel in small boats has far exceeded previous years.
Asylum claims to UK are at their highest since 2004, according to official estimates. However, other countries in Europe are also processing a high amount of asylum applications.
Many people fleeing conflict zones already choose to make an asylum claim in the first country they arrive in - such as Greece, Turkey or Italy - and only a minority choose to travel on to the UK.
Last year, Germany had the highest number of asylum applicants in the EU (122,015 applicants), while France had 93,475 applicants.
In the same period, the UK received the fifth largest number of applicants (36,041) when compared with countries in the EU (around 7% of the total). This represents the 17th largest intake when measured per head of population, according to UN Refugee Agency.
BBC
Robert
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A compromise was the right way to go at the time. Now he have this Dog's Brexfast which does no good to anyone save the oligarchs and our nation's enemies.
Of course UK can never pay such a heavy debt which is why they have little choice other then accept all these migrants. These people will keep on arriving one way or another no matter how much the government tries to stop them.
Well the government is making suggestions that even those born in the UK could be asked to leave just coz they have brown or black skin! https://www.theguardian.com/politic...-to-remove-british-citizenship-without-notice
What anyone signed means nothing really. What did the UN promise over Palestine and Kashmir was in ink as well. We are facing fascism every day with all these lockdowns and new rules being forced on us every day. Even our own bodies are no longer ours.
Robert
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Well as I pointed out, some European nations which were never colonial powers have taken more refugees than UK. The Germans took in one million refugees fleeing Middle East and North Africa war zones, despite never having colonial life Bret eat in those places.
As to your other point - yes, our rights are being eroded by this hard-right authoritarian government. Particularly those of British Muslims. The power of the courts to prevent egregious action by the government is being curtailed too, and all the while public money is being fed and not the hands of Tory donors. We are well down the road to becoming a pseudo-democratic authoritarian oligarchy like Russia.
We are talking about the UK here not other European nations. I have always said that Muslim countries in particular can not keep blaming the west for their failures. It is a different matter that mostly the west supports corrupt politicians like Nawaz Sharif and gives them refuge as well.
You know I have always said that Muslim's who support terrorism should be thrown out of the country like Abu Hamza Al Masri. I also insisted that Shamima Begum was a danger too the country and should not be allowed back in. Who knows what she has been learning in Syria? The same rules must be applied to Neo Nazi Christian groups like Britain First who peach hatred against Muslim's in particular. They need to be told that Muslim's and coloured people in general helped build the country. Priti Patel can also return to India too seeing she wants British born coloured people out.
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Channel migrants: Pushing back boats will increase danger, MPs warn
UK plans to turn back people attempting to cross the Channel are dangerous and probably unlawful, MPs have warned.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said last week the tactic would help deter smuggling gangs, following the deaths of 27 people in a small boat.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is urging Ms Patel to scrap the policy.
The Home Office said it could not comment on border security tactics to avoid giving an advantage to organised crime groups.
But a spokesperson said "safe and legal" options to stop boats making the "dangerous and unnecessary journey", and to prevent further loss of life at sea, were being tested.
It comes amid a sharp rise in people making perilous journeys across the English Channel in small boats.
After Wednesday's tragedy, Ms Patel said the government's Nationality and Borders Bill would tackle illegal immigration and the "underlying pull factors into the UK's asylum system".
But, she added, authorising "boat turnarounds" was an example of action she was taking now to combat smuggling gangs.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59481143
UK plans to turn back people attempting to cross the Channel are dangerous and probably unlawful, MPs have warned.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said last week the tactic would help deter smuggling gangs, following the deaths of 27 people in a small boat.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is urging Ms Patel to scrap the policy.
The Home Office said it could not comment on border security tactics to avoid giving an advantage to organised crime groups.
But a spokesperson said "safe and legal" options to stop boats making the "dangerous and unnecessary journey", and to prevent further loss of life at sea, were being tested.
It comes amid a sharp rise in people making perilous journeys across the English Channel in small boats.
After Wednesday's tragedy, Ms Patel said the government's Nationality and Borders Bill would tackle illegal immigration and the "underlying pull factors into the UK's asylum system".
But, she added, authorising "boat turnarounds" was an example of action she was taking now to combat smuggling gangs.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59481143
cricketjoshila
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Is the majority in UK ready to accept more illegal refugees? If not, then UK will have to frame a policy of disallowing refugees. A withdrawal from the UN refugees convention is something they can do.
Robert
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We could leave the convention we helped set up, if we want to be thought of as even more of a rogue state as we are now.
There are no illegal refugees. As soon as someone claims refugee status they are processed and either accepted or deported.
Illegal immigrants are people who enter the country without declaring themselves and remain without permission, evading the authorities.
Robert
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I’m not taking your points, you seem all over the place.
Patel return to India? She is not Indian, she was born in Britain to Ugandan refugee parents.
Then don't take them! Point is that whatever Priti Patel's background born in the UK she wants other coloured people in the UK like her to be forced out on the basis of unproven suspicions. So are you suggesting that we should welcome back the likes of Hamza and Shamima despite their terror loving backgrounds? You are making no sense at all.
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Heartbreaking stories these.
==
Zana Mamand Mohammad will never forget where he was when the smuggler called. Although hours had passed with no contact, the young policeman wasn’t unduly worried – his brother had warned it might take a few days for him to get in touch.
Over a homemade chicken biryani, and as the call to prayer sounded at dusk on that late November evening, Zana whispered a quiet prayer of thanks and told his mother that her youngest son had safely reached England.
A dangerous journey, that had lasted many long weeks, was finally over. They celebrated with sweets and hot chai.
The roads into the town are lined by huge posters of Peshmerga soldiers, killed fighting Islamic State in recent years. These days, the threat comes from Turkish warplanes which regularly target militant outposts in the hills around the town.
Ranya's rebellious reputation, earned through history of revolt, runs through its residents today; it's no coincidence that many of Calais's most notorious smugglers come from the town.
It was from here, on a hot August evening last summer, that a young Kurdish boy put on his rucksack, double checked his new passport and said a final goodbye to the home he'd lived in all his life.
With two other school friends, Twana Mamand Mohammad set off for Erbil Airport in good time to make the 2.45am flight to Istanbul. Like so many before them, their journey would start with Turkish Airlines flight 317, an overnight shuttle west to the city where Asia meets Europe. By the time the sun was rising over the Bosphorus the following morning, Twana and his friends had landed safely in Turkey. They were on their way.
A black belt in Taekwondo, and a keen footballer, Twana had turned down offers from clubs in the big cities to chase his dream in Europe. The avid Manchester City fan had pestered his family for two years to go to England but was told he must wait.
"One day I will wear the sky-blue shirt," Twana would tell anyone who listened.
Why do people risk their lives to cross the Channel into the UK?
Now 18, he left with his father's blessing, hopeful of joining his elder sister who was already in the UK and living happily in Sheffield. To pay for the journey, an estimated £20,000, Twana's father had put up his house as collateral. If he made it to England, the family home would be sold.
Turkey is the first stop for many leaving the Middle East - visas are easy to obtain and once there, land and sea routes open up. By contrast British visas, many migrants will say, are almost impossible to secure.
With five friends, all from the same town in northern Iraq, they found a smuggler who would take them by foot into Bulgaria, through Serbia and then to northern Europe.
It was bad timing. A few weeks earlier the Taliban had swept into Kabul and regained control of Afghanistan. By the time the friends arrived on the Bulgarian border, so too had thousands of Afghans and the security services were on alert. Unperturbed, they tried twice but were caught both times. Stripped of everything by Bulgarian Police, Twana was left with just 100€ that he'd hidden in his clothes.
The friends returned to Istanbul to regroup and rethink.
Two months had now passed since Twana left Iraq and he was growing frustrated and desperate - he phoned his brother and said he was going to try a different route.
The sea crossing from Turkey to either Greece or Italy is more dangerous than going by land, but it has the advantage of being quicker.
On 8 October from a beach near Izmir, the teenager boarded a small boat and hoped for the best.
For four days and nights, the boat chugged slowly through the Aegean and into the Mediterranean Sea. A video, sent to Zana by the smuggler, shows Twana and the other passengers smiling and laughing on the boat as they approach the Italian coast. On 12 October they landed safely on a beach in the south of Italy; the successful sailing from Turkey would give the group confidence in later weeks as they prepared themselves to cross the narrower English Channel.
Now in the EU's borderless Schengen Area, Twana's journey ahead was much easier. Sticking together, the friends took a series of trains through Italy and into France. By 25 October they were in Paris - a photo posted on Facebook shows Twana in a black tracksuit, stood in front of the Eiffel Tower.
The following day they arrived in the Calais Jungle, the squalid staging post for thousands of hopeful people as they wait to make the final crossing.
The coast between Calais and Dunkirk is informally divided into zones, each controlled by different smugglers. It is lucrative real estate and territory is defended aggressively if threatened. Should a smuggler choose to sell his zone, he can expect to make tens of thousands of pounds.
A single inflatable dingy, with 30 people in, could make a smuggler upward of £70,000 if it reaches England safely. If it doesn't, the smuggler won't be paid. The money is held by trusted Travel Agents in the home countries and only released when all parties are satisfied the journey is complete.
For a month, Twana stayed in Calais making repeated attempts to reach England. Six times he tried to cross, each time foiled by police or problems with the boats.
Sleeping in a tent, with food and water provided by local charities, the seven friends knew time was running out with winter approaching. They were reaching the end of their long journey and the events of the following hours would reverberate around the world.
Around midday on 23 November, Zana calls his brother for an update. Twana tells him they're planning to try again the following evening and have moved to a hotel in Lille for the night to escape the cold.
At 2pm in northern France, the two speak again. A new smuggler has offered them the chance to cross that evening and with the weather window closing fast Twana is keen to go.
Worried that this new smuggler has a reputation for providing poor boats, Zana tries but fails to convince his brother to stick to the original plan.
In Dunkirk, the group spends the afternoon haggling with the new smuggler and eventually settle on a fee: £2,350 per person, to cross that evening.
The two brothers, Twana and Zana, stay in constant contact. At 8.51pm GMT, Twana sends a Facebook message to say he is on the boat.
Half an hour later - by now after midnight in Iraq - Zana calls his brother to check he's safe. Twana tells him the dingy is poor quality and the weather wasn't good but they're ok and making progress.
For the next 90 minutes, Zana repeatedly called his brother and the friends to check on their progress, trying a different phone if one was offline.
At 10.41pm, with Twana's phone not connected, Zana messages one of the group to ask for their location.
Twenty-two minutes later, at 11.03pm, a message comes back with their co-ordinates. Zana immediately calls his brother and gets through on WhatsApp. In a conversation lasting four minutes and six seconds, Twana tells him the motor is ok, the weather hasn't deteriorated and they expected to reach the UK in an hour and a half.
"It's late in Kurdistan, go to sleep," Twana tells his older brother, reassuring him everything is fine and that he would phone their sister in the UK if he needed help.
Zana agrees and having messaged his sister, goes to bed and sleeps with his phone next to him, satisfied everything was ok. It wasn't.
At 2.42am, a message is sent by one of the group to say the engine had stopped working. Their location, as given to French authorities, puts them closer to Dover than Calais.
An accompanying audio message is sent by one of the passengers to a relative back in Iran.
"We don't know which of them is coming to rescue us," he says. "I'm throwing away my mobile phone, if you don't hear from me that means we are in Britain."
The sound of whistling can be heard in the background as the passengers try to get help from the dark sea around them.
One of the people on board calls the French police to declare an emergency but they're told the boat is in British waters. A call to the British gets a similar response but they are told to hold their phones in the air so the lights can be spotted.
At 2.45am, minutes after the distress calls, tracking data shows a British search and rescue helicopter flying east towards the location. A French warship and British boarder force vessel are circling nearby, so too a fishing trawler, but it's the middle of the night, visibility is poor and the precise location inexact.
The waves are now pushing the dingy back towards France and it is starting to sink.
Monitoring the situation from her home in the Midlands, Twana's sister initially holds off phoning him so he can hold his phone in the air as instructed but impatient for news she calls him 10 minutes later and gets no answer. She tries Zana's friends but their mobiles also go straight to voicemail.
Assuming that they've thrown their phones in the water and been rescued, she too goes to bed, hopeful of more news in the morning.
By now the boat has all but sunk and the passengers hold hands to stay afloat. They pray for help but none comes.
It isn't until 12.58pm the following afternoon that a French shipping vessel spots objects floating in the water.
At 1.06pm, the French coastguard puts out a mayday alert to all ships in the area and gives co-ordinates putting the dinghy just inside French territorial waters.
Throughout the afternoon, 27 bodies are pulled out of the water and just two survivors.
Although news has started to break of the tragedy, Twana's family is unaware of what happened during the night.
Later that evening, Zana is at his parent's house with his wife and 18-month-old son, when he gets word from the smuggler that Twana is safe and in the UK. The tension of the last few days immediately lifts, and they celebrate together.
A few hours later, as Zana makes his way to meet friends in a local cafe, his phone rings again. A relative, having heard the news of the sinking, is calling to check Twana is alright - Zana assures them he is.
But as the days pass, they hear nothing and the family starts to realise there has been a mistake. As the bodies are slowly identified, one-by-one, it seems almost certain that Twana was dead too.
Fifteen weeks after kissing his family goodbye, Twana's dreams of reaching the UK to reunite with his sister and play football for Man City ended beneath the waves on a dark night in the English Channel.
His body has not yet been found.
https://news.sky.com/story/twana-ma...-alongside-26-others-heres-his-story-12498283
==
Zana Mamand Mohammad will never forget where he was when the smuggler called. Although hours had passed with no contact, the young policeman wasn’t unduly worried – his brother had warned it might take a few days for him to get in touch.
Over a homemade chicken biryani, and as the call to prayer sounded at dusk on that late November evening, Zana whispered a quiet prayer of thanks and told his mother that her youngest son had safely reached England.
A dangerous journey, that had lasted many long weeks, was finally over. They celebrated with sweets and hot chai.
The roads into the town are lined by huge posters of Peshmerga soldiers, killed fighting Islamic State in recent years. These days, the threat comes from Turkish warplanes which regularly target militant outposts in the hills around the town.
Ranya's rebellious reputation, earned through history of revolt, runs through its residents today; it's no coincidence that many of Calais's most notorious smugglers come from the town.
It was from here, on a hot August evening last summer, that a young Kurdish boy put on his rucksack, double checked his new passport and said a final goodbye to the home he'd lived in all his life.
With two other school friends, Twana Mamand Mohammad set off for Erbil Airport in good time to make the 2.45am flight to Istanbul. Like so many before them, their journey would start with Turkish Airlines flight 317, an overnight shuttle west to the city where Asia meets Europe. By the time the sun was rising over the Bosphorus the following morning, Twana and his friends had landed safely in Turkey. They were on their way.
A black belt in Taekwondo, and a keen footballer, Twana had turned down offers from clubs in the big cities to chase his dream in Europe. The avid Manchester City fan had pestered his family for two years to go to England but was told he must wait.
"One day I will wear the sky-blue shirt," Twana would tell anyone who listened.
Why do people risk their lives to cross the Channel into the UK?
Now 18, he left with his father's blessing, hopeful of joining his elder sister who was already in the UK and living happily in Sheffield. To pay for the journey, an estimated £20,000, Twana's father had put up his house as collateral. If he made it to England, the family home would be sold.
Turkey is the first stop for many leaving the Middle East - visas are easy to obtain and once there, land and sea routes open up. By contrast British visas, many migrants will say, are almost impossible to secure.
With five friends, all from the same town in northern Iraq, they found a smuggler who would take them by foot into Bulgaria, through Serbia and then to northern Europe.
It was bad timing. A few weeks earlier the Taliban had swept into Kabul and regained control of Afghanistan. By the time the friends arrived on the Bulgarian border, so too had thousands of Afghans and the security services were on alert. Unperturbed, they tried twice but were caught both times. Stripped of everything by Bulgarian Police, Twana was left with just 100€ that he'd hidden in his clothes.
The friends returned to Istanbul to regroup and rethink.
Two months had now passed since Twana left Iraq and he was growing frustrated and desperate - he phoned his brother and said he was going to try a different route.
The sea crossing from Turkey to either Greece or Italy is more dangerous than going by land, but it has the advantage of being quicker.
On 8 October from a beach near Izmir, the teenager boarded a small boat and hoped for the best.
For four days and nights, the boat chugged slowly through the Aegean and into the Mediterranean Sea. A video, sent to Zana by the smuggler, shows Twana and the other passengers smiling and laughing on the boat as they approach the Italian coast. On 12 October they landed safely on a beach in the south of Italy; the successful sailing from Turkey would give the group confidence in later weeks as they prepared themselves to cross the narrower English Channel.
Now in the EU's borderless Schengen Area, Twana's journey ahead was much easier. Sticking together, the friends took a series of trains through Italy and into France. By 25 October they were in Paris - a photo posted on Facebook shows Twana in a black tracksuit, stood in front of the Eiffel Tower.
The following day they arrived in the Calais Jungle, the squalid staging post for thousands of hopeful people as they wait to make the final crossing.
The coast between Calais and Dunkirk is informally divided into zones, each controlled by different smugglers. It is lucrative real estate and territory is defended aggressively if threatened. Should a smuggler choose to sell his zone, he can expect to make tens of thousands of pounds.
A single inflatable dingy, with 30 people in, could make a smuggler upward of £70,000 if it reaches England safely. If it doesn't, the smuggler won't be paid. The money is held by trusted Travel Agents in the home countries and only released when all parties are satisfied the journey is complete.
For a month, Twana stayed in Calais making repeated attempts to reach England. Six times he tried to cross, each time foiled by police or problems with the boats.
Sleeping in a tent, with food and water provided by local charities, the seven friends knew time was running out with winter approaching. They were reaching the end of their long journey and the events of the following hours would reverberate around the world.
Around midday on 23 November, Zana calls his brother for an update. Twana tells him they're planning to try again the following evening and have moved to a hotel in Lille for the night to escape the cold.
At 2pm in northern France, the two speak again. A new smuggler has offered them the chance to cross that evening and with the weather window closing fast Twana is keen to go.
Worried that this new smuggler has a reputation for providing poor boats, Zana tries but fails to convince his brother to stick to the original plan.
In Dunkirk, the group spends the afternoon haggling with the new smuggler and eventually settle on a fee: £2,350 per person, to cross that evening.
The two brothers, Twana and Zana, stay in constant contact. At 8.51pm GMT, Twana sends a Facebook message to say he is on the boat.
Half an hour later - by now after midnight in Iraq - Zana calls his brother to check he's safe. Twana tells him the dingy is poor quality and the weather wasn't good but they're ok and making progress.
For the next 90 minutes, Zana repeatedly called his brother and the friends to check on their progress, trying a different phone if one was offline.
At 10.41pm, with Twana's phone not connected, Zana messages one of the group to ask for their location.
Twenty-two minutes later, at 11.03pm, a message comes back with their co-ordinates. Zana immediately calls his brother and gets through on WhatsApp. In a conversation lasting four minutes and six seconds, Twana tells him the motor is ok, the weather hasn't deteriorated and they expected to reach the UK in an hour and a half.
"It's late in Kurdistan, go to sleep," Twana tells his older brother, reassuring him everything is fine and that he would phone their sister in the UK if he needed help.
Zana agrees and having messaged his sister, goes to bed and sleeps with his phone next to him, satisfied everything was ok. It wasn't.
At 2.42am, a message is sent by one of the group to say the engine had stopped working. Their location, as given to French authorities, puts them closer to Dover than Calais.
An accompanying audio message is sent by one of the passengers to a relative back in Iran.
"We don't know which of them is coming to rescue us," he says. "I'm throwing away my mobile phone, if you don't hear from me that means we are in Britain."
The sound of whistling can be heard in the background as the passengers try to get help from the dark sea around them.
One of the people on board calls the French police to declare an emergency but they're told the boat is in British waters. A call to the British gets a similar response but they are told to hold their phones in the air so the lights can be spotted.
At 2.45am, minutes after the distress calls, tracking data shows a British search and rescue helicopter flying east towards the location. A French warship and British boarder force vessel are circling nearby, so too a fishing trawler, but it's the middle of the night, visibility is poor and the precise location inexact.
The waves are now pushing the dingy back towards France and it is starting to sink.
Monitoring the situation from her home in the Midlands, Twana's sister initially holds off phoning him so he can hold his phone in the air as instructed but impatient for news she calls him 10 minutes later and gets no answer. She tries Zana's friends but their mobiles also go straight to voicemail.
Assuming that they've thrown their phones in the water and been rescued, she too goes to bed, hopeful of more news in the morning.
By now the boat has all but sunk and the passengers hold hands to stay afloat. They pray for help but none comes.
It isn't until 12.58pm the following afternoon that a French shipping vessel spots objects floating in the water.
At 1.06pm, the French coastguard puts out a mayday alert to all ships in the area and gives co-ordinates putting the dinghy just inside French territorial waters.
Throughout the afternoon, 27 bodies are pulled out of the water and just two survivors.
Although news has started to break of the tragedy, Twana's family is unaware of what happened during the night.
Later that evening, Zana is at his parent's house with his wife and 18-month-old son, when he gets word from the smuggler that Twana is safe and in the UK. The tension of the last few days immediately lifts, and they celebrate together.
A few hours later, as Zana makes his way to meet friends in a local cafe, his phone rings again. A relative, having heard the news of the sinking, is calling to check Twana is alright - Zana assures them he is.
But as the days pass, they hear nothing and the family starts to realise there has been a mistake. As the bodies are slowly identified, one-by-one, it seems almost certain that Twana was dead too.
Fifteen weeks after kissing his family goodbye, Twana's dreams of reaching the UK to reunite with his sister and play football for Man City ended beneath the waves on a dark night in the English Channel.
His body has not yet been found.
https://news.sky.com/story/twana-ma...-alongside-26-others-heres-his-story-12498283
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James
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Emmanuel Macron has called on the UK government to tackle migrant crossings in the Channel by creating "legal, safe routes" to Britain <a href="https://t.co/CWkkgI417l">https://t.co/CWkkgI417l</a></p>— Sky News (@SkyNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1484037098260901889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
James
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<b>Channel crossings: UK ‘needs to change immigration policies’, says French President Emmanuel Macron</b>
<I>Mr Macron says "we cannot solve the problem" of migrant crossings if the UK's perspective on migration does not change.</I>
Emmanuel Macron has called on the UK government to tackle migrant crossings in the Channel by creating "legal, safe routes" to Britain.
In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the French president said "we cannot solve the problem" if the UK's perspective on migration does not change.
To mark France's takeover of its six-month presidency of the European Union, he also urged the bloc to be "tough" on the UK, making sure it honours Brexit agreements on Northern Ireland and fishing rights.
On the subject of migration, he said the British government is currently "trying to adopt an approach which is the one that prevailed at the start of the '80s where you've got a level of acceptable economic illegal migration".
"You allow people to work without papers because it's helpful to the economy, but that doesn't face the reality of migratory flows now," he continued.
"Secondly, there need to be legal, stable routes to be able to migrate to the UK and this is a situation that we're confronted with.
"This is a dialogue that we need to pursue with the UK.
"It's a horrendous humanitarian situation, but that's the reality."
Nearly 1,000 people have crossed to the UK on small boats so far this year, compared with 223 in January 2020, according to data compiled by the PA news agency.
Britain's navy is set to take central command of the issue after the Home Office won the backing of Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the plan.
Mr Macron said the "links of friendship between ourselves and the people of the United Kingdom are there and will remain" despite Brexit.
"But to continue to move together and work together after Brexit, that means that the UK government needs to commit itself in good faith, respecting the agreement already concluded with the union, which we will stick to," he added.
He said the EU wants to make sure that the agreements are "respected" when it comes to the rights of French fishermen, the Northern Ireland Protocol or "vital discussions which have to be had in the future".
"Let's be clear, let's be tough, when we say that the conditions of agreements entered into have to be respected," he said.
"That's the way to remain friends."
'We need to rebuild trust'
The European Commission's post-Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic welcomed Mr Macron's "wise words".
He said "we need to rebuild trust", adding: "We, on the side of the European Union, on the side of the European Commission, will show all the flexibility - all the goodwill - to make this happen.
"But we need a good partner on the other side."
Last week, Mr Sefcovic met Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who has not ruled out the UK invoking Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol if talks fail, thereby suspending parts of the agreement.
The British government is trying to renegotiate the deal, arguing it is hindering the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
<I>Mr Macron says "we cannot solve the problem" of migrant crossings if the UK's perspective on migration does not change.</I>
Emmanuel Macron has called on the UK government to tackle migrant crossings in the Channel by creating "legal, safe routes" to Britain.
In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the French president said "we cannot solve the problem" if the UK's perspective on migration does not change.
To mark France's takeover of its six-month presidency of the European Union, he also urged the bloc to be "tough" on the UK, making sure it honours Brexit agreements on Northern Ireland and fishing rights.
On the subject of migration, he said the British government is currently "trying to adopt an approach which is the one that prevailed at the start of the '80s where you've got a level of acceptable economic illegal migration".
"You allow people to work without papers because it's helpful to the economy, but that doesn't face the reality of migratory flows now," he continued.
"Secondly, there need to be legal, stable routes to be able to migrate to the UK and this is a situation that we're confronted with.
"This is a dialogue that we need to pursue with the UK.
"It's a horrendous humanitarian situation, but that's the reality."
Nearly 1,000 people have crossed to the UK on small boats so far this year, compared with 223 in January 2020, according to data compiled by the PA news agency.
Britain's navy is set to take central command of the issue after the Home Office won the backing of Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the plan.
Mr Macron said the "links of friendship between ourselves and the people of the United Kingdom are there and will remain" despite Brexit.
"But to continue to move together and work together after Brexit, that means that the UK government needs to commit itself in good faith, respecting the agreement already concluded with the union, which we will stick to," he added.
He said the EU wants to make sure that the agreements are "respected" when it comes to the rights of French fishermen, the Northern Ireland Protocol or "vital discussions which have to be had in the future".
"Let's be clear, let's be tough, when we say that the conditions of agreements entered into have to be respected," he said.
"That's the way to remain friends."
'We need to rebuild trust'
The European Commission's post-Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic welcomed Mr Macron's "wise words".
He said "we need to rebuild trust", adding: "We, on the side of the European Union, on the side of the European Commission, will show all the flexibility - all the goodwill - to make this happen.
"But we need a good partner on the other side."
Last week, Mr Sefcovic met Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who has not ruled out the UK invoking Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol if talks fail, thereby suspending parts of the agreement.
The British government is trying to renegotiate the deal, arguing it is hindering the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Robert
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Hmmm [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION]. I agree with Macron in principle but we need infrastructure changes to make it work.
More refugee capacity in the detention centres, and for families not individuals.
More refugee capacity in the detention centres, and for families not individuals.
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What options does the UK have in such cases?
Technics 1210
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Teach them how to swim.
Robert
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AFAIK the migrants go to detention centres. There the Home Office decides whether they are lawful refugees, or illegal economic migrants. Refugees will be housed and illegal migrants deported.
James
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60236406
<b>UK hotel bill for 37,000 migrants is £1.2m a day, MPs told</b>
Some 37,000 asylum seekers and Afghan refugees are living in UK hotels at a cost of £1.2m per day, MPs were told.
The home secretary said there was a struggle to find permanent homes for thousands of refugees months after they were evacuated from Afghanistan.
Priti Patel told the Home Affairs Committee the current policy was "thoroughly inadequate".
The Home Office was developing better ways of working with local authorities to find permanent homes, MPs heard.
Ms Patel said: "We do not want people in hotels, we are looking at dispersed accommodation."
She said there were efforts under way to use Ministry of Defence buildings for more asylum accommodation.
There are 25,000 asylum seekers currently in hotels and another 12,000 people rescued from Afghanistan.
Home Office official Tricia Hayes told the committee homes had been found for 4,000 Afghan refugees so far and the 12,000 remained in "bridging accommodation".
She said her department had been working with the Local Government Association and with councils to develop a new way of working on asylum schemes,
She said there was a financial and policy imperative of "cutting the cost that we're currently incurring in hotels, which is now racking up to about £1.2 million every single day".
There were now improved communication systems, such as a dedicated portal to connect people who could offer accommodation with councils and the government to help match them with families, she said.
Ms Hayes added: "We're incredibly grateful to the 300 councils that have already stepped forward to help us, but we can always do with more."
Conservative MP Tim Loughton told Ms Patel that one Afghan refugee in his constituency with young children was in a hotel with "appalling food" and "terrible conditions".
He said he was called a troublemaker and told to shut up and leave when he complained.
Ms Patel asked him to provide her with more details, adding that it was an "awful situation".
<b>UK hotel bill for 37,000 migrants is £1.2m a day, MPs told</b>
Some 37,000 asylum seekers and Afghan refugees are living in UK hotels at a cost of £1.2m per day, MPs were told.
The home secretary said there was a struggle to find permanent homes for thousands of refugees months after they were evacuated from Afghanistan.
Priti Patel told the Home Affairs Committee the current policy was "thoroughly inadequate".
The Home Office was developing better ways of working with local authorities to find permanent homes, MPs heard.
Ms Patel said: "We do not want people in hotels, we are looking at dispersed accommodation."
She said there were efforts under way to use Ministry of Defence buildings for more asylum accommodation.
There are 25,000 asylum seekers currently in hotels and another 12,000 people rescued from Afghanistan.
Home Office official Tricia Hayes told the committee homes had been found for 4,000 Afghan refugees so far and the 12,000 remained in "bridging accommodation".
She said her department had been working with the Local Government Association and with councils to develop a new way of working on asylum schemes,
She said there was a financial and policy imperative of "cutting the cost that we're currently incurring in hotels, which is now racking up to about £1.2 million every single day".
There were now improved communication systems, such as a dedicated portal to connect people who could offer accommodation with councils and the government to help match them with families, she said.
Ms Hayes added: "We're incredibly grateful to the 300 councils that have already stepped forward to help us, but we can always do with more."
Conservative MP Tim Loughton told Ms Patel that one Afghan refugee in his constituency with young children was in a hotel with "appalling food" and "terrible conditions".
He said he was called a troublemaker and told to shut up and leave when he complained.
Ms Patel asked him to provide her with more details, adding that it was an "awful situation".
James
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<b>Nearly 60,000 people forecast to cross English Channel in 2022 as Home Office agrees £234,000 spend on charter boat</b>
<I>The forecast, which was made before the Ukraine conflict triggering a refugee crisis, comes as latest figures show more than 2,100 people have so far crossed the Dover Strait this year despite freezing conditions and the dangers involved.</I>
Nearly 60,000 people are set to make the dangerous journey across the English Channel aboard small boats this year, as it emerges the Home Office has agreed to pay £234,000 to charter a private vessel to help Border Force.
Some 28,526 people crossed the Channel last year, according to official figures, but this is expected to almost double in 2022, according to a union representing Border Force workers.
The forecast was also made before the invasion of Ukraine, which has caused an exodus of refugees fleeing the conflict.
More than 2,100 people have already crossed the Dover Strait in small boats so far this year - including hundreds over the past week - despite icy winter chills and the dangers involved.
Border Force staff morale is at an "all time low" as they brace for an even busier year while having to also contend with an "immensely old" fleet of cutter ships, Lucy Moreton, from the Union for Borders, Immigration and Customs (ISU) said.
Staff have been told to work to a planning assumption that arrivals in 2022 will almost double.
"The planning is for nearly 60,000, and that was before Ukraine," she told Sky News.
Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Government have repeatedly pledged to make the Channel route "unviable" and tens of millions of pounds promised to France to help tackle the issue.
It comes as documents published this week show the Home Office awarded a contract to charter a vessel to "aid in the transport of migrants recovered from the sea to the UK Reception Centres".
The £234,000 award figure appeared next to the contract details but has since been taken down.
The Home Office refused to comment on whether the contract was for an additional vessel or to extend one already in service.
A spokesperson said the Nationality and Borders Bill will crack down on people smugglers and help fix "the broken system".
They added: "We are facing a global migration crisis we are seeing an unacceptable rise in high risk and unnecessary small boat crossings because of illegal migration."
However, Minnie Rahman from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said: "People fleeing conflict and persecution should be able to travel safely to reach loved ones and get protection - as refugees flee Ukraine, this could not be more obvious.
"If this government were serious about preventing risky crossings and providing sanctuary to people who need it, it would establish regulated routes to asylum in the UK now."
https://news.sky.com/story/nearly-6...-on-charter-boat-12557219?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
<I>The forecast, which was made before the Ukraine conflict triggering a refugee crisis, comes as latest figures show more than 2,100 people have so far crossed the Dover Strait this year despite freezing conditions and the dangers involved.</I>
Nearly 60,000 people are set to make the dangerous journey across the English Channel aboard small boats this year, as it emerges the Home Office has agreed to pay £234,000 to charter a private vessel to help Border Force.
Some 28,526 people crossed the Channel last year, according to official figures, but this is expected to almost double in 2022, according to a union representing Border Force workers.
The forecast was also made before the invasion of Ukraine, which has caused an exodus of refugees fleeing the conflict.
More than 2,100 people have already crossed the Dover Strait in small boats so far this year - including hundreds over the past week - despite icy winter chills and the dangers involved.
Border Force staff morale is at an "all time low" as they brace for an even busier year while having to also contend with an "immensely old" fleet of cutter ships, Lucy Moreton, from the Union for Borders, Immigration and Customs (ISU) said.
Staff have been told to work to a planning assumption that arrivals in 2022 will almost double.
"The planning is for nearly 60,000, and that was before Ukraine," she told Sky News.
Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Government have repeatedly pledged to make the Channel route "unviable" and tens of millions of pounds promised to France to help tackle the issue.
It comes as documents published this week show the Home Office awarded a contract to charter a vessel to "aid in the transport of migrants recovered from the sea to the UK Reception Centres".
The £234,000 award figure appeared next to the contract details but has since been taken down.
The Home Office refused to comment on whether the contract was for an additional vessel or to extend one already in service.
A spokesperson said the Nationality and Borders Bill will crack down on people smugglers and help fix "the broken system".
They added: "We are facing a global migration crisis we are seeing an unacceptable rise in high risk and unnecessary small boat crossings because of illegal migration."
However, Minnie Rahman from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said: "People fleeing conflict and persecution should be able to travel safely to reach loved ones and get protection - as refugees flee Ukraine, this could not be more obvious.
"If this government were serious about preventing risky crossings and providing sanctuary to people who need it, it would establish regulated routes to asylum in the UK now."
https://news.sky.com/story/nearly-6...-on-charter-boat-12557219?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
James
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<b>Ukraine war: UK grants 50 Ukrainian refugee visas so far</b>
Fifty Ukrainians have been granted visas under a scheme for refugees with family links to the UK, the Home Office has announced.
It is about 1% of the 5,535 people who have applied since the programme launched 48 hours earlier.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was "doing everything possible" to speed up efforts to issue the travel permits.
The Ukrainian ambassador praised the UK effort but urged for the "maximum" number of people to be admitted.
The UK has steadily increased its visa offer to refugees from the Ukraine war, extending it to parents, grandparents and siblings as well as "immediate family" and extending the visas to three years.
But it has faced criticism that its scheme is less generous than the European Union's, while France accused the UK of a "lack of humanity", saying that 150 refugees were turned back at Calais for lacking a visa.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 200,000 Ukrainians would be eligible to travel to the UK as he extended the offer of visas to a wider range of family members.
As of 10:00 GMT on Sunday, the Home Office said 11,750 had begun applications online, while 5,535 had completed them.
It added that 2,368 had booked a visa appointment to submit their application and biometric information, while "around 50" visas had been granted.
Asked if it was acceptable that about 1% of applications had been granted in the first 48 hours of the scheme, Ms Patel said it was "the first scheme in the world that's up and running in this short period of time".
"This is an incredible scheme and we are doing everything possible, surging capacity across every single application centre across the EU," she said, adding that staff were being flown into Ukraine's border countries to speed up applications.
Ukraine's immediate neighbours have taken in the majority of the 1.5 million people estimated to have fled the war, with more than half of them arriving in Poland.
France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote to Ms Patel on Saturday, saying that 400 Ukrainian refugees had arrived at Calais to cross the Channel, but 150 were sent back and told to obtain UK visas at embassies in Paris or Brussels.
Mr Darmanin said the response to people in distress was "completely unsuitable" and showed a "lack of humanity", calling for the UK to put consular staff at Calais to help Ukrainian refugees cross.
But Ms Patel said it was "wrong to say we are turning people back" and said the Home Office already has people working in Calais to support Ukrainian families.
Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, said that the visa process could be simplified, adding that any issues could be resolved later but right now the "maximum" number needed to be admitted.
He said any "bureaucratic nonsense" should be cleared away, although he said it was necessary to continue security checks.
But he said the UK was at the "forefront of the effort" to support Ukraine.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60640460
Fifty Ukrainians have been granted visas under a scheme for refugees with family links to the UK, the Home Office has announced.
It is about 1% of the 5,535 people who have applied since the programme launched 48 hours earlier.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was "doing everything possible" to speed up efforts to issue the travel permits.
The Ukrainian ambassador praised the UK effort but urged for the "maximum" number of people to be admitted.
The UK has steadily increased its visa offer to refugees from the Ukraine war, extending it to parents, grandparents and siblings as well as "immediate family" and extending the visas to three years.
But it has faced criticism that its scheme is less generous than the European Union's, while France accused the UK of a "lack of humanity", saying that 150 refugees were turned back at Calais for lacking a visa.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 200,000 Ukrainians would be eligible to travel to the UK as he extended the offer of visas to a wider range of family members.
As of 10:00 GMT on Sunday, the Home Office said 11,750 had begun applications online, while 5,535 had completed them.
It added that 2,368 had booked a visa appointment to submit their application and biometric information, while "around 50" visas had been granted.
Asked if it was acceptable that about 1% of applications had been granted in the first 48 hours of the scheme, Ms Patel said it was "the first scheme in the world that's up and running in this short period of time".
"This is an incredible scheme and we are doing everything possible, surging capacity across every single application centre across the EU," she said, adding that staff were being flown into Ukraine's border countries to speed up applications.
Ukraine's immediate neighbours have taken in the majority of the 1.5 million people estimated to have fled the war, with more than half of them arriving in Poland.
France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote to Ms Patel on Saturday, saying that 400 Ukrainian refugees had arrived at Calais to cross the Channel, but 150 were sent back and told to obtain UK visas at embassies in Paris or Brussels.
Mr Darmanin said the response to people in distress was "completely unsuitable" and showed a "lack of humanity", calling for the UK to put consular staff at Calais to help Ukrainian refugees cross.
But Ms Patel said it was "wrong to say we are turning people back" and said the Home Office already has people working in Calais to support Ukrainian families.
Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, said that the visa process could be simplified, adding that any issues could be resolved later but right now the "maximum" number needed to be admitted.
He said any "bureaucratic nonsense" should be cleared away, although he said it was necessary to continue security checks.
But he said the UK was at the "forefront of the effort" to support Ukraine.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60640460
James
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50 visas, 1% of applications?
Pretty pitiful effort from the UK thus far.
Must be improved immediately.
Pretty pitiful effort from the UK thus far.
Must be improved immediately.
IMMY69
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I'm miffed by all of this.
What about the poor people of Afghanistan and Syria, who were directly affected by the UK / Alliance military?
James
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I don’t know the figures for the Afghan resettlement scheme (there is one running currently) but I believe they are higher than 50 people.
Technics 1210
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The last thing UK need is an influx of Neo Nazis. Remember, when UK opened its doors to ME refugees it ushered in a generation of "terrorists". This was the MSM narrative.
Let the Ukrainians fight for their comedian leader if they love him and their country so much; or migrate to Poland etc.
No need to pour fuel over what is already a fire in the UK.
Preeti Patel gets my vote.
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The poor people of Ukraine are equally affected by this alliance.
We should be doing everything we can to help them.
Last edited:
James
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Ukrainian refugee arrivals to date:
Poland: 885,303
Hungary: 169,053
Slovakia: 113,967
Moldova: 84,067
Romania: 71,640
Other EU: 157,000
UK: 50
UK - we are “leading the world” in terms of the humanitarian response…
Poland: 885,303 Hungary: 169,053 Slovakia: 113,967 Moldova: 84,067 Romania: 71,640 Other EU: 157,000 UK: 50 UK - we are “leading the world” in terms of the humanitarian response…
IMMY69
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I don't disagree with you.
I just feel that more attention is given to the Ukrainian issue then the Syrian and Afghanistan issues.
Having said that, James has listed some eye opening facts.
We're all talk and little action.
Bewal Express
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I am confused as to why Refugees aren't expected to go the 1st safe country. Surely then other countries either offer Financial support or take a quota. That's what happened with PK and Iran and Afghans Refugees
James
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Boris Johnson was asked at Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions about the UK's policy on admitting Ukrainian refugees.
He said: "This government has a proud, proud record. We've done more to resettle vulnerable people than any other European country since 2015."
Mr Johnson has made this claim before, which the government says applies to "resettled refugees".
He is right about this one category of refugees, but the overall picture is very different, as some other European countries have taken in far more refugees than the UK since 2015.
He said: "This government has a proud, proud record. We've done more to resettle vulnerable people than any other European country since 2015."
Mr Johnson has made this claim before, which the government says applies to "resettled refugees".
He is right about this one category of refugees, but the overall picture is very different, as some other European countries have taken in far more refugees than the UK since 2015.
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Home secretaries must know how to deal with flak. It goes with the job.
But when accusations of foot-dragging, complacency, heartlessness and lies come from your own backbenches, you know you have got a serious problem.
One Tory MP has called for Priti Patel to resign over her handling of the Ukrainian refugee emergency.
The Home Office is in crisis mode, trying to convince an increasingly sceptical nation that the department has got a grip of the situation.
"We are doing our best," one insider tells me, before adding: "But we haven't got everything right."
The nightly images of desperate families fleeing a war but turned away by UK government officials confirm the latter point.
This is becoming deeply damaging for the Home Office and the prime minister. Priti Patel is under intense pressure, with suggestions that Downing Street is losing confidence.
The surprise appointment of a minister for refugees operating across two government departments suggests the Home Office is not trusted to sort matters out alone.
Tellingly, the sponsorship scheme launched to bring some Ukrainians to Britain is being run by Michael Gove's communities department.
Home Office staff were overstretched before the latest humanitarian disaster started to unfold - trying to deal with thousands of Afghans coming to Britain to escape the Taliban, migrants arriving by the boatload having crossed the channel, tens of thousands of Hongkongers fleeing the Chinese clampdown, and increasing numbers of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children with nowhere to stay.
For a department trying to convince sceptical voters its attitude to immigration has changed from the days of the "hostile environment" and the Windrush scandal, accusations of inhumanity over the plight of Ukrainian refugees are damaging.
"We are working 24/7 to try to respond in really, really challenging circumstances," an official tells me.
"Some of the criticism has been soul-destroying, but we are not going to give up."
She shows me a box of Pringles. "This is my breakfast," she says, as evidence of how hard everyone is working.
But it was the sight of hapless officials handing out crisps and Kit Kats to desperate refugees in Calais that will stick in the public's mind, a sense that the home secretary was not taking the plight of those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine seriously.
The Home Office says it has been preparing for a possible humanitarian crisis in Ukraine since January, designing detailed policies for how to respond. But officials accept that their plans had to be adapted almost as soon as the first refugees asked for sanctuary in Britain.
"You can create a scheme on paper, and the first family group that applies does not meet the criteria," an insider tells me. "We set up a scheme that we thought was very generous and then a case came onto the helpline and it wasn't suitable."
Critics see a department that is on the back foot, constantly forced into embarrassing U-turns, accused of both inhumanity and incompetence. But inside the department's headquarters in Westminster, they insist they are listening to the feedback and adjusting their policies in response.
One senior official gives me an example: "In issuing a visa to a child, the original process required both parents to consent. But we realised that conscription in Ukraine meant fathers were away fighting and could not give consent. So we went to the home secretary and she agreed to change the rules."
The question, though, is why did they not realise the problems earlier? Why was eligibility under the Ukrainian Family Scheme not initially applied to aunts and uncles, cousins and step-children? Why did the rule changes have to be forced out of the Home Office when the emergency reached the UK border?
The answer is that the Home Office's response to desperate people fleeing a war is shaped by a determination to maintain the integrity of the UK border. This is a government and a home secretary elected to get Brexit done, and for many of those who campaigned to leave the EU, taking back control of our borders was the central goal.
That is why Priti Patel's initial response was to say that people escaping the conflict should claim asylum in the first safe country they reached. "It's important to note that the situation in Ukraine is very different from Afghanistan," I was advised by the Home Office, as the Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border.
In those first days of the war, anyone displaced who wished to come to the UK had to satisfy the rules of the government's post-Brexit immigration system. The points-based approach meant refugees would have to demonstrate they earned enough money or had skills that benefited the United Kingdom.
It was a serious miscalculation. As the scale of the humanitarian crisis became clear, the Home Office was forced to move away from its hard-line policy. Time and again the Home Office has found itself having to adjust its policies as the pressure for a more compassionate response has increased.
The central challenge stems from the insistence that any refugee coming to the UK must apply for a visa, complete biometric tests and satisfy ever-changing rules on eligibility.
The prime minister has defended the checks.
"Some sort of control is an important feature of the way we do things," Boris Johnson said. "Uncontrolled immigration is not the way forward".
The government is trying to respond to a humanitarian disaster while still following the Brexit playbook. There are understandable concerns about opening Britain's doors to large numbers of refugees, that undesirable individuals may use the crisis to sneak into the country, posing a threat to national security.
Controlling our borders remains central to the approach, a challenge currently most acute in Calais, where hundreds of Ukrainians are pleading to be let into Britain.
There is no visa application centre in Calais, so refugees are advised to travel to Paris or Brussels to sort out their paperwork before boarding a ferry or driving through the tunnel. The department claims it wants to ensure there is not a "choke point" in the city which might lead to vulnerable refugees being preyed upon by people-trafficking gangs.
Migrants camped around Calais continue to cross the channel in small boats, 2,214 already this year, a phenomenon that infuriates Brexit-supporting MPs who demand the home secretary do more to police the UK's border.
A pop-up visa centre will open in Lille tomorrow with buses provided to take Ukrainian refugees from Calais. But Home Office officials are worried the new centre may be overwhelmed.
"We are not directing people to Lille," an official says. "This is not a place where you are going to get walk-ins. We are encouraging people to complete their forms and get their appointments before they attempt to cross the border."
There have been calls from across the House of Commons for the government to waive the visa requirements as countries across the EU have done. Priti Patel, though, remains opposed to such a move, preferring to tweak the existing immigration rules rather than set up a new humanitarian pathway for those displaced by the war in Ukraine.
"We need to be really careful managing this process, organising housing, education, access to public services, registering for benefits," an official explains. "We don't want services or resources not to be available."
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60682454
But when accusations of foot-dragging, complacency, heartlessness and lies come from your own backbenches, you know you have got a serious problem.
One Tory MP has called for Priti Patel to resign over her handling of the Ukrainian refugee emergency.
The Home Office is in crisis mode, trying to convince an increasingly sceptical nation that the department has got a grip of the situation.
"We are doing our best," one insider tells me, before adding: "But we haven't got everything right."
The nightly images of desperate families fleeing a war but turned away by UK government officials confirm the latter point.
This is becoming deeply damaging for the Home Office and the prime minister. Priti Patel is under intense pressure, with suggestions that Downing Street is losing confidence.
The surprise appointment of a minister for refugees operating across two government departments suggests the Home Office is not trusted to sort matters out alone.
Tellingly, the sponsorship scheme launched to bring some Ukrainians to Britain is being run by Michael Gove's communities department.
Home Office staff were overstretched before the latest humanitarian disaster started to unfold - trying to deal with thousands of Afghans coming to Britain to escape the Taliban, migrants arriving by the boatload having crossed the channel, tens of thousands of Hongkongers fleeing the Chinese clampdown, and increasing numbers of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children with nowhere to stay.
For a department trying to convince sceptical voters its attitude to immigration has changed from the days of the "hostile environment" and the Windrush scandal, accusations of inhumanity over the plight of Ukrainian refugees are damaging.
"We are working 24/7 to try to respond in really, really challenging circumstances," an official tells me.
"Some of the criticism has been soul-destroying, but we are not going to give up."
She shows me a box of Pringles. "This is my breakfast," she says, as evidence of how hard everyone is working.
But it was the sight of hapless officials handing out crisps and Kit Kats to desperate refugees in Calais that will stick in the public's mind, a sense that the home secretary was not taking the plight of those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine seriously.
The Home Office says it has been preparing for a possible humanitarian crisis in Ukraine since January, designing detailed policies for how to respond. But officials accept that their plans had to be adapted almost as soon as the first refugees asked for sanctuary in Britain.
"You can create a scheme on paper, and the first family group that applies does not meet the criteria," an insider tells me. "We set up a scheme that we thought was very generous and then a case came onto the helpline and it wasn't suitable."
Critics see a department that is on the back foot, constantly forced into embarrassing U-turns, accused of both inhumanity and incompetence. But inside the department's headquarters in Westminster, they insist they are listening to the feedback and adjusting their policies in response.
One senior official gives me an example: "In issuing a visa to a child, the original process required both parents to consent. But we realised that conscription in Ukraine meant fathers were away fighting and could not give consent. So we went to the home secretary and she agreed to change the rules."
The question, though, is why did they not realise the problems earlier? Why was eligibility under the Ukrainian Family Scheme not initially applied to aunts and uncles, cousins and step-children? Why did the rule changes have to be forced out of the Home Office when the emergency reached the UK border?
The answer is that the Home Office's response to desperate people fleeing a war is shaped by a determination to maintain the integrity of the UK border. This is a government and a home secretary elected to get Brexit done, and for many of those who campaigned to leave the EU, taking back control of our borders was the central goal.
That is why Priti Patel's initial response was to say that people escaping the conflict should claim asylum in the first safe country they reached. "It's important to note that the situation in Ukraine is very different from Afghanistan," I was advised by the Home Office, as the Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border.
In those first days of the war, anyone displaced who wished to come to the UK had to satisfy the rules of the government's post-Brexit immigration system. The points-based approach meant refugees would have to demonstrate they earned enough money or had skills that benefited the United Kingdom.
It was a serious miscalculation. As the scale of the humanitarian crisis became clear, the Home Office was forced to move away from its hard-line policy. Time and again the Home Office has found itself having to adjust its policies as the pressure for a more compassionate response has increased.
The central challenge stems from the insistence that any refugee coming to the UK must apply for a visa, complete biometric tests and satisfy ever-changing rules on eligibility.
The prime minister has defended the checks.
"Some sort of control is an important feature of the way we do things," Boris Johnson said. "Uncontrolled immigration is not the way forward".
The government is trying to respond to a humanitarian disaster while still following the Brexit playbook. There are understandable concerns about opening Britain's doors to large numbers of refugees, that undesirable individuals may use the crisis to sneak into the country, posing a threat to national security.
Controlling our borders remains central to the approach, a challenge currently most acute in Calais, where hundreds of Ukrainians are pleading to be let into Britain.
There is no visa application centre in Calais, so refugees are advised to travel to Paris or Brussels to sort out their paperwork before boarding a ferry or driving through the tunnel. The department claims it wants to ensure there is not a "choke point" in the city which might lead to vulnerable refugees being preyed upon by people-trafficking gangs.
Migrants camped around Calais continue to cross the channel in small boats, 2,214 already this year, a phenomenon that infuriates Brexit-supporting MPs who demand the home secretary do more to police the UK's border.
A pop-up visa centre will open in Lille tomorrow with buses provided to take Ukrainian refugees from Calais. But Home Office officials are worried the new centre may be overwhelmed.
"We are not directing people to Lille," an official says. "This is not a place where you are going to get walk-ins. We are encouraging people to complete their forms and get their appointments before they attempt to cross the border."
There have been calls from across the House of Commons for the government to waive the visa requirements as countries across the EU have done. Priti Patel, though, remains opposed to such a move, preferring to tweak the existing immigration rules rather than set up a new humanitarian pathway for those displaced by the war in Ukraine.
"We need to be really careful managing this process, organising housing, education, access to public services, registering for benefits," an official explains. "We don't want services or resources not to be available."
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60682454
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<b>Ukrainians with passports can apply for UK visas online</b>
Ukrainian refugees who have passports or ID cards will be able to apply for UK visas online from Tuesday, says Priti Patel.
The move has been done with the approval of the security services, the home secretary told MPs.
It will only apply to people applying under the scheme where they can join family members already in the UK.
The speed of the UK's response has been criticised, with Labour's Yvette Cooper calling it a "total disgrace".
Ms Patel said those applying online would be able to give their biometric data, such as fingerprints, once in the UK - allowing visa application centres to focus on those without passports.
No further details were given about how a second scheme for refugees, in which people and organisations could sponsor Ukrainians to come to the UK, would work or when it would begin.
It had been suggested that the family scheme might be expanded to include relatives of people in the UK on temporary visas but this was not addressed by the home secretary in the Commons.
But the Foreign Office has confirmed that all Ukrainian staff working for the British embassy and British Council in Ukraine plus their dependents are also able to come to the UK.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was right that the UK should have "an offer as generous as possible" that was "as light touch as possible" for refugees, but said it remained important to have checks.
He said "more than 1,000" visas had been issued but added that number would "climb very steeply".
Meanwhile, a UK charity appeal for Ukraine has raised £120m in less than a week.
The Disasters Emergency Committee - made up of a group of UK aid charities - said the level of donations is second only to the response to the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami in 2004.
Ms Patel said the new "streamlined approach" to visas would make the application process "quicker and simpler" but that the Ukrainians with passports can apply for visas online digital system would still allow "important checks" to be done.
Speaking about the issue of security, Ms Patel said the Salisbury poisonings in 2018 had showed what Russian President Vladimir Putin was "willing to do on our soil" and demonstrated that "a small number of people with evil intentions can wreak havoc on our streets".
MPs who had been pushing the government to go further and faster have called the change progress - but many are anxious for more details of the second sponsorship scheme to take in Ukrainians without family in the UK.
An announcement on this may not come until Monday, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said.
Shadow home secretary Ms Cooper asked why it had taken "being hauled into the House of Commons to make basic changes to help vulnerable people who are fleeing from Ukraine?"
She also questioned why there had been a delay when the home secretary had "had intelligence for weeks, if not months, that she needed to prepare for a Russian invasion of Ukraine".
During a visit to the Tapa military base in Estonia, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Home Office approach to visas had been a "complete shambles that is diminishing our reputation across the world".
He later told BBC Radio 5 Live the Home Office was "chopping and changing" policies and "making it harder" for refugees to reach the UK.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to Mr Johnson urging him to do what the EU has done and waive all visa requirements for any Ukrainian nationals.
Poland alone has taken in nearly 1.3 million people so far.
Earlier Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Vadym Pystaiko, said refugees must not face bureaucratic hurdles, adding that most refugees did not pose a threat.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60686254
Ukrainian refugees who have passports or ID cards will be able to apply for UK visas online from Tuesday, says Priti Patel.
The move has been done with the approval of the security services, the home secretary told MPs.
It will only apply to people applying under the scheme where they can join family members already in the UK.
The speed of the UK's response has been criticised, with Labour's Yvette Cooper calling it a "total disgrace".
Ms Patel said those applying online would be able to give their biometric data, such as fingerprints, once in the UK - allowing visa application centres to focus on those without passports.
No further details were given about how a second scheme for refugees, in which people and organisations could sponsor Ukrainians to come to the UK, would work or when it would begin.
It had been suggested that the family scheme might be expanded to include relatives of people in the UK on temporary visas but this was not addressed by the home secretary in the Commons.
But the Foreign Office has confirmed that all Ukrainian staff working for the British embassy and British Council in Ukraine plus their dependents are also able to come to the UK.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was right that the UK should have "an offer as generous as possible" that was "as light touch as possible" for refugees, but said it remained important to have checks.
He said "more than 1,000" visas had been issued but added that number would "climb very steeply".
Meanwhile, a UK charity appeal for Ukraine has raised £120m in less than a week.
The Disasters Emergency Committee - made up of a group of UK aid charities - said the level of donations is second only to the response to the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami in 2004.
Ms Patel said the new "streamlined approach" to visas would make the application process "quicker and simpler" but that the Ukrainians with passports can apply for visas online digital system would still allow "important checks" to be done.
Speaking about the issue of security, Ms Patel said the Salisbury poisonings in 2018 had showed what Russian President Vladimir Putin was "willing to do on our soil" and demonstrated that "a small number of people with evil intentions can wreak havoc on our streets".
MPs who had been pushing the government to go further and faster have called the change progress - but many are anxious for more details of the second sponsorship scheme to take in Ukrainians without family in the UK.
An announcement on this may not come until Monday, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said.
Shadow home secretary Ms Cooper asked why it had taken "being hauled into the House of Commons to make basic changes to help vulnerable people who are fleeing from Ukraine?"
She also questioned why there had been a delay when the home secretary had "had intelligence for weeks, if not months, that she needed to prepare for a Russian invasion of Ukraine".
During a visit to the Tapa military base in Estonia, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Home Office approach to visas had been a "complete shambles that is diminishing our reputation across the world".
He later told BBC Radio 5 Live the Home Office was "chopping and changing" policies and "making it harder" for refugees to reach the UK.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to Mr Johnson urging him to do what the EU has done and waive all visa requirements for any Ukrainian nationals.
Poland alone has taken in nearly 1.3 million people so far.
Earlier Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Vadym Pystaiko, said refugees must not face bureaucratic hurdles, adding that most refugees did not pose a threat.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60686254
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Ukraine war: Britons to be asked to welcome Ukrainian refugees into their homes
Officials will match Ukrainian refugees with sponsoring individuals and organisations, who will be vetted and will have to agree to take the refugees for a minimum period - potentially six months - and demonstrate that they meet appropriate standards.
Britons will be able to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion under a new scheme.
Defending the government amid criticism of its response to the refugee crisis, Boris Johnson told Sky News' Beth Rigby Interviews programme the UK would be "generous" to those fleeing Ukraine, and details of this second visa scheme - where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict - would be announced next week.
The prime minister said: "On Monday, you'll get from the levelling up secretary, you'll get the programme that will allow people to come in, so (if) people want to welcome (refugees) into their own homes, they can do so."
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will set out details of a new "sponsored" humanitarian route to allow Ukrainians without family links to the UK to come to the country. This will include a hotline and webpage where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict.
Ministers held a cross-departmental meeting last night to thrash out the details of the scheme, but it is understood some questions remain unresolved.
Refugees who enter through the new route are expected to be allowed to stay for an initial period of 12 months during which they will be entitled to work, but details around which benefits and public services they would have access to are still under discussion.
Officials will match them with offers of free accommodation from the sponsoring individuals and organisations.
They will be vetted to ensure the accommodation is safe and secure - and will have to agree to take the refugees for a minimum period - understood to be between three and six months - and demonstrate that they meet appropriate standards.
Technology minister Chris Philp said the details of plans will be set out "in the very near future".
He told Sky News: "We're going to be making announcements in the very near future about a scheme for UK local authorities, and indeed UK families, to welcome Ukrainian refugees, we've announced that principle and the details of how that scheme works will be laid out in the very near future."
A government spokesman said the details of the scheme were being worked on "at pace" and the routes put in place follow "extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners".
"This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops we will continue to keep our support under constant review," he added.
Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford said 1,305 visas for Ukrainian refugees had been issued as of Thursday morning, adding to peers on Friday: "Those figures are going up rapidly and that is a good thing."
Yesterday, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that from Tuesday those trying to get from Ukraine to the UK who hold a national passport will be able to complete the whole application process online and will no longer have to go to a processing centre.
It followed criticism that the UK's response has been painfully slow in the face of the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War with around 2.2 million having fled the country.
However, the British Red Cross said the quickest way of fixing the problem would be to remove the requirement for a visa, while the Refugee Council said Ms Patel's announcement "does not go anywhere near far enough".
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-...-ukrainian-refugees-into-their-homes-12563014
Officials will match Ukrainian refugees with sponsoring individuals and organisations, who will be vetted and will have to agree to take the refugees for a minimum period - potentially six months - and demonstrate that they meet appropriate standards.
Britons will be able to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion under a new scheme.
Defending the government amid criticism of its response to the refugee crisis, Boris Johnson told Sky News' Beth Rigby Interviews programme the UK would be "generous" to those fleeing Ukraine, and details of this second visa scheme - where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict - would be announced next week.
The prime minister said: "On Monday, you'll get from the levelling up secretary, you'll get the programme that will allow people to come in, so (if) people want to welcome (refugees) into their own homes, they can do so."
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will set out details of a new "sponsored" humanitarian route to allow Ukrainians without family links to the UK to come to the country. This will include a hotline and webpage where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict.
Ministers held a cross-departmental meeting last night to thrash out the details of the scheme, but it is understood some questions remain unresolved.
Refugees who enter through the new route are expected to be allowed to stay for an initial period of 12 months during which they will be entitled to work, but details around which benefits and public services they would have access to are still under discussion.
Officials will match them with offers of free accommodation from the sponsoring individuals and organisations.
They will be vetted to ensure the accommodation is safe and secure - and will have to agree to take the refugees for a minimum period - understood to be between three and six months - and demonstrate that they meet appropriate standards.
Technology minister Chris Philp said the details of plans will be set out "in the very near future".
He told Sky News: "We're going to be making announcements in the very near future about a scheme for UK local authorities, and indeed UK families, to welcome Ukrainian refugees, we've announced that principle and the details of how that scheme works will be laid out in the very near future."
A government spokesman said the details of the scheme were being worked on "at pace" and the routes put in place follow "extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners".
"This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops we will continue to keep our support under constant review," he added.
Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford said 1,305 visas for Ukrainian refugees had been issued as of Thursday morning, adding to peers on Friday: "Those figures are going up rapidly and that is a good thing."
Yesterday, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that from Tuesday those trying to get from Ukraine to the UK who hold a national passport will be able to complete the whole application process online and will no longer have to go to a processing centre.
It followed criticism that the UK's response has been painfully slow in the face of the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War with around 2.2 million having fled the country.
However, the British Red Cross said the quickest way of fixing the problem would be to remove the requirement for a visa, while the Refugee Council said Ms Patel's announcement "does not go anywhere near far enough".
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-...-ukrainian-refugees-into-their-homes-12563014
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The UK Government has announced that Britons offering homes to Ukrainian refugees through a new humanitarian route will receive a "thank you" payment of £350 per month
Cpt. Rishwat
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Nice to see the welcome being rolled out to Ukranian refugees. Looks like we aren't overcrowded after all.
Technics 1210
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Pouring fuel on an inferno.
shaz619
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Yep, we’ve all moved on now and am so glad to see Brexit policies being enforced . Thank you Mr.Churchill
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More than 100,000 Britons have offered up their homes to Ukrainian refugees, Boris Johnson has said.
The prime minister said it was "fantastic" and thanked "everyone across the country who has stepped up to offer their help so far".
A website where people can register their interest in providing a home for at least six months to Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia was only launched at 4pm yesterday.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove announced the Homes for Ukraine scheme was open on Monday and said there will be no limit to the number of Ukrainian refugees who can come to the UK.
Skynews
The prime minister said it was "fantastic" and thanked "everyone across the country who has stepped up to offer their help so far".
A website where people can register their interest in providing a home for at least six months to Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia was only launched at 4pm yesterday.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove announced the Homes for Ukraine scheme was open on Monday and said there will be no limit to the number of Ukrainian refugees who can come to the UK.
Skynews
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<b>Priti Patel admits migrant phone seizures were illegal</b>
The home secretary has admitted mobile phones were taken illegally from migrants as they arrived in Dover after crossing the Channel on small boats.
Three migrants have won a High Court challenge against Priti Patel after they were arrested separately after being intercepted off the Kent coast.
They were picked up between April and September 2020 and officials took their phones at Tug Haven in Dover.
Judges ruled that the asylum seekers' human rights had been breached.
They won their case after Ms Patel admitted their mobile phones were unlawfully seized under a blanket policy targeted at migrants crossing the English Channel.
"Her initial stance was that there was no policy of the kind which is now admitted," the judges said.
Data had been unlawfully extracted from two of the devices, and the phones were not returned to the migrants for months.
The three asylum seekers, one of whom lawyers said was "a potential victim of trafficking", brought a High Court claim against Ms Patel challenging the lawfulness of the circumstances and policies under which they were searched.
Following a hearing in January, two judges ruled on Friday their legal challenges had succeeded after "very significant concessions" were made by Ms Patel.
Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Lane, said the home secretary "accepts that the blanket seizure policy meant that, during the times in question, the seizure of the mobile phones of the claimants was not in accordance with the law."
The judges said the seizure and retention of the asylum seekers' phones "violated" their right to family and private life under the European Convention of Human Rights.
They also said demanding the phones' PINs from the migrants was "without any lawful authority" and "using a threat of prosecution for a non-existent offence to enforce the demand" was a clear breach of the asylum seekers' human rights.
The Home Office conceded a version of the policy that required phones to be retained for a minimum of three months was unlawful and capable of a "disproportionate interference" with human rights and data protection legislation.
The department also admitted that a practice of officers requiring migrants to provide their phone PINs was unlawful.
The judges said a further hearing should be held to decide the "consequence" of the successful claims.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-60880587
The home secretary has admitted mobile phones were taken illegally from migrants as they arrived in Dover after crossing the Channel on small boats.
Three migrants have won a High Court challenge against Priti Patel after they were arrested separately after being intercepted off the Kent coast.
They were picked up between April and September 2020 and officials took their phones at Tug Haven in Dover.
Judges ruled that the asylum seekers' human rights had been breached.
They won their case after Ms Patel admitted their mobile phones were unlawfully seized under a blanket policy targeted at migrants crossing the English Channel.
"Her initial stance was that there was no policy of the kind which is now admitted," the judges said.
Data had been unlawfully extracted from two of the devices, and the phones were not returned to the migrants for months.
The three asylum seekers, one of whom lawyers said was "a potential victim of trafficking", brought a High Court claim against Ms Patel challenging the lawfulness of the circumstances and policies under which they were searched.
Following a hearing in January, two judges ruled on Friday their legal challenges had succeeded after "very significant concessions" were made by Ms Patel.
Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Lane, said the home secretary "accepts that the blanket seizure policy meant that, during the times in question, the seizure of the mobile phones of the claimants was not in accordance with the law."
The judges said the seizure and retention of the asylum seekers' phones "violated" their right to family and private life under the European Convention of Human Rights.
They also said demanding the phones' PINs from the migrants was "without any lawful authority" and "using a threat of prosecution for a non-existent offence to enforce the demand" was a clear breach of the asylum seekers' human rights.
The Home Office conceded a version of the policy that required phones to be retained for a minimum of three months was unlawful and capable of a "disproportionate interference" with human rights and data protection legislation.
The department also admitted that a practice of officers requiring migrants to provide their phone PINs was unlawful.
The judges said a further hearing should be held to decide the "consequence" of the successful claims.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-60880587
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The UK should be doing "much more" to help Ukrainian refugees, London mayor Sadiq Khan has said.
Mr Khan joined a large crowd that gathered near Hyde Park ahead of a march in solidarity with the war-torn country.
The Labour mayor said the actions of the UK government compared with other European countries were "embarrassing".
Mr Khan said it needed to be made "much more easier for those who are fleeing Ukraine to come here".
Earlier this month the government opened it Homes for Ukraine scheme, which allows UK nationals to individually sponsor a Ukrainian national's visa so that those without family connections can still come to live with a host family in the UK.
Protesters made their way towards Trafalgar Square whilst holding Ukrainian flags and banners that said "stop Putin's war", "no fly zone" and "solidarity with Ukraine".
The crowd chanted "we stand with Ukraine" as traffic behind was brought to a standstill.
About 10 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine because of the Russian invasion, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.
As well as the 3.6 million who have left for neighbouring countries, another estimated 6.5 million people are thought to be displaced inside the war-torn country itself.
BBC
Mr Khan joined a large crowd that gathered near Hyde Park ahead of a march in solidarity with the war-torn country.
The Labour mayor said the actions of the UK government compared with other European countries were "embarrassing".
Mr Khan said it needed to be made "much more easier for those who are fleeing Ukraine to come here".
Earlier this month the government opened it Homes for Ukraine scheme, which allows UK nationals to individually sponsor a Ukrainian national's visa so that those without family connections can still come to live with a host family in the UK.
Protesters made their way towards Trafalgar Square whilst holding Ukrainian flags and banners that said "stop Putin's war", "no fly zone" and "solidarity with Ukraine".
The crowd chanted "we stand with Ukraine" as traffic behind was brought to a standstill.
About 10 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine because of the Russian invasion, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.
As well as the 3.6 million who have left for neighbouring countries, another estimated 6.5 million people are thought to be displaced inside the war-torn country itself.
BBC
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Indians form the largest nationality among those getting UK skilled worker visa
Indians comprise the largest chunk of foreign nationals who got the skilled worker visa in the UK.
"In the last year alone, over 65,500 skilled worker visas were issued to Indian nationals," a British High Commission spokesperson told The New Indian Express.
This marks a rise of 14 per cent over 2019 indicating the popularity of the points-based immigration system.
India and the UK are exploring easing of the immigration norms as part of the ongoing trade talks between the two countries.
Last year, Indian an the UK formalised the India-UK Migration and Mobility Partnership. The plan envisages around 3,000 young students and professionals a year access new work experience benefits in either country. It is expected to be implemented by April 2022.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/work/indians-form-the-largest-nationality-among-those-getting-uk-skilled-worker-visa/articleshow/90367548.cms
Indians comprise the largest chunk of foreign nationals who got the skilled worker visa in the UK.
"In the last year alone, over 65,500 skilled worker visas were issued to Indian nationals," a British High Commission spokesperson told The New Indian Express.
This marks a rise of 14 per cent over 2019 indicating the popularity of the points-based immigration system.
India and the UK are exploring easing of the immigration norms as part of the ongoing trade talks between the two countries.
Last year, Indian an the UK formalised the India-UK Migration and Mobility Partnership. The plan envisages around 3,000 young students and professionals a year access new work experience benefits in either country. It is expected to be implemented by April 2022.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/work/indians-form-the-largest-nationality-among-those-getting-uk-skilled-worker-visa/articleshow/90367548.cms
James
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<b>Homes for Ukraine: 2,700 visas issued, government reveals</b>
There have been 2,700 visas issued for refugees coming to the UK as part of Homes for Ukraine - less than 10% of the 28,300 applications made in the scheme's first 15 days.
Lord Harrington, refugees minister, admitted the forms took "too long" to fill in and said the government was trying to speed up the process.
There has been criticism of the scheme since it was launched.
Charities said the process "is just too difficult" for those fleeing Ukraine.
The quickest way to help people would be for the UK to stop requiring visas for those fleeing Ukraine - and would bring it in line with many other countries which have done so since the crisis began, said the British Red Cross.
The charity said it has had representatives at major airports and arrival hubs since 19 March - but so far only 65 people arriving from Ukraine had been helped.
Sonya Sceats, chief executive of the Freedom from Torture charity, said:
“In a month where people across the country signed up to welcome more refugees than the government has in 10 years, these woeful numbers prove why visa-based schemes are an unsuitable gateway for refugees fleeing Ukraine to reach safety here in the UK."
On top of the 2,700 Homes for Ukraine visas, a further 22,800 visas from 31,200 applications have been issued under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Home Office said. These are for those with close relatives living in the UK.
But even those with visas are not always being housed. Some refugees have been reporting themselves to councils as being homeless, the Local Government Association said.
Its chair James Jamieson said it was a "big issue". So far, 57 councils have said people had presented as homeless - 44 who were part of the family scheme and 56 from Homes from Ukraine.
Another 64 had entered through other routes, possibly travelling to Ireland and then entering the UK from there, he added.
Homes for Ukraine launched on 14 March. Its aim is to allow individuals, charities, community groups and other organisations to sponsor named refugees, housing them in their homes or buildings.
Those who do not personally know someone fleeing Ukraine have been advised to contact groups who are starting to make connections between individuals, to match them to a refugee.
The UK requires the refugees to have a visa before they enter, unlike other European countries which have waived the checks to speed things up.
Those who are granted a visa under the scheme will be eligible to work, and can access state benefits and public services for three years.
Refugees with a valid Ukrainian international passport can apply online, but those without one have to go to a visa application centre - Lord Harrington said approximately 10% of applications so far are having to go to the centres.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the government's "overwhelmingly generous" record on refugees, saying 1,000 visas were being processed a day and telling MPs: "There is no upper limit to the number that we can take."
It came after Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said "paperwork is being put ahead of people", with one elderly couple on the Polish border with Ukraine being told it was "just too complicated" to come to the UK.
Lord Harrington said he had tried to fill the application form in himself and it had taken nearly an hour - he said while this was from the comfort of his own home on a tablet, people were completing it on mobile phones while they were displaced.
He told the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee progress was already being seen due to Home Office efforts to "streamline" the visa process and the government was looking at "every single step of the process to speed it up".
But he added: "We need to do more and will be making further improvements to bring people to the UK as quickly as possible."
Lord Harrington said in some parts of the form, there were four or five separate questions on as many pages, suggesting this could be condensed to one page.
He added: "The response of the British public has been incredible, opening their hearts and homes to the people of Ukraine, and we must do everything we can to make the most of this extraordinary generosity."
The minister said the "run rate" for applications for both schemes was anticipated to soon be 15,000 a week - by next week, or the week after - and that he anticipated the backlog would be cleared "quite quickly".
Labour is calling for the process to be expedited, with Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, and shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy writing to their government counterparts.
They said a "shameful scale of bureaucracy" was "preventing desperately vulnerable people from reaching sanctuary in the UK", calling for clarity on the length of time taken for visas to be issued and how long security checks are taking.
The UN refugee agency said more than four million refugees have now fled Ukraine since Russia launched its war, in the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60926093
There have been 2,700 visas issued for refugees coming to the UK as part of Homes for Ukraine - less than 10% of the 28,300 applications made in the scheme's first 15 days.
Lord Harrington, refugees minister, admitted the forms took "too long" to fill in and said the government was trying to speed up the process.
There has been criticism of the scheme since it was launched.
Charities said the process "is just too difficult" for those fleeing Ukraine.
The quickest way to help people would be for the UK to stop requiring visas for those fleeing Ukraine - and would bring it in line with many other countries which have done so since the crisis began, said the British Red Cross.
The charity said it has had representatives at major airports and arrival hubs since 19 March - but so far only 65 people arriving from Ukraine had been helped.
Sonya Sceats, chief executive of the Freedom from Torture charity, said:
“In a month where people across the country signed up to welcome more refugees than the government has in 10 years, these woeful numbers prove why visa-based schemes are an unsuitable gateway for refugees fleeing Ukraine to reach safety here in the UK."
On top of the 2,700 Homes for Ukraine visas, a further 22,800 visas from 31,200 applications have been issued under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Home Office said. These are for those with close relatives living in the UK.
But even those with visas are not always being housed. Some refugees have been reporting themselves to councils as being homeless, the Local Government Association said.
Its chair James Jamieson said it was a "big issue". So far, 57 councils have said people had presented as homeless - 44 who were part of the family scheme and 56 from Homes from Ukraine.
Another 64 had entered through other routes, possibly travelling to Ireland and then entering the UK from there, he added.
Homes for Ukraine launched on 14 March. Its aim is to allow individuals, charities, community groups and other organisations to sponsor named refugees, housing them in their homes or buildings.
Those who do not personally know someone fleeing Ukraine have been advised to contact groups who are starting to make connections between individuals, to match them to a refugee.
The UK requires the refugees to have a visa before they enter, unlike other European countries which have waived the checks to speed things up.
Those who are granted a visa under the scheme will be eligible to work, and can access state benefits and public services for three years.
Refugees with a valid Ukrainian international passport can apply online, but those without one have to go to a visa application centre - Lord Harrington said approximately 10% of applications so far are having to go to the centres.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the government's "overwhelmingly generous" record on refugees, saying 1,000 visas were being processed a day and telling MPs: "There is no upper limit to the number that we can take."
It came after Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said "paperwork is being put ahead of people", with one elderly couple on the Polish border with Ukraine being told it was "just too complicated" to come to the UK.
Lord Harrington said he had tried to fill the application form in himself and it had taken nearly an hour - he said while this was from the comfort of his own home on a tablet, people were completing it on mobile phones while they were displaced.
He told the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee progress was already being seen due to Home Office efforts to "streamline" the visa process and the government was looking at "every single step of the process to speed it up".
But he added: "We need to do more and will be making further improvements to bring people to the UK as quickly as possible."
Lord Harrington said in some parts of the form, there were four or five separate questions on as many pages, suggesting this could be condensed to one page.
He added: "The response of the British public has been incredible, opening their hearts and homes to the people of Ukraine, and we must do everything we can to make the most of this extraordinary generosity."
The minister said the "run rate" for applications for both schemes was anticipated to soon be 15,000 a week - by next week, or the week after - and that he anticipated the backlog would be cleared "quite quickly".
Labour is calling for the process to be expedited, with Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, and shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy writing to their government counterparts.
They said a "shameful scale of bureaucracy" was "preventing desperately vulnerable people from reaching sanctuary in the UK", calling for clarity on the length of time taken for visas to be issued and how long security checks are taking.
The UN refugee agency said more than four million refugees have now fled Ukraine since Russia launched its war, in the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60926093
Technics 1210
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Imagine for a moment if UK was still in the EU, then the 2700 figure would mean 270000, and more Nazis, with free pass into the UK.
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The government plans to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing in an attempt to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel.
Boris Johnson is set to argue action is needed to combat the "vile people smugglers" turning the ocean into a "watery graveyard" in a speech on Thursday.
After the prime minister's speech, Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to set out further details of a "migration and economic development partnership" with Rwanda after she visited the East African nation.
Charities have warned that the "cruel and nasty decision" to "offshore" some asylum seekers more than 6,000 miles away will not only fail to address the issue but "lead to more human suffering and chaos" and cost an estimated £1.4bn.
Mr Johnson will warn the number of people making the crossing across the Channel could reach 1,000 a day within weeks. About 600 people arrived on Wednesday.
"I accept that these people - whether 600 or 1,000 - are in search of a better life, the opportunities that the United Kingdom provides and the hope of a fresh start," he is expected to say.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dungeness, Kent, onboard the RNLI Lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Thursday March 24, 2022.
A group of people thought to be migrants are are guided up the beach after being brought in to Dungeness, Kent, onboard the RNLI Lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Thursday March 24, 2022.
Channel crossings: More than 4,000 people cross to UK in small boats in 2022 - nearly four times the amount for same time last year
A group of people thought to be migrants including young children are brought in to Dungeness, Kent, by the RNLI following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Tuesday March 15, 2022.
Nationality and Borders Bill: Government sees off calls from some Conservatives to change controversial asylum and immigrations reforms
"But it is these hopes - these dreams - that have been exploited. These vile people smugglers are abusing the vulnerable and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard, with men, women and children drowning in unseaworthy boats and suffocating in refrigerated lorries."
He will argue the country voted to "control" immigration in the Brexit referendum and say "our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not".
"So just as Brexit allowed us to take back control of legal immigration by replacing free movement with our points-based system, we are also taking back control of illegal immigration, with a long-term plan for asylum in this country," he is expected to say.
"It is a plan that will ensure the UK has a world-leading asylum offer, providing generous protection to those directly fleeing the worst of humanity, by settling thousands of people every year through safe and legal routes."
It remains unclear if the new rules would apply to only those who arrived by what the government calls illegal means.
The British Red Cross said it was "profoundly concerned" about the plans to "send traumatised people halfway round the world to Rwanda".
Zoe Abrams, the humanitarian network's executive director, said: "The financial and human cost will be considerable; evidence from where offshoring has been implemented elsewhere shows it leads to profound human suffering, plus the bill that taxpayers will be asked to foot is likely to be huge."
She added: "We are not convinced this drastic measure will deter desperate people from attempting to cross the Channel either. People come here for reasons we can all understand, like wanting to be reunited with loved ones, or because they speak the language. Making it harsher may do little to stop them risking their lives."
https://news.sky.com/story/asylum-s...hannel-crossings-12589616?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
Boris Johnson is set to argue action is needed to combat the "vile people smugglers" turning the ocean into a "watery graveyard" in a speech on Thursday.
After the prime minister's speech, Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to set out further details of a "migration and economic development partnership" with Rwanda after she visited the East African nation.
Charities have warned that the "cruel and nasty decision" to "offshore" some asylum seekers more than 6,000 miles away will not only fail to address the issue but "lead to more human suffering and chaos" and cost an estimated £1.4bn.
Mr Johnson will warn the number of people making the crossing across the Channel could reach 1,000 a day within weeks. About 600 people arrived on Wednesday.
"I accept that these people - whether 600 or 1,000 - are in search of a better life, the opportunities that the United Kingdom provides and the hope of a fresh start," he is expected to say.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dungeness, Kent, onboard the RNLI Lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Thursday March 24, 2022.
A group of people thought to be migrants are are guided up the beach after being brought in to Dungeness, Kent, onboard the RNLI Lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Thursday March 24, 2022.
Channel crossings: More than 4,000 people cross to UK in small boats in 2022 - nearly four times the amount for same time last year
A group of people thought to be migrants including young children are brought in to Dungeness, Kent, by the RNLI following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Tuesday March 15, 2022.
Nationality and Borders Bill: Government sees off calls from some Conservatives to change controversial asylum and immigrations reforms
"But it is these hopes - these dreams - that have been exploited. These vile people smugglers are abusing the vulnerable and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard, with men, women and children drowning in unseaworthy boats and suffocating in refrigerated lorries."
He will argue the country voted to "control" immigration in the Brexit referendum and say "our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not".
"So just as Brexit allowed us to take back control of legal immigration by replacing free movement with our points-based system, we are also taking back control of illegal immigration, with a long-term plan for asylum in this country," he is expected to say.
"It is a plan that will ensure the UK has a world-leading asylum offer, providing generous protection to those directly fleeing the worst of humanity, by settling thousands of people every year through safe and legal routes."
It remains unclear if the new rules would apply to only those who arrived by what the government calls illegal means.
The British Red Cross said it was "profoundly concerned" about the plans to "send traumatised people halfway round the world to Rwanda".
Zoe Abrams, the humanitarian network's executive director, said: "The financial and human cost will be considerable; evidence from where offshoring has been implemented elsewhere shows it leads to profound human suffering, plus the bill that taxpayers will be asked to foot is likely to be huge."
She added: "We are not convinced this drastic measure will deter desperate people from attempting to cross the Channel either. People come here for reasons we can all understand, like wanting to be reunited with loved ones, or because they speak the language. Making it harsher may do little to stop them risking their lives."
https://news.sky.com/story/asylum-s...hannel-crossings-12589616?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
topspin
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This will appeal to their right wing vote bank/nationalists. Tories know what they're doing and this will help them win votes which is what they need given that their reputation has taken a hit following their handling of COVID and lockdown shenanigans.
This will be challenged in the courts. I don't think this will be practical. It's expensive and bound to fail.
It's a bit like when they stripped Shamima Begum of her UK citizenship. Even though it was never supposed to be a practical solution, it was all about pandering to the right-wing.
I've voted for them in the past (just like my family have) but it's fair to say the Conservatives are a disgrace and I'm becoming less inclined on voting for them again.
This is to distract from the recent party gate scandal. Rwanda is too far away for this to be a practical solution and neither will it act as a deterrent against asylum seekers.
UK had previously tried to convince Albania which is closer but their government denied the request
UK had previously tried to convince Albania which is closer but their government denied the request
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Boris Johnson has defended his plan to send migrants arriving illegally in the UK thousands of miles away to Rwanda as "the morally right thing to do".
The policy is part of the prime minister's plan to tackle the problem of dangerous Channel crossings by migrants in small boats - though he admitted there would be legal challenges and it would not happen overnight.
Mr Johnson rebuffed concerns from charities that the plan - which he said would see tens of thousands of people sent to the east African country over coming years - was "cruel and nasty".
He said: "This is the morally right thing to do and the humane and compassionate thing to do.
"We cannot have people continuing to die at sea, paying huge sums to evil people trackers who are simply exploiting their hopes and their ambitions.
"We need to encourage them to take the safe and legal route if they want to come to this country."
The wider strategy will also see a previously-announced plan for the Royal Navy to take over responsibility for tackling people crossing the Channel take effect from today, with £50m in new funding.
There will also be a new, nationwide dispersal system in the UK to spread asylum seekers more equally among local authorities and a new reception centre will be opened at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire.
At a speech in Kent, the PM said that "those who tried to jump the queue or abuse our systems will find no automatic path to set them up in our country".
He said that from today anyone caught entering the UK illegally - such as on small boats or hidden in lorries - as well as those who have already arrived illegally from 1 January, may be relocated to Rwanda, under the £120m scheme.
However, he conceded that it was "unlikely" that the new measures would result in the number of small boat crossings falling to zero "any time soon".
The Home Office made no suggestion that only men would be sent to Africa - after Welsh Secretary Simon Hart earlier told Sky News that the plan was to deal with male economic migrants while women, children and asylum seekers would still be processed in the way they are now.
Those who successfully apply for refugee status will be given the right to remain in Rwanda and if unsuccessful could still be granted an immigration status or be removed to their country of origin, the government said.
The first to be sent to Rwanda will be formally notified in coming weeks with the first flights taking place in coming months, according to the Home Office.
Mr Johnson said he was seeking to tackle a "barbaric trade in human misery" caused by people traffickers in the Channel, which he predicted could see crossings reach 1,000 a day in a few weeks - after about 600 arrived on Wednesday.
He said he was confident that the deal with Rwanda complied with international legal obligations but claimed that a "formidable army of politically motivated lawyers" was likely to challenge it in the courts - and the government was prepared to change the law if necessary.
The PM batted off concerns about human rights in the country, saying people should not take a "blinkered" view and insisting it was "one of the safest countries in the world, globally recognised for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants".
But last year, the UK government itself said in a global report that "critical voices continued to face heavy restrictions" in the country and that it had raised concerns with the government there.
Mr Johnson's plan has been criticised by charities while opposition parties say it is an attempt to distract attention from the partygate affair and it has also caused unease among the moderate so-called "one nation" wing of the Tory party.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described it as a "pathetic distraction" from partygate while the Tory Reform Group - a pressure group whose patrons include Conservative MPs and ministers - called it "wrong and irresponsible".
Mr Johnson's announcement came as Home Secretary Priti Patel signed what was described as the "migration and economic development partnership" with Rwanda during a visit to the capital, Kigali.
The Refugee Council's chief executive Enver Solomon said: "We are appalled by the government's cruel and nasty decision to send those seeking sanctuary in our country to Rwanda."
He said sending migrants more than 4,000 miles away for processing "will do little to deter them from coming to this country, but only lead to more human suffering and chaos - at a huge expense of an estimated £1.4bn a year".
The British Red Cross said it was "profoundly concerned" about sending "traumatised people halfway round the world".
Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was a "despicable policy" and claimed that, as an attempt to distract from partygate, it showed "the utter moral bankruptcy of this Tory government".
Labour's shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell told Sky News the announcement "has to be taken with a big dollop of cynicism and scepticism about the timing of it and whether this is actually all about distracting from the prime minister's own law breaking".
SKY
The policy is part of the prime minister's plan to tackle the problem of dangerous Channel crossings by migrants in small boats - though he admitted there would be legal challenges and it would not happen overnight.
Mr Johnson rebuffed concerns from charities that the plan - which he said would see tens of thousands of people sent to the east African country over coming years - was "cruel and nasty".
He said: "This is the morally right thing to do and the humane and compassionate thing to do.
"We cannot have people continuing to die at sea, paying huge sums to evil people trackers who are simply exploiting their hopes and their ambitions.
"We need to encourage them to take the safe and legal route if they want to come to this country."
The wider strategy will also see a previously-announced plan for the Royal Navy to take over responsibility for tackling people crossing the Channel take effect from today, with £50m in new funding.
There will also be a new, nationwide dispersal system in the UK to spread asylum seekers more equally among local authorities and a new reception centre will be opened at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire.
At a speech in Kent, the PM said that "those who tried to jump the queue or abuse our systems will find no automatic path to set them up in our country".
He said that from today anyone caught entering the UK illegally - such as on small boats or hidden in lorries - as well as those who have already arrived illegally from 1 January, may be relocated to Rwanda, under the £120m scheme.
However, he conceded that it was "unlikely" that the new measures would result in the number of small boat crossings falling to zero "any time soon".
The Home Office made no suggestion that only men would be sent to Africa - after Welsh Secretary Simon Hart earlier told Sky News that the plan was to deal with male economic migrants while women, children and asylum seekers would still be processed in the way they are now.
Those who successfully apply for refugee status will be given the right to remain in Rwanda and if unsuccessful could still be granted an immigration status or be removed to their country of origin, the government said.
The first to be sent to Rwanda will be formally notified in coming weeks with the first flights taking place in coming months, according to the Home Office.
Mr Johnson said he was seeking to tackle a "barbaric trade in human misery" caused by people traffickers in the Channel, which he predicted could see crossings reach 1,000 a day in a few weeks - after about 600 arrived on Wednesday.
He said he was confident that the deal with Rwanda complied with international legal obligations but claimed that a "formidable army of politically motivated lawyers" was likely to challenge it in the courts - and the government was prepared to change the law if necessary.
The PM batted off concerns about human rights in the country, saying people should not take a "blinkered" view and insisting it was "one of the safest countries in the world, globally recognised for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants".
But last year, the UK government itself said in a global report that "critical voices continued to face heavy restrictions" in the country and that it had raised concerns with the government there.
Mr Johnson's plan has been criticised by charities while opposition parties say it is an attempt to distract attention from the partygate affair and it has also caused unease among the moderate so-called "one nation" wing of the Tory party.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described it as a "pathetic distraction" from partygate while the Tory Reform Group - a pressure group whose patrons include Conservative MPs and ministers - called it "wrong and irresponsible".
Mr Johnson's announcement came as Home Secretary Priti Patel signed what was described as the "migration and economic development partnership" with Rwanda during a visit to the capital, Kigali.
The Refugee Council's chief executive Enver Solomon said: "We are appalled by the government's cruel and nasty decision to send those seeking sanctuary in our country to Rwanda."
He said sending migrants more than 4,000 miles away for processing "will do little to deter them from coming to this country, but only lead to more human suffering and chaos - at a huge expense of an estimated £1.4bn a year".
The British Red Cross said it was "profoundly concerned" about sending "traumatised people halfway round the world".
Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was a "despicable policy" and claimed that, as an attempt to distract from partygate, it showed "the utter moral bankruptcy of this Tory government".
Labour's shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell told Sky News the announcement "has to be taken with a big dollop of cynicism and scepticism about the timing of it and whether this is actually all about distracting from the prime minister's own law breaking".
SKY
KingKhanWC
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Rwanda is a mess. It wasnt too long ago there was a genocide. The leader is accused of many murders.
Priti Patel is a Zionist puppet. Its no surprise she chose Rwanda as prevoiusly Israel used to deport its refugees(inc black Jews) to this country. Almost all decided to leave Rwanda and ever return to Europe. I think this is her goal, scare them so much refugges will not try to enter UK.
James
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Rwanda?
beyond belief really.
beyond belief really.
topspin
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Yes it's also there to act as a deterrent but this is just abhorrent way of doing it.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Priti came up with this idea. She's beyond evil. I'll never understand how someone who was born in Uganda, where she was made to flee as a refugee can end up to be an enemy of refugees/migrants.
James
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Priti Patel is where the line is drawn for me with the current government.
Her and Jacob Rees Mogg seem to be genuinely nasty pieces of work, really quite cynical and vindictive people who are borderline sociopaths.
Sajid Javid, Rishi Sunak, Kwasi Kwarteng and even prize weirdo Michael Gove are not great by any measure — but they do not seem particularly “evil” or “twisted”.
There are perhaps a couple of half decent blokes in the Cabinet who are essentially getting on with their day jobs: Ben Wallace and Grant Shapps.
Boris himself is more enigmatic and difficult to classify because he is so duplicitous, but he is certainly the clown at the centre of the piece & all roads ultimately lead back to him.
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