What's new

UK considers sending asylum seekers to Rwanda — UK migrant policy thread

<b>Ninety-two migrants found being forced
across river</b>

Ninety-two migrants were found almost naked and bruised after allegedly being forced across the Evros river from Turkey into Greece, Athens said Sunday.

EU border agency Frontex confirmed to AFP the arrival of the group in circumstances that the Greek ministry for civil protection said sent out an "inhuman image."

"The Frontex officers reported that the migrants were found almost naked and some of them with visible injuries," said Paulina Bakula, spokeswoman for the organisation.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said in a tweet that it was "deeply distressed by the shocking reports and images of 92 people, who were reported to have been found at the Greek-Turkish land border, stripped of their clothes".

Bakula, speaking from Frontex's Warsaw HQ, said Frontex officers worked with Greek authorities to provide the migrants - mainly Afghans and Syrians - with immediate assistance.

She added the organisation had informed the agency's fundamental rights officer of a potential rights violation.

Greek minister for civil protection, Takis Theodorikakos, accused Turkey of "instrumentalising illegal immigration" in the latest of a series of recriminations on migration between the neighbours.

Theodorikakos told Skai television many of the migrants had told Frontex that "three Turkish army vehicles had transferred them" to the river which acts as a natural border.

Ankara denied any responsibility and Interior Minister Ismail Catakli called on Greece to stop what in a tweet he termed its "manipulations and dishonesty."

Greek minister for migration and asylum, Notis Mitarachi, had Saturday described the incident as a "shame on civilisation."

Athens regularly faces - and denies - accusations from NGOs and media as having on many occasions sought to push migrants back to Turkey illegally, sometimes using force.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used a UN address to accuse Greece of transforming the Aegean Sea into a "cemetery" with "oppressive policies" on immigration.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/worl...sedgntp&cvid=1ca9718986e34b228be2e2f6632571c0
 
Almost 1,000 migrants arrived in UK yesterday after crossing Channel, government figures show

Nearly 1,000 migrants arrived in the UK yesterday after crossing the Channel, government figures show.

Long lines of people - believed to be migrants - could be seen waiting to be processed at the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, as 990 arrived on British shores.

Saturday's figure is the biggest number of arrivals in a single day for many weeks.

The highest number in a single day was set on 22 August when 1,295 people arrived in the country.

Nearly 40,000 have arrived in the UK so far this year after attempting the treacherous trip from France.

They have crossed the world's busiest shipping route in dinghies and other small boats, provisional figures show.

Unseasonably warm weather has seen the kind of settled conditions that encourages crossings.

It comes after an immigration watchdog said he was left "speechless" by conditions at the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent.
Advertisement

David Neal, the chief inspector of borders and immigration, said the centre was "past the point" that it can be safe and run properly and accused the Home Office of a "creeping lack of ambition".

Manston was originally meant to hold between 1,000 and 1,600 people, but there were 2,800 at the site when Mr Neal visited on Monday.

Migrants are meant to stay at the short-term holding facility, which opened in January, for 24 hours while they undergo checks before being moved into immigration detention centres or asylum accommodation - currently hotels.

The Sunday Times reported Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been accused of failing to act on legal advice received at least three weeks ago which warned migrants were being detained for unlawfully long periods.

A Home Office spokesperson said these claims were "completely baseless".

It added: "The Home Secretary has taken urgent decisions to alleviate issues at Manston and source alternative accommodation. Claims advice was deliberately ignored are completely baseless.

"It is right we look at all available options so decisions can be made based on the latest operational and legal advice.

"The number of people arriving in the UK via small boats has reached record levels, which has put our asylum system under incredible pressure and costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds a day."

'Deeply concerning'

Cabinet minister Michael Gove said the situation at Manston is "deeply concerning", but he denied the home secretary ignored or dismissed legal advice.

"The situation in Manston is not what it should be," he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.

"Everyone acknowledges that. We have more than 2,000 people there at the moment."

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to publish the legal advice reportedly ignored by Ms Braverman.

SKY News
 
Albanian migration here is out of control. These are not refugees but economic migrants. That country is crash poor and they have no hope of advancing at home.
 
The suspect for the attack on a Dover immigration centre was a pensioner from Buckinghamshire, police revealed on Monday, as questions grew why it was not being treated as a potentially terrorist incident.

Kent police are leading the investigation which follows petrol bombs being thrown at a migrant centre by a man in a car, and then shortly afterwards the body of a man being found at a petrol station.

Police said the man found dead was a a 66-year-old man from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, some 115 miles from Dover. A property in High Wycombe was being searched and the investigation continues.

Photographs of the suspected attack showed a man releasing a plastic bottle taped to a lit firework on Dover harbour’s Western Jet Foil, where Border Force officers process people who have crossed the Channel in small boats. The suspect was confirmed dead shortly after the incident.

Kent police said they were keeping an open mind on the motive for his actions, but that they were not treating it as a terror attack.

Neither Kent police, nor Counter terrorism police who cover the south-east, have publicly explained whether counter terrorism investigators have helped the investigation.

Both specialist counter terrorism officers and MI5, the security service which leads on intelligence about far right terrorism, are believed to have been monitoring developments.

For an act of violence to be treated as potential terrorism there needs to be a belief it may have been politically or ideologically motivated.

Speaking in the Commons, the shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper asked whether counter terrorist officers were investigating the incident. “It does not make sense for them not to be,” she said.

Edward Biggs, a Labour town councillor whose ward includes the immigration centre, urged the police to treat the attack as terrorist.
He said: “I don’t see how they can’t treat it as a terrorist incident. It may not be a terrorist cell. I’m aware there are factions around Dover and in Kent who could and will join in this. So the police should definitely be treating this as terrorist incident.”

Advertisement

The anti-fascist charity Hope Not Hate said it had recorded 165 incidents of activity from far-right and anti-refugee activists at immigration facilities so far this year.

It said the government’s “demonisation” of asylum seekers and refugees was “mainstreaming anti-migrant rhetoric and encouraging far-right groups to target” these people.

Rosie Carter, the director of policy at Hope Not Hate, said: “The terrible incident at Dover does not stand in isolation. It is the result of repeated demonisation and scapegoating of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees by the government and by the media. This rhetoric shapes hostile public opinion and encourages the far right at a time when violent extremism is at a high.

“We have warned the government time and time again that their failure to provide suitable community-based accommodation while ramping up hostile language and fuelling enmity and division with an inhumane and unworkable system would have dangerous consequences that we have seen before.

Advertisement

“The government continues to bang the immigration drum, employing dehumanising language and scare tactics to feed a narrative that conflates migration with criminality and terrorism, continually winding up the issue by repeatedly blaming a ‘broken’ asylum system.”

Carter added: “Cracking down harder does not fix a system that traps people seeking refuge in destitution, keeps families apart for years and wrongly deports people, but it does stir up immigration as a political issue. And that plays straight into the hands of the far right.”

Biggs said there was a concern in Dover that the immigration centre on the harbour had become a “target for extremists”.

He said: “We’ve had demonstrations from different factions who have nothing to do with how Dover feels about migrants and treating people fairly.”

Biggs also urged ministers to stop demonising people who cross the Channel in small boats. “They just hype it up,” he said. “The home secretary’s rhetoric is more and more aggressive towards migrants, when there should be safe passage for migrants.”

He added: “It is not a surprise to us that there has been an incident, because some of the narrative that has been out there has been very damaging.” He cited a news story about people sleeping with sledgehammers under their beds because of fear of refugees on the Kent coast.

“It has just got completely out of control,” Biggs said.

He added: “The Rwanda rhetoric and all this stuff about bring the navy and pushing boats backs, is clearly the wrong policy. It hasn’t worked. We need to look at a more compassionate way. Look at the different way we approach Ukraine migrants and Channel migrants. Why is it so different?”

The Labour MPs Nadia Whittome and Diane Abbott also linked the Dover attack to government rhetoric.

Abbott tweeted: “Disgraceful scenes. This is where the demonisation of asylum seekers and their mistreatment leads.” Whittome tweeted: “Let’s be clear: migrants are not to blame for acts of violence against them. Fear, hate and dehumanisation are.”

The former Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, who has continued to play on fears about Channel crossings in regular video updates, blamed the Dover attack on a “complete and utter lunatic”.

In his latest video, he said: “The guy was a lunatic he is not representative of those of us that want to have a proper debate. I will not be bullied by the forces of political correctness, I will not be bullied, by the hard left from letting this debate and letting this conversation go.”

Guardian
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The man suspected of firebombing the Border Force immigration centre in Dover on Sunday is a 66-year-old from the High Wycombe area, police have said <a href="https://t.co/sxwnvZ4EAJ">https://t.co/sxwnvZ4EAJ</a></p>— Sky News (@SkyNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1587168718555336704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Fgews7zX0AINrzg
 
So large number of these migrants are descending from worn torn countries in which our governments from the uk have helped to destabilise.
 
Counter-terrorism police have taken on the investigation into a firebomb attack at a Dover immigration centre.

Two or three devices - described as petrol bombs by a witness - were thrown by a man who was later found dead at a nearby petrol station on Sunday.

Police identified the man as Andrew Leak, 66, from High Wycombe.

A search warrant at a property in the town found "a number of items of interest", Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said.

Head of CTPSE Ch Supt Olly Wright said there was nothing to suggest the man was working alongside anyone else, and there was no wider community threat.

"This was a traumatic incident for everyone involved," he said.

"We understand that when Counter Terrorism Policing become involved, it can be worrying for some people, but I would like to reassure people that there is nothing to suggest any ongoing wider threat at this time.

"What appears clear is that this despicable offence was targeted and likely to be driven by some form of hate filled grievance, though this may not necessarily meet the threshold of terrorism."

He added that at this point the incident had not been declared a terrorist incident but it was being kept under review.

Investigators said the items of interest found at the property in High Wycombe included digital media devices which were being examined.

A photographer with Reuters news agency who witnessed the incident reported the man had thrown petrol bombs with fireworks attached before taking his own life.

Two members of staff working inside the immigration centre sustained minor injuries.

==

A man behind a fire attack at a migrant centre in Dover had no known links to far-right organisations, an MP has said.

Two or three devices - described as petrol bombs by a witness - were thrown by a man who was later found dead at a nearby petrol station on Sunday.

Kent Police said he was aged 66 from High Wycombe, and the incident was not being treated as terrorism.

Sir Roger Gale, North Thanet's Tory MP, said the man was known to authorities.

"There is no known connection with either asylum seekers generally, or any right-wing organisations," he said.

"All the indications are he was a very, very sad mental health case, who did what he did."

BBC
 
Last edited:
MenInG said:
Counter-terrorism police have taken on the investigation into a firebomb attack at a Dover immigration centre.

Two or three devices - described as petrol bombs by a witness - were thrown by a man who was later found dead at a nearby petrol station on Sunday.

Police identified the man as Andrew Leak, 66, from High Wycombe.

A search warrant at a property in the town found "a number of items of interest", Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said.

Head of CTPSE Ch Supt Olly Wright said there was nothing to suggest the man was working alongside anyone else, and there was no wider community threat.

"This was a traumatic incident for everyone involved," he said.

"We understand that when Counter Terrorism Policing become involved, it can be worrying for some people, but I would like to reassure people that there is nothing to suggest any ongoing wider threat at this time.

"What appears clear is that this despicable offence was targeted and likely to be driven by some form of hate filled grievance, though this may not necessarily meet the threshold of terrorism."

He added that at this point the incident had not been declared a terrorist incident but it was being kept under review.

Investigators said the items of interest found at the property in High Wycombe included digital media devices which were being examined.

A photographer with Reuters news agency who witnessed the incident reported the man had thrown petrol bombs with fireworks attached before taking his own life.

Two members of staff working inside the immigration centre sustained minor injuries.

==

A man behind a fire attack at a migrant centre in Dover had no known links to far-right organisations, an MP has said.

Two or three devices - described as petrol bombs by a witness - were thrown by a man who was later found dead at a nearby petrol station on Sunday.

Kent Police said he was aged 66 from High Wycombe, and the incident was not being treated as terrorism.

Sir Roger Gale, North Thanet's Tory MP, said the man was known to authorities.

"There is no known connection with either asylum seekers generally, or any right-wing organisations," he said.

"All the indications are he was a very, very sad mental health case, who did what he did."

BBC
Click to expand...

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that Leak appears to have posted anti-Muslim sentiments on Facebook on an account under the name of an Andy Leak from High Wycombe.

One post on a page apparently posted by him said: "The next time the job centre sanctions your money for not looking for enough work asked them about the thousands of people getting benefits cannot speak English can not write English how are they looking for work?

"I have put in freedom of information request how many people cannot speak English right English...all of these people should be excluded from benefit."

During a speech in the House of Commons on Monday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman described the attack as "shocking" and confirmed the migrant centre was now fully operational.

A review into the security at the centre is to be carried out.
 
James said:
Meanwhile, it has also emerged that Leak appears to have posted anti-Muslim sentiments on Facebook on an account under the name of an Andy Leak from High Wycombe.

One post on a page apparently posted by him said: "The next time the job centre sanctions your money for not looking for enough work asked them about the thousands of people getting benefits cannot speak English can not write English how are they looking for work?

"I have put in freedom of information request how many people cannot speak English right English...all of these people should be excluded from benefit."

During a speech in the House of Commons on Monday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman described the attack as "shocking" and confirmed the migrant centre was now fully operational.

A review into the security at the centre is to be carried out.
Click to expand...

A far right racist and Islamophobe who ended his story as a terrorist.

What a waste of a life. Consumed by hate and ending in pointless violence.
 
James said:
Meanwhile, it has also emerged that Leak appears to have posted anti-Muslim sentiments on Facebook on an account under the name of an Andy Leak from High Wycombe.

One post on a page apparently posted by him said: "The next time the job centre sanctions your money for not looking for enough work asked them about the thousands of people getting benefits cannot speak English can not write English how are they looking for work?

"I have put in freedom of information request how many people cannot speak English right English...all of these people should be excluded from benefit."

During a speech in the House of Commons on Monday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman described the attack as "shocking" and confirmed the migrant centre was now fully operational.

A review into the security at the centre is to be carried out.
Click to expand...

The question here is why.

No one is born a terrorist or a racist, but experiences transform an individual, which is why understanding cause, rather than hurling labels such as racist/terrorist, is far more beneficial into tackling racism/terrorism.

For example, there is a huge difference in perception and experience between someone living next door to an asylum detention centre compared with someone living next door to golden beaches.

The government and media dare not address cause because it will expose their weaknesses and faults.
 
Albanians supposedly benefiting from the Brexit due to Dublin Agreement. They're very clever people when they're not growing!
 
Conditions at an overcrowded migrant centre in Kent were akin to living in a prison or a zoo, a recent resident has told the BBC.

Ahmed - not his real name - said people at the Manston processing centre were treated like "animals" with 130 people forced to share a single large tent.

Over 4,000 migrants have reportedly been held at the camp - meant to host just 1,600 - in recent days.

But Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has insisted numbers are coming down.

Ahmed - who left the centre on Monday after 24 days there - described being forced to sleep on the floor, and being prevented from going to the toilet, taking a shower or going outside for exercise.

He also said people were prevented from calling their families to let them know they had made the crossing to the UK safely.

"For the 24 days I'm in there, I can't call to my family to say to them I'm dead, I'm living - they don't know anything about me," he said.

"All people in there, they have a family. They should know what is happening to us."

Manston, a former military base in Kent, opened as a processing centre in February for the growing number of migrants reaching the UK in small boats. Migrants are meant to be held there for short periods of time while undergoing security and identity checks.

They are then supposed to be moved into the Home Office's asylum accommodation system, which often means a hotel due to a shortage of available accommodation.

But Manston became even more crowded at the weekend when 700 migrants were sent there from another centre in Dover, which was firebombed.

Several hundred asylum seekers were relocated from the Manston centre on Tuesday, according to local Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale.

More will leave throughout the week he said, tweeting: "This must never be allowed to happen again."

Mr Jenrick tweeted on Tuesday that the numbers of migrants held at the centre had "fallen substantially".

"Unless we receive an unexpectedly high number of migrants in small boats in the coming days, numbers will fall significantly this week," he said. "It's imperative that the site returns a sustainable operating model and we are doing everything we can to ensure that happens swiftly."

But the British Red Cross said "the serious problems at Manston are indicative of the wider issues facing the asylum system".

A huge number of migrants have arrived in the UK this year. So far this year, there have been almost 40,000 arrivals in Kent - with nearly 1,000 crossing the Channel on Saturday alone.

BBC
 
These people are gonna keep on coming. Some 40,000 have arrived this year including many criminals. The UK is in trouble like never before. They would still keep on coming even without Brexit. Even the right wing groups seem to have given up the ghost on this one.
 
PakLFC said:
These people are gonna keep on coming. Some 40,000 have arrived this year including many criminals. The UK is in trouble like never before. They would still keep on coming even without Brexit. Even the right wing groups seem to have given up the ghost on this one.
Click to expand...

Yup and well before Brexit, 10000s were arriving to the UK, and France did squat all to prevent them.
 
PakLFC said:
These people are gonna keep on coming. Some 40,000 have arrived this year including many criminals. The UK is in trouble like never before. They would still keep on coming even without Brexit. Even the right wing groups seem to have given up the ghost on this one.
Click to expand...

Brexit made it worse. If we were still in the Dublin Agreement we could send migrants and refugees around the EU so every nation state takes its share.
 
Robert said:
Brexit made it worse. If we were still in the Dublin Agreement we could send migrants and refugees around the EU so every nation state takes its share.
Click to expand...

Perhaps. No point crying over split milk now when the damage has been done. I never wanted Brexit like most Scots but we were ignored coz most of the English wanted it. Now we are being told that this is an invasion! If so then we better get used too it just like those people that the UK and America invaded.
 
PakLFC said:
Perhaps. No point crying over split milk now when the damage has been done. I never wanted Brexit like most Scots but we were ignored coz most of the English wanted it. Now we are being told that this is an invasion! If so then we better get used too it just like those people that the UK and America invaded.
Click to expand...

It's not an invasion - this is Braverman throwing more red meat to the racists.

Do you think Scotland will leave the Union and rejoin the EU?
 
Lets address the elephant in the room, the majority of the refugee invaders are from war torn nations at the behest of Western warmongering.

Is there any Liberal out their that will point the finger to Western foreign policy, in particular, NATO policy instead of the Tory party? No chance.

Said people were happy to open their doors to white European Ukrainians, but never did.

Please do speak up.
 
Rishi Sunak admits not enough asylum claims are being processed

Rishi Sunak has admitted not enough asylum claims are being processed, but promised to fix the system.

He was responding to questions from Sir Keir Starmer who accused the government of having lost control.

The Labour leader also called for Suella Braverman to be replaced with a "proper home secretary".

Last week MPs were told that just 4% of those coming to the UK via small boat Channel crossings in 2021 had received decisions on their asylum claims.

The government is also facing questions about severe overcrowding at the Manston asylum processing centre in Kent, which has reportedly led to outbreaks of disease and violence.

There have been reports of over 4,000 people staying at the centre, despite it being meant to hold just 1,600 when it was built.

Migrants are supposed to be kept at the centre for 24 hours only but the chief inspector of immigration has said some people had been there for over a month.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63486665
 
<b>The Home Office is facing a judicial review over the conditions at the migrant Manston processing centre, the immigration minister has told Sky News.</b>

Robert Jenrick said the legal action has begun after reports of severe overcrowding at the centre in Kent, which is meant to hold 1,600 people but has been housing about 4,000 migrants, according to MPs.

He told The Take with Sophy Ridge programme: "I believe we have received the initial contact for a judicial review.

"That's not unusual, this is a highly litigious area of policy but of course, as the minister responsible I want to make sure everything we do is conducted appropriately and within the law."

Mr Jenrick said he could not reveal who had brought the judicial review as it was legally sensitive.

The immigration minister, who was only appointed last week by Rishi Sunak, said he has been working with Home Secretary Suella Braverman to reduce the number of people and also the length of time they are staying at Manston - which is only meant to be 24 hours but has been much longer in some cases.

He added: "So the week I've been in post I've tried to work night and day to ensure the Manston site is not just legally compliant but is a humane and compassionate place where we welcome those migrants, treat them appropriately and then they leave quickly to alternative accommodation.

"I'm pleased to say that this evening that's the path we're on, the numbers at Manston have fallen very substantially since the weekend when we became aware of the specific issues and got involved so directly.

"I think we're on a path now where within a matter of days, assuming we don't see very large numbers of migrants coming across the Channel - I don't think that's going to happen as we have good forecasts of the weather and other intelligence from northern France.

"I expect Manston will be returned to a well-functioning and legally compliant site very rapidly."

Mr Jenrick denied he had taken over from Mrs Braverman in dealing with Manston after she was accused of failing to listen to legal advice that said migrants from Manston needed to be sent to hotels after being processed within a day of arriving.

She denied this in parliament on Tuesday.

"We've been working extremely closely together, we've procured more hotels, extra support, brilliant officers from Border Force supported by contractors and armed forces," Mr Jenrick added.

SKY
 
The Home Office is facing legal action over conditions at the Manston migrant processing centre - as reports suggest asylum seekers were removed from the site and "abandoned" at London Victoria station.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told Sky News that a judicial review is being brought following reports of severe overcrowding at the centre in Kent.

Although Manston is meant to hold 1,600 people, estimates suggested 4,000 were being housed at the facility earlier this week.

Hundreds of people have been removed from the site in recent days, with Mr Jenrick expressing hope that Manston will return to being "legally compliant" soon

Volunteer Danial Abbas said: "They were stressed, disturbed and completely disoriented. They were also very hungry."

A British Transport Police spokesperson told the newspaper: "Officers engaged and liaised with charity partners, rail staff and government colleagues to help them find accommodation for the evening."

The government is facing criticism over this incident - with Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael raising it in the House of Commons yesterday.

He said Home Secretary Suella Braverman had refused to prematurely release people into local communities without them having anywhere to stay - but claimed this is "exactly what happened" on Tuesday.

"She has something to answer. It would be very useful for the House to know whether or not she intends to come here and explain herself or whether yet again she has to be brought," Mr Carmichael warned.

SKY
 
Channel crossings: Albanian migrants recruited to the UK by gangs

Albanian drug gangs are using the migrant camps of northern France as a recruitment ground, offering to pay the passage of those prepared to work in the UK drugs industry on arrival, the BBC has been told.

Albanians account for around a third of the almost 40,000 people who have arrived in small boats so far this year, according to UK government figures.

Senior police and immigration officials on both sides of the Channel are worried by the growing role of Albanian middlemen in facilitating crossings.

The BBC interviewed Albanians who travelled to the French coast to make the Channel crossing to the UK in small boats.

They told us about the different people smuggling services on offer, with Albanians acting mainly as middlemen for other networks often run by Iraqi Kurds, who control the small boat operations.

We also travelled to Albania and saw how towns near the capital Tirana have been left almost empty, with many young Albanians being lured to France.

Posing as a migrant, we contacted two Albanian people smugglers advertising for clients on social media. Both responded within half an hour.

We were given the option to pay in France before departure, or through a guarantor on arrival in England. And we were given advice on claiming asylum.

"I'll help you cross from Calais to the UK," one said. "Go by bus to Belgium, and from there it's two or three hours [to Calais], by train or taxi."

"When it's time to go, they'll come and get you [from the hotel]," we were told. "You won't have any problems."

Another told us he would keep in touch with us all the way through the journey: "I'll help you find your way, but it's very easy to arrive there."

"They're going to arrest you for sure," said one. "You have to ask for asylum. Only those who didn't ask for asylum were sent back. The others didn't have any problems. You have to invent a reason why you're here. People usually say they have debts, problems in general."

Both made the trip sound very easy.

Eye-witnesses say Albanians had stayed in part of the main migrant camp in Dunkirk this summer.

And small hotels around the station - like Hotel Bretagne and Le Lion d'Or - are now established staging posts for Albanian migrants: their doors permanently closed, no staff in sight, a 24-hour phone number pinned to the glass.

These are some of the places Albanian middlemen wait for clients - acting as a critical link with the small boat crossings dominated by Iraqi-Kurdish networks.

"In France, there are people who wait for you," one Albanian man told me, after reaching the UK by small boat this summer. "Everybody in the world knows where to go, if you want to get to England."

From the street outside Dunkirk station, we spot Kevi at the window of his second-floor room at Le Lion d'Or, as he smokes a cigarette. A new arrival from Albania, 20 years old, and full of nervous energy for the trip ahead.

After just a couple of days here, he has already found someone to organise his crossing and is waiting for the call to leave.

"The weather's no good," he says. "We have to wait maybe two more days."

For Albanian nationals like Kevi, getting to northern France is easy; they have the right to enter the EU as tourists for up to three months without a visa.

Most arrive by bus or car, urged on by adverts on social media promising help from middlemen on the ground in Brussels, Paris, Calais or Dunkirk.

"The middlemen approach you and you just go with the cheapest offer," Eraldo Harlicaj, an Albanian journalist, told me.

Eraldo recently posed undercover as a migrant for Albania's ABC television channel. He said most Albanian middlemen stayed away from the main migrant camp in Dunkirk, where Kurdish and other networks wield control.

"When we were inside the camp, we realised that the Albanians did not have any real power. Everything was run by Kurds," Eraldo told me. "The whole organisation in the camp and the transportation of people towards England was done by the Kurds."

A senior French official, who is focused on this area, confirmed that Albanians are currently playing the role of intermediaries, connecting Albanian migrants with Iraqi-Kurdish smuggling gangs.

Speaking off the record, he said Iraqi-Kurdish networks currently run 80% of small boat operations, but that the French authorities are concerned about the prospect of Albanian nationals setting up their own independent operations, with a risk of violent conflict between the groups.

The UK government says 12,000 Albanians have arrived by small boat this year, almost all of them young men travelling alone.

Back home in Albania, some areas around the capital Tirana are being drained of people.

Laknas lies on the flight path from Albania to France. Passenger jets zoom over the still and empty town: over its small mosque framed by half-built blocks and shuttered houses; over its deserted café.

Shopkeepers gather in the quiet road to complain that their business is unviable.

A pair of cows mumble away at the grass by the still main road.

"They're all I have left," their owner says. "My children have gone to England."

Residents here say 70% of the local population has already left for the UK. And the departures haven't stopped.

There are many places like Laknas in Albania now.

Economic opportunity remains the key driver. Corruption is a systemic problem, and Eurostat figures from 2018 contrast median household income in Albania (€1,997; £1,744), with the UK, where it is 10 times higher (€21,464).

Majlinda's son left for the UK a month ago, with three or four friends from the neighbourhood.

Majlinda is not her real name, she has asked that we not share her identity. She told me her son made it to Dunkirk, but then found himself stuck without the money to pay for a crossing.

"It was very hard for him to get on a boat," she told me. "I was forced to involve my second cousin who acted as guarantor in England. He has a British visa and has been there for 20 years."

She said the cousin sent a photo of her son to the smugglers, to identify him.

When the crossing was complete, the smugglers sent a second photo of her son back to the cousin, to prove he had reached British soil.

Even for those without the money to pay up-front, there are ways to get across.

One Albanian man, who reached the UK by small boat several months ago, told us that scouts for Albanian drug gangs were operating inside the Dunkirk camp.

He agreed to an in-person interview in London, on condition we did not identify him in any way.

He described being approached "four or five times" by recruiters.

"They offered lots of things - that they would pay for the trip, that there would be a job for me [in the UK] - but I wasn't interested," he said.

He estimates that a majority of the young men he met in the Dunkirk camp planned to work in the Albanian cannabis and cocaine networks in the UK.

No government agency or immigration official has confirmed this estimate. But one former Albanian migrant, who worked illegally in the UK for a decade, told us that half the migrant staff on his construction site were lured away by drug gangs offering higher wages.

Andrea Wilson, deputy director at the National Crime Agency, says the criminal drugs market in the UK is a significant draw for people to come.

"We have seen cases of trafficking, cases where people are debt-bonded," she told me. "They've come to work off the cost of their journey to the UK. They are victims of trafficking - and we take modern slavery very seriously."

But there is little organised structure to the people-smuggling networks themselves, she said.

"Whereas in drugs or firearms you see a hierarchical structure with a kingpin at the top, in organised migration, we see close associations, loose networks where individuals are put in touch through social media - which makes it very challenging."

Albania has agreed to swiftly readmit nationals who are refused the right to remain in the UK, and has sent staff to assist British border police.

But the country's prime minister, Edi Rama, told me the networks operating in northern France were international in nature, and that there was a limit to what his government could do to tackle them.

"The Channel is not geographically and politically under the responsibility of the Albanian government," he said.

"Countries of origin should not be called in the moment that the problem is in the newspapers. It's too easy to be the British prime minister and go on TV and show your muscles, and [point to] Albania and Albanians."
BBC

It's too easy to be the British prime minister and go on TV and show your muscles, and [point to] Albania and Albanians.

Albanian people-smuggling networks have existed in France long before the small boat crossings began. For decades, Albanian middlemen in France and Belgium hid their compatriots inside lorries bound for the UK.

The massive UK and French investment in tightening security at ferry ports has made that route more difficult, and more expensive.

Boat crossings cost less than half the price of passage in a lorry, and social media is full of testimony from those who make it across. Each new arrival inspiring another to start.

Majlinda has heard from her son since his arrival in the UK. He is out of detention and living in a hotel.

"He left for a better life," she said. "But there are sacrifices. We are in debt now to pay back the money we have borrowed."

Majlinda's younger son, at 14 years old, is already planning his own trip.

His brother's story, with its danger and debt, has been transformed by the waters of the Channel into an alluring opportunity.

Each successful crossing, an invisible thread that tugs at the minds of Albanians back home.

BBC
 
Detainees have caused a "disturbance" at a London immigration removal centre during a power outage, the Home Office says.

No one was injured during the incident at the Harmondsworth detention centre in West London.

It is understood that a group of detainees left their rooms and went into the courtyard at the immigration centre armed with various weaponry.

There was a power cut at the premises in the early hours of Saturday.

The power was still out at the premises in west London just before 0900 GMT and the Home Office said work was underway to resolve the issue.

The government said no detainees had left the premises and those involved had since been returned to their rooms.

Police officers and the HM Prison Service are at the scene. The Metropolitan Police said officers attended the incident at 0745 and were still there.

The detention facility in West Drayton, near Heathrow Airport, holds hundreds of men, including adult male asylum seekers, foreign offenders awaiting deportation and men who are in the UK illegally.

A government report on the Harmondsworth immigration removal centre found some concerns with the site including living conditions "below an acceptable standard", following a scrutiny visit last year.

The chief inspector of prisons reported filthy cell toilets, problems with pests and dilapidated communal showers.

Other concerns raised included high levels of vulnerability among detainees, people assessed to be at risk of harm being held for too long and detainees being locked in their cells during lunch and overnight.

The purpose-built immigration removal centre opened in 2000 and has a capacity of about 670 people. It is run by contractors Mitie Care and Custody.

The centre has had a controversial history. In October 2012, detainee Prince Fosu, 31, was found dead on the floor of his cell, and two firms running the centre faced prosecution.

In 2018, the CPS reversed its decision saying the firms should not face health and safety charges.

Conditions at the centre were described as "desolate" by a 2016 report, which said some detainees were being held for too long.

SKY
 
A group of people at an immigration removal centre in west London caused a "disturbance" on Friday night following a power outage, the Home Office has said.

No one was injured during the incident at Harmondsworth detention centre near Heathrow Airport, but the power was still out just before 9am on Saturday, the department said.
 
The firebombing of an immigration centre in Dover was motivated by a terrorist ideology, Counter Terrorism Policing South East has said, citing recovered evidence.

Andrew Leak, 66, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, is believed to have killed himself after throwing two or three "crude" incendiary devices at the Western Jet Foil site, in Kent, last Sunday.

The counter terror police said a number of "significant witnesses" have been spoken to and a number of items of interest have been recovered.

Evidence from examining digital media devices found during the investigation is said to suggest "an extreme right-wing motivation behind the attack," officers said.

They added: "There is currently nothing to suggest the offender was working alongside anyone else and there is not believed to be any wider threat to the public."

Kent Police said "two to three incendiary devices" were thrown at the centre by "a single suspect who arrived at the scene in a car".

Two people suffered minor injuries and the suspect was later found dead at a nearby petrol station, the force added.

Tim Jacques, senior national co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "Assessing when this crosses the terrorism threshold is a complex process and needs to be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis.

"These decisions need to be determined by the facts, as far as they can be established at any given time.

"After considering the evidence collected so far in this case, whilst there are strong indications that mental health was likely a factor, I am satisfied that the suspect's actions were primarily driven by an extremist ideology.

"This meets the threshold for a terrorist incident."

Facebook posts on a now-deleted account under the name of an Andy Leak from High Wycombe contain anti-Muslim sentiments and complaints about people claiming benefits if they do not speak English.

SKY
 
Channel crossings deal with France in final stages, says No 10

Talks on a deal with France over small boat Channel crossings are in the "final stages", No 10 has said.

The comment came as Rishi Sunak had his first meeting as prime minister with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Following the meeting, Mr Sunak said there was "not one simple solution" to tackling the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.

But he said there was an opportunity to work closely with European countries on illegal migration.

More details would be set out in the coming weeks, he added.

The Elysee Palace said the two leaders agreed "to advance coordination to face the challenge of irregular migration".

The meeting with Mr Macron took place on the sidelines of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.

Mr Sunak said he had also been talking to other European leaders, and was leaving with "renewed confidence and optimism that working together with our European partners, we can make a difference, grip this challenge of illegal immigration and stop people coming illegally".

However, he told broadcasters this was a "complex issue and it's not one simple solution that's going to solve it overnight".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the UK needed to work "upstream" with France to stop people-smuggling across the Channel.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63540385
 
Two councils have lost a High Court battle to prevent hotels from housing asylum seekers.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council asked the High Court to continue an interim injunction preventing migrants from being housed at the Humber View hotel in Hull.

This was granted after it was contacted by the Home Office with a proposal to use the site.

Ipswich Borough Council also asked for an interim injunction to be extended to stop further asylum seekers being placed at the four-star Novotel Hotel in Ipswich city centre, where 72 people are already being housed.

Earlier this month, lawyers for the council argued there had been an "unauthorised material change of use" under planning rules through the Home Office's attempts to book accommodation in Hull and Ipswich.

They argued the interim court orders could be extended by four to six weeks ahead of a final hearing on the issues in the cases.

However, on Friday afternoon, a judge refused to extend the injunctions, saying it is the "statutory duty" of the Home Office to provide accommodation to asylum seekers "who would otherwise be homeless".

SKY
 
<b>UK strikes revised deal with France on Channel migrants

<I>The UK will pay France £8m more a year under a revised deal to try to stop people crossing the English Channel in small boats.</I></b>

The money will pay for increased surveillance of French beaches, while UK police officers will also be able to observe patrols within France.

It is thought French officers patrolling the coast will rise from about 250 to 350 over five months.

PM Rishi Sunak said he was "confident" the crossings could be brought down.

However, he warned there was no "single thing" that could "fix" the situation, promising "even greater cooperation" with France in the months ahead.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called the deal a "small step in the right direction," but said more needed to be done to tackle people smuggling.

The government is coming under increasing pressure to reduce journeys across the Channel, which have risen to record levels this year.

More than 40,000 people have crossed in small boats so far this year, including 1,800 this weekend alone, according to official figures.

Under the new agreement, signed by Home Secretary Suella Braverman in Paris, the UK will pay France £63m this year, up from £55m last year.

It will cover:
• investment in drones, night vision equipment, and CCTV in French ports to try and prevent crossings
• funding for detection dogs at ports to identify people trying to enter the UK in lorries
• investment in reception and removal centres in France

UK observers will be embedded in French control rooms, and French observers embedded in UK control rooms, to help inform each other's deployments.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman told MPs the deal was a "very good platform" for deeper collaboration in the future.

"I'm not going to overplay this agreement," she said, adding: "Is it going to solve the problem on its own? It won't, but I do encourage everybody to support the deal we have secured."

Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the deal, but said there was "much more that needs to be done".

"We need the National Crime Agency working upstream to tackle the people smuggling in the first place," he told reporters.

He also criticised the "desperate state" of asylum application processing in the UK, adding most people would be "shocked" by official figures showing that only 4% of asylum claims by migrants who crossed the Channel last year have been processed.

Franck Dhersin, mayor of Teteghem near the coastal town of Dunkirk, said the increase in crossings this year had come despite "a lot of police" watching the coast.

"We are talking about 175km of beaches and dunes, where it is very easy to hide," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover, called the new deal "more of the same," adding it "falls far short of what is needed".

"The only thing that will tackle this issue is making sure that the boats are stopped in France before they get in the water," she added.

The Refugee Council and Amnesty International UK called for a greater focus on increasing the number of safe and legal routes for people who want to claim asylum in the UK.

The higher numbers of migrants making the crossing this year has been partly blamed on a big rise in the number of Albanian nationals making the journey.

So far this year 12,000 Albanians have arrived in the UK using small boats, compared to just 50 in 2020.

The deal comes after weeks of criticism aimed at the government for severe overcrowding at the migrant processing site in Manston, Kent, and for its spending on housing for those waiting for their asylum applications to be completed.

According to the Home Office, the UK is spending £5.6m on accommodating asylum seekers in hotels.

It is spending a further £1.2m a day to temporarily house Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban.

The latest government figures for the year to the end of June 2022 showed that 103,000 asylum applications were awaiting a decision.

Ms Braverman has previously admitted the system was "broken" and Mr Sunak has said not enough asylum claims were being processed.

More than 40,000 people applying for asylum have waited between one and three years for a decision on their claim, according to a Refugee Council Freedom of Information request.

It also reported that a further 725 migrants have been waiting for more than five years to have their claim processed.

It emerged last month there was severe overcrowding at Manston, with 4,000 people staying there rather than the 1,600 for which the site was intended.

Numbers have since been reduced to less than 1,600, according to immigration minister Robert Jenrick.

On Saturday it emerged people at Manston centre are to be vaccinated against highly contagious and sometimes fatal diphtheria after an outbreak.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63615653
 
A migrant staying at the Manston processing centre in Kent has died, the Home Office has said.

The person was taken to hospital on Saturday after becoming unwell.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We express our heartfelt condolences to all those affected.

"We take the safety of those in our care extremely seriously and are profoundly saddened by this event.

"A post-mortem examination will take place so it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."

The spokesperson said there was "no evidence at this stage" that the person died from an infectious disease.

They said: "We take the safety and welfare of those in our care extremely seriously and provide 24/7 health facilities with trained medical staff at Manston."
 
The UK has seen the highest net migration since the end of the Second World War.

An estimated 504,000 more people came to the UK than left last year, a figure greater than the population of Liverpool.

It smashes the previous post-war net migration high of 329,000 set in 2015.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that in total more than a million people arrived in the country last year.

The report also said an estimated 35,000 people arrived across the English Channel in small boats in the year ending in June 2022.

But earlier this month that figure was put at more than 40,000 according to data released by the Ministry of Defence.

The gross number of people who arrived in the UK was estimated at 1.1 million.

SKY
 
<b>Manston migrant's death may have been caused by diphtheria - Home Office</b>

The death of a migrant held at the Manston processing centre in Kent may have been caused by diphtheria, the Home Office has said.

The man died in hospital on 19 November after entering the UK on a small boat seven days earlier, it is understood.

The centre was cleared of people last week after reports of overcrowding and outbreaks of disease.

Hospital tests indicate "diphtheria may be the cause of the illness", according to a Home Office spokesperson.

Initial hospital tests processed by a local hospital were negative and the Home Office said there was "no evidence at this stage" that the person had died from an infectious disease.

But a follow-up PCR test for diphtheria has since produced a positive result.

Diphtheria is a highly contagious infection that affects the nose, throat and sometimes cause ulcers on the skin.

According to the NHS website, it's spread by coughs and sneezes or through close contact with someone who is infected.

You can also get it by sharing items such as cups, cutlery, clothing or bedding with an infected person.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said 39 diphtheria cases had been identified in asylum seekers in England this year up to 10 November.

Manston - a former military base - is designed to hold just 1,600 people. But in October there were around 4,000 migrants being held there.

More than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel on small boats this year.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the Home Affairs Select Committee that the Government had "failed to control our borders".

She also blamed migrants and people smugglers for the chaos at Manston.

A Government spokeswoman said: "Our thoughts remain with the family of the man who has died and all those affected by this loss.

"We take the safety and welfare of those in our care extremely seriously and are taking all of the necessary steps following these results.

"We are offering diphtheria vaccinations to people at Manston."

A post-mortem examination and a coroner's investigation into the man's death are ongoing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63766770
 
<b>Fifty migrants who have arrived in the UK this year have been diagnosed with diphtheria, the immigration minister has revealed, with the vast majority being reported in the last two months.</b>

Robert Jenrick told MPs that the number has increased significantly since he first gave an update on 1 November.

The latest UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data identified 18 new diphtheria cases in October and 27 so far this month - with a total of 50 cases since February this year.

There was one case each in February, June, July, August and September.

The immigration minister said the UKHSA found the cases, which were across different asylum accommodations, had developed before the migrants had entered the UK, either in their country of origin or on their journey through Europe.

"It's important to emphasise that the UKHSA has been clear that the risk to the wider UK population from onward transmission of diphtheria is very low, thanks in no small part to our excellent childhood immunisation programme," he told the Commons.

He said "public health is paramount" and the government would take "all steps necessary to ensure that the public are protected".

The UKHSA said of the 50 cases, two were severe and required hospital admission and treatment with diphtheria anti-toxin and antibiotics.

Earlier today the Home Office revealed 500 migrants at the Manston processing centre in Kent had been vaccinated against diphtheria before they were moved to further accommodation.

At the beginning of November, the centre was suffering from severe overcrowding, which is when reports of diphtheria cases first emerged.

Sky News also revealed today a man who died after staying at Manston had the disease.

Mr Jenrick said initial tests on the man were negative but a subsequent PCR test showed he had diphtheria, however his cause of death is pending as the post-mortem results have not come through yet.

The minister said migrants are being tested upon arrival in the UK and those with diphtheria are being isolated in a designated area.

People with symptoms are being tested, and also their close contacts, he said.

Mr Jenrick added that the measures "go beyond the baseline advice of the UKHSA because we want to take precautionary measures".

All migrants who arrived at Manston this weekend took up the offer of the vaccine, which is voluntary, Mr Jenrick said.

When the government initially started offering the vaccine there was only around a 45% uptake but he said it is now 100%.

Mr Jenrick said the government will be liaising with the French to assess the diphtheria status in the migrant camps in northern France, where most stay before making the dangerous Channel crossing to the UK.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper asked what is happening with the "other several thousand" who have been moved on from Manston over the past month.

She raised concerns that not enough has been done to stop diphtheria potentially spreading from those who have not been vaccinated as she said the public health recommendation to screen and vaccinate was made nearly three weeks ago "and that was already late".

Ms Cooper also called on ministers to make sure all those with symptoms are given "precautionary antibiotics" to fight the disease".

Mr Jenrick said the Home Office and the UKHSA are going to work with public health directors in areas where migrants are being sent to make they have the guidance to protect people from the disease.

Migrants who have been moved on and have diphtheria will be required to "isolate in their rooms within those hotels or other forms of accommodation", he added.

They will get their food and laundry brought to their door until they are well again and if further measures are needed they will be implemented, he said.

Sky News
 
Channel migrants: Man arrested in UK over 27 dinghy deaths

A man has been arrested over the deaths of at least 27 people who drowned attempting to cross the English Channel in a dinghy last year.

Harem Ahmed Abwbaker, 32, was held in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on Tuesday, the National Crime Agency said.

He is accused of being part of a group which conspired to transport the migrants to the UK last November.

He is set to appear in court in London in Wednesday over extradition to France where he faces manslaughter charges.

The incident is thought to be one of the worst migrant tragedies in the Channel.

The small craft sank after leaving the French coast leading to the death of all but two of those onboard. Four people remain missing, the NCA said.

Mr Abwbaker, who will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court, also faces French charges of facilitating illegal immigration.

NCA deputy director Craig Turner described the arrest as "significant".

He said: "The individual detained today is suspected of having played a key role in the manslaughter of those who died.

"Working closely with our French partners we are determined to do all we can to get justice for the families of those whose lives were lost, and disrupt and dismantle the cruel organised criminal networks involved in people smuggling."

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: "My thoughts continue to be with the families of all of those who tragically lost their lives in this horrendous incident.

"I thank the NCA and other agencies across the UK and France for their tireless work to deliver justice for the victims and their families by identifying those we believe to be responsible and ensuring they feel the full force of the law."

BBC
 
<b>Channel crossings: Dozens of Albanian child migrants go missing</b>

Almost 20% of unaccompanied child migrants from Albania taken in by Kent County Council this year have disappeared.

The local authority took in 197 Albanian children up to 31 October, 39 of whom have gone missing.

Ecpat UK, which campaigns to protect children from exploitation, said the figures were very concerning.

The council said it had worked closely with the Home Office and police to safeguard vulnerable children.

The figures were obtained by the BBC via a Freedom of Information request.

The council said 197 Albanian children processed at the Home Office's Kent Intake Unit came into its care between 1 January and 31 October.

It added that, as of 7 November, 39 were recorded as missing. However, it said some of those children would have since turned 18.

Government figures show that 44,122 people have crossed on small boats so far this year, compared with 28,461 who arrived in 2021.

This contributed to overcrowding at the Manston processing centre in Kent, which at one point was holding more than double its capacity, at about 4,000 people.

The rising number of diphtheria cases among asylum seekers who have recently arrived in the UK has also been a concern.

Meanwhile, a government plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda is currently on hold as it faces a legal challenge.

More than 12,000 migrants from Albania have reached the UK by boat so far this year - an increase of almost 4,000% compared with 2021.

The issue has been highlighted by Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, who said that on some small boats 80% of those on board were from Albania.

Laura Durán, head of policy, advocacy and research for Ecpat UK said this was a "really high" number of missing children.

She said: "We're really concerned they are at risk of exploitation or have effectively been trafficked.

"They could be facing labour exploitation in different industries such as construction or car washes; they could be criminally exploited in drug distribution or in cannabis farms, or they could be sexually exploited."

In a statement, Kent County Council said it had seen a "significant increase" in the number of unaccompanied Albanian children referred to its services.

It said: "Whilst all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are vulnerable to exploitation... research and experience evidences that some nationalities are particularly vulnerable and can go missing from local authority care very quickly.

"Kent County Council has used both established safeguarding protocols, including the National Referral Mechanism, and initiated multi-agency strategies to minimise the risks for these children as much as possible.

"The council continues to take a proactive role in safeguarding all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in its care."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-63845680
 
There are long-standing Albanian cartels that will allow this to keep happening. This is a really tragic situation with no real solution, exacerbated by Brexit
 
"I lost control of my body and my mind. I couldn't stand up. My hands were trembling. I was terrified," recalls Iranian asylum seeker Nasar Abdollahi as he describes being strapped into a plane seat and preparing to take off for Rwanda.

"They wanted to send us to Rwanda by force," he says. "They tried, but by the end it didn't work out, thank God."

It's six months now since lawyers managed to prevent the plane which Nasar and three other asylum seekers were on from leaving at the very last minute - forcing the government's controversial policy into the courts instead.

Nasar and his family were speaking to us ahead of a decision - due imminently - on whether the government's plan is lawful.

Nasar says: "I still fear someone will knock on my door and send me to the deportation centre and then send me to Rwanda."

Nasar says his concerns about travelling to Rwanda are based on the African country's "good relations" with Iran.

"If they're going to send me to Rwanda I wish I'd stayed in Iran and they'd just killed me there," he says.

Nasar's sister Shan says she can't contemplate the "nightmare" they went through last time happening again.

"How can I not be worried? The fear is still there," she says.

Nasar admits he wishes he hadn't come to the UK because of what's happened to him.

He crossed the Channel by small boat in May. Nasar says he was politically active in Iran and had no choice but to flee - leaving behind his wife and child, hoping one day they would be able to join him in the UK.

He used smugglers to get him through Turkey and on to Italy. From there he reached northern France.

Like many other asylum seekers, the driver to cross the Channel was to reach family in the UK - in Nasar's case, his sister Shan.

But once Nasar arrived in Dover things didn't go as he'd hoped.

A few days after arriving he says he received a letter telling him he was at risk of being sent to Rwanda.

It's believed more than 100 asylum seekers were sent notices of intent after the government announced its new plan in April to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing.

Successful applicants would stay there without a chance to be returned to the UK.

More than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year - a huge increase on 2021, when it was fewer than 29,000. Many are put up in hotels while their claims are processed.

In the end, Nasar says he was one of just four people who the Home Office got as far as putting on a plane with the intention of flying them there.

Nasar describes how he physically lost control as was transported to the aircraft two months after arriving in the UK. The date was 14 June.

He says: "About four hours before they boarded us we became really stressed. Our lawyer said he couldn't do any more. I lost control of my body and my mind. I couldn't stand up. My hands were trembling. I was terrified. They had to hold my hand to get me into the car."

Once on board, Nasar describes how he and the other asylum seekers were restrained in their seats.

"We had handcuffs around our arms and straps around our waists," he says. "Our hands were tied and we couldn't move because it was so tight. We could only use our mouths to breathe and speak," he says.

"I felt genuine shock. I couldn't think straight. I was so, so sad and upset. But I never lost hope. I thought, 'no', the British government wouldn't do this. I couldn't speak. My eyes were closed and tears were streaming down my face. All I could do was cry.

"I felt like I was dying. I wanted to die. Every second my pain got worse. The fear was so bad, dying couldn't be worse."

But, simultaneously, an extraordinary legal tussle was playing out - which ended with Nasar's sister Shan actually breaking the news to her brother that the flight had been aborted.

Nasar's solicitor had called Shan but they had no way of reaching Nasar, who'd had his phone taken off him and doesn't speak English.

At around 10pm Nasar was allowed to use someone else's phone to make what he thought was a final phone call to his sister to say goodbye before take-off.

Shan excitedly recalls the conversation. She says: "Nasar said 'Hi Shan.' I said: 'Nasar I've got good news - the flight is cancelled.' He said: 'But we're on the plane and the plane nearly fly off.' I said: 'Don't worry it's cancelled'."

Shan then describes how she could hear the joy on the plane as her brother broke the news to the others.

She said: "He (her brother) said 'Shan, can you listen to the voices. Everyone was crying. The people who were on the plane. Begging and crying. He said: 'Can you listen - they're all crying'.

"I said: 'Don't worry you can tell them it's cancelled.' I shouted: 'Don't worry cancel cancel' - I knew this word cancel. They all stopped crying. Like hope came back to them."

Shan excitedly goes on: "The emotion - oh God it's hard to express the emotion. It was the happiest time. You think something terrible has happened but at the end of it it's cancelled and it didn't happen. I was so happy I couldn't believe it."

Nasar's solicitor, Qays Sediqi, told Sky News: "We hope nobody is going to be on a flight to Rwanda but I cannot promise that it all depends on how the court will rule but we will do everything within our power to essentially show that the policy is unlawful. We hope the courts will agree with us and eventually abolish the policy."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Our ground-breaking Migration and Economic Development Partnership will see those who come to the UK through dangerous, illegal and unnecessary routes relocated to Rwanda.

"We expected legal challenges to this innovative plan and remain determined to make this work so we can break the business model of the evil people smugglers and prevent people risking their lives by making dangerous journeys across the Channel."

SKY
 
Rishi Sunak has promised to bring in new laws to tackle illegal immigration, saying anyone who comes to the UK illegally will not be allowed to stay.

Making a raft of announcements in the Commons, the prime minister said the legislation would be introduced early next year and mean people who do not come to the country through legal and safe routes "will be detained and swiftly returned either to [their] home country or a safe country where [their] asylum claim will be considered".

He said those coming illegally would "no longer be able to frustrate removal attempts with late or spurious claims or appeals" and, once removed from the UK, "should have no right to re-entry settlement or citizenship".

But he pledged to work with the UN Refugee Agency to create more legal routes "so the UK remains a safe haven for the most vulnerable".

"The solution shouldn't just be what works, but what is right," said Mr Sunak. "It is unfair people come here illegally.

"Enough is enough."

Labour attacked the government announcements as merely "gimmicks", while the Liberal Democrats said the plans would "weaken crucial protections for victims of human trafficking and modern slavery".

One of the pledges made by Mr Sunak in the Commons was to clear the backlog of asylum cases by the end of next year - but Downing Street have since clarified that this only applies to claims made before June.

The prime minister's official spokesman told reporters this totalled 92,601 initial asylum claims and indicated there is no deadline to clear the entire backlog - which in September totalled around 143,000.

Reacting to this, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The prime minister doesn't even know what he's promised today.

"This claim to be able to tackle the backlog by the end of the year is already falling apart just hours after he made it.

"No one trusts the Conservatives to fix the asylum system they've broken over the last 12 years."

'Shameful day for government'

The chief executive of Refugee Action, Tim Naor Hilton, called it "a shameful day" for the government, adding: "Most of these changes are cruel, ineffective and unlawful, and will do nothing to fix the real problems in the system."

Among Tory backbenchers to praise the policies was former cabinet minister Simon Clarke, who called it "really strong and welcome action".

But former Prime Minister Theresa May told Mr Sunak "people-smuggling and human-trafficking are distinct and separate crimes and should not be treated or spoken of as one", adding: "The onus must be on the Home Office to improve its processing."

'We must act now'

The PM announced five key points to his plan to tackle illegal migration:

A new small boats operational command to bring together agencies trying to tackle Channel crossings
Extra resources to be freed up to increase the number of raids carried out by immigration officers
New sites, including disused holiday parks, former student halls and surplus military sites, to house asylum seekers - with 10,000 spaces identified costing half what is now being spent on hotels
A doubling of the number of asylum caseworkers and a streamlined process - with a promise to abolish the backlog by the end of next year
A new agreement with Albania to speed up the return of asylum seekers to the "safe" country, including Border Force officers being embedded in Tirana airport
The PM also announced the government would be restarting its controversial flights to Rwanda to deport those arriving illegally, and that MPs would soon be able to set an annual quota "to determine our capacity" to offer refuge to asylum seekers.

"We have a proud history of providing sanctuary for those most in need," said Mr Sunak. "No one can doubt our generosity of spirit.

"But today far too many of the beneficiaries of that generosity are not those directly fleeing war zones or at risk of persecution, but people crossing the Channel in small boats

"Many originate from fundamentally safe countries or travel through safe countries, their journeys are not ad hoc but coordinated by ruthless organised criminals, and every single journey risks the lives of women, children and… mostly men at sea.

"This is not what previous generations intended when they drafted our humanitarian laws. Unless we act now and decisively this will only get worse."

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dungeness, Kent, after being rescued by the RNLI following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Friday December 9, 2022.

The number of people thought to have made dangerous Channel crossings this year is more than 43,000.
Speaking to reporters this afternoon, the prime minister's spokesman said no number has been set for the quota as "the first priority is to get a grip on the number making these illegal crossings".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer agreed Channel crossings were "a serious problem, requiring serious solutions", but said "time and time again this government has refused to treat a serious problem seriously".

"Where there should have been solutions, we have had gimmicks," he added. "Plenty of newspaper headlines about wave machines, prison ships, and fantasy islands but no actual action.

"It's all designed to mask failure - to distract from a broken asylum system that can't process claims, can't return those with no right to be here, and can't protect our borders."

Sir Keir welcomed the fast-tracking of those who do not have claims to asylum, saying Labour had long been calling for the policy, and the addition of more staff to process claims.

But he attacked the "unworkable, unethical plan to deport people to Rwanda" and urged the government to "work internationally to end this cross-border crime".

Refugee Action's Mr Naor Hilton condemned the announcements almost in their entirety, saying they would "cause misery for thousands of already traumatised people".

The charity leader added: "New laws to ban people who have no other choice than to cross the Channel from claiming asylum are unbelievably callous and mean refugees trying to reach family here could be deported back to danger.

"Meanwhile ministers remain unable to commit to creating safe routes - a move that could end most small boat crossings overnight.

"Changes to anti-slavery guidance and deporting people based on sweeping and incorrect assumptions about their nationality will mean many victims and refugees risk further danger and exploitation.

"And it beggar's belief that the government is still intent on opening new shared accommodation centres in after the fatal catastrophe at Manston, for which there has still been no pledge of an inquiry."

The announcements come after a year of record-breaking numbers of people making dangerous Channel crossings in small boats to get to the UK, with the figure thought to have exceeded 43,000.

The government has made a specific point about the rise in Albanians coming into the country via the route, saying they accounted for more than a third of the 33,000 who crossed in the first nine months of 2022, compared to 3% of all those who crossed in 2021.

It also comes amid criticism of the Home Office over the speed in which they process asylum cases.

Figures from the department in September showed more than 143,000 asylum seekers were still waiting for decisions, and nearly 100,000 of those had been waiting for more than six months - over three times higher than in 2019.

SKY
 
4 Killed, 43 Rescued As Migrant Boat Sinks Off English Coast: Report

A small boat loaded with migrants heading for British shores from France capsized in the freezing waters of the English Channel early on Wednesday, resulting in four deaths, the British government said.

Lifeboats, helicopters and rescue teams working with the French and British navies responded to the incident, which took place as immigration to Britain organised by people-trafficking criminal gangs has become in priority issue for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government.

"At 0305 (GMT) today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress," a government spokesperson said in a statement.

"After a coordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident."

An investigation was underway, the spokesperson said.

LBC radio station reported that 43 people had been rescued. A Reuters journalist saw one body bag being removed from a vessel at the lifeboat station in the port of Dover.

The incident occurred just over a year after 27 people died while attempting to cross the sea in an inflatable dinghy in November 2021, in the worst recorded accident of its kind in the Channel.

Temperatures have plunged across Britain in the last week, bringing snow to parts of the country.

Despite the freezing cold, more than 500 migrants have made the perilous journey in small boats since the weekend alone, with the people traffickers who organise the crossings taking advantage of low winds and calm seas.

They have followed the more than 40,000 - a record number - who have arrived from France this year, many having made the journey from Afghanistan or Iran or other countries suffering war and repression to travel across Europe and on to Britain to seek asylum.

In the last year there has also been a significant increase in the number of Albanians crossing the sea. Some British politicians say migrants from Albania - a European Union candidate - have not suffered persecution but are moving for economic reasons.

'Tragic loss'

Ambulances and emergency crews gathered on the quayside at Dover. Sky News said some people had been transferred to a hospital in Ashford, Kent, but it was not known if they were survivors or fatalities.

Speaking in parliament, Sunak expressed sorrow over the tragedy.

"I'm sure the whole House will share my sorrow at the capsizing of a small boat in the Channel in the early hours of this morning and the tragic loss of human life," Rishi Sunak said.

"Our hearts go out to all those affected and our tributes to those involved in the extensive rescue operation."

Interior minister Suella Braverman, whose ministry oversees migration policy, put the blame firmly on the trafficking gangs.

"Crossing the channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour," she told parliament.

"It is for this reason above all that we are working so hard to destroy the business model of the people smugglers: evil, organised criminals who treat human beings as cargo."

Braverman had recently called the wave of arrivals an "invasion", drawing an angry response from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

The refugee charity Care4Calais accused the government of doing nothing to prevent migrant deaths, which it said were "wholly unnecessary and preventable".

"By failing to act, our government has blood on their hands," the charity said in a statement.

Migrants had suffered horrors such as conflicts, human rights abuses and torture, it said.

"They have been brave and resilient enough to escape and survive incredible journeys to come here and ask for our help. And yet we deny them."

Political pressure

The British government has been under growing pressure to tackle the number of people arriving in small boats after officials and charities condemned the state of migrant centres and the length of time it was taking to process arrivals.

Polls show that the government's inability to halt the arrival of often young men via small boats is also a major frustration for many voters, especially after the country voted to leave the EU so it could better control its borders.

The new incident occurred a day after Rishi Sunak announced plans to toughen the laws to stop the boats crossing the Channel, including legislation to prevent migrants from remaining in the country.

Mr Sunak said that Britain's "generosity" was being abused by people arriving illegally. Critics argue that while official routes exist for people to arrive in Britain from Ukraine and Hong Kong, there are no easy ways for people to apply to come to Britain from countries such as Afghanistan and Syria.

Data compiled by the Missing Migrants Project showed 205 migrants had been recorded dead or missing in the English Channel since 2014.

NDTV
 
UK PM Rishi Sunak Unveils 5-Step Crackdown On Illegal Immigration

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday set out a new five-step strategy to clamp down on illegal immigration, with a promise to end the government's backlog of asylum applications by the end of next year.

Hundreds of additional staff will be deployed to a new unit to monitor small boats crossing the English Channel as well as a dedicated unit to handle claims from Albanians - among the largest cohort of illegal migrants despite Albania being categorised as a safe country. The new plans also cover housing 10,000 asylum seekers waiting for their claims to be processed in less expensive accommodation than hotels.

"It is unfair that people come here illegally. It is unfair on those with a genuine case for asylum when our capacity to help is taken up by people coming through, and from, countries that are perfectly safe," Sunak said in a statement in the House of Commons.

"It is not cruel or unkind to want to break the stranglehold of the criminal gangs who trade in human misery and who exploit our system and laws. Enough is enough. As currently constructed the global asylum framework has become obsolete," he said.

Under the government's five-point agenda, which Sunak said had been devised by him and his Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, a new permanent unified Small Boats Operational Command will be set up to coordinate intelligence, interception, processing, and enforcement. It will involve more than 700 new staff and double the funding given to the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) for tackling organised immigration crime in Europe.

The second step he set out involves freed up immigration officials being able to increase raids on illegal working by 50 per cent. The third area of focus will be to counter the GBP 5.5 million daily bill for the use of hotels to house asylum seekers and make use of alternative sites such as disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites.

The fourth area covers a doubling of asylum application caseworkers "radically re-engineering" the end-to-end process with shorter guidance, fewer interviews, less paperwork and introducing specialist case workers by nationality.

The fifth and final area highlighted by Sunak in Parliament is aimed at tackling the large numbers from a "safe, prosperous European country" of Albania, who make up a third of those arriving via small boats.

"The Prime Minister of Albania has himself said there is no reason why we cannot return Albanian asylum seekers immediately," said Sunak.

"Last year Germany, France, Sweden all rejected almost 100 per cent of Albanian asylum claims. Yet our rejection rate is just 45 per cent. That must not continue. So today I can announce a new agreement with Albania - and a new approach," he said.

The agreement covers embedding UK Border Force officers in Tirana airport in Albania to combat organised crimes and a new dedicated unit for the country expediting cases within weeks, staffed by 400 new specialists.

"We must be able to control our borders to ensure that the only people who come here come through safe and legal routes. However well intended, our legal frameworks are being manipulated by people who exploit our courts to frustrate their removal for months or years on end," said Sunak, also announcing plans for new legislation that will set an annual quota for refugees coming to the UK.

NDTV
 
A teenager has been charged with a people-smuggling offence after four people died while attempting to cross the Channel.

Ibrahima Bah, 19, of no fixed address, was arrested by police after the incident on Wednesday.

Four people died and 39 were rescued when a migrant boat capsized in the Channel.

Bah was charged with "knowingly facilitating the attempted arrival in the United Kingdom of people he knew or had reasonable cause to believe were asylum seekers", Kent Police said.

He was remanded in custody and will appear before Folkestone Magistrates' Court on Monday.

The Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in the major rescue operation off the Kent coast that began in the early hours of Wednesday, following reports of a boat in distress.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths are being investigated by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, assisted by the National Crime Agency.

Police officers at the scene in Kettering, Northamptonshire. Northamptonshire Police have named a woman and two children who died in a suspected murder in Kettering as 35-year-old Anju Asok, six-year-old Jeeva Saju and Janvi Saju, four.
Man charged with murders of NHS nurse and her two children in Kettering

Police are still working to establish the identity of those who died and locate their next of kin.

https://news.sky.com/story/teenager...ter-four-died-while-crossing-channel-12770640

More than 44,000 people have made the dangerous crossing across the English Channel so far this year, government figures show.
 
<b>UK government Rwanda migrant plan is Lawful, High Court rules</b>

The government's plan to deport migrants to Rwanda is lawful, the High Court has ruled.

The court ruled on Monday that the scheme did not breach the UN's Refugee Convention or human rights laws.

But the cases of eight asylum seekers had not been "properly considered" and would need to be reconsidered, judges added.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she is committed to making the Rwanda policy work.

A hearing will take place in January to deal with any appeal applications.

Ms Braverman said: "We have always maintained that this policy is lawful and today the court has upheld this.

"I am committed to making this partnership work - my focus remains on moving ahead with the policy as soon as possible and we stand ready to defend against any further legal challenge."

Criticising the government's decision to progress with the plans, Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called the policy "unworkable, extortionate and deeply damaging".

Responding to a statement by Ms Braverman in the Commons, she said: "Instead of sorting out problems with the asylum system, the Conservatives have put forward a plan which risks making trafficking worse."

But Ms Braverman accused Labour of "seeking to go behind a decision set out by our independent judiciary to suggest this is an illegitimate scheme".

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the government's plan to deport some people to Rwanda back in April.

The first deportation flight, which was due to take off on 14 June, was grounded following a series of objections from lawyers for several asylum seekers, along with the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) and charities Care4Calais and Detention Action.

Rishi Sunak said he welcomed the High Court ruling, calling it a "common sense position" that was supported by "the vast majority of the British public".

Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to Riga, Latvia, the prime minister said: "We've always maintained that our Rwanda policy is lawful, and I'm pleased that was confirmed today."

Alison Thewliss, the SNP's home affairs spokesperson at Westminster, called the Rwanda plan "deeply immoral".

She told the Commons: "Those fleeing war, famine and oppression deserve and need our full support."

Responding to Ms Thewliss, Home Office Minister Robert Jenrick said the plans were designed to "simplify" a "too complicated and too bureaucratic" immigration system.

He said: "The Scottish government are refusing to take any of the asylum seekers who are arriving in the UK on small boats. That is not right. There is a widening gulf between the actions of the Scottish government and their rhetoric."

Clare Moseley, founder of refugee charity Care4Calais, called the decision on Monday "disappointing".

She said: "People who have suffered the horrors of war, torture and human rights abuses should not be faced with the immense trauma of deportation to a future where we cannot guarantee their safety."

Josie Naughton, chief executive of migrant charity Choose Love, said the ruling "flies in the face of international commitments and accountability", adding that campaigners will "continue to fight" for the "human right to seek asylum".

The Labour Party also branded the government's Rwanda plan "unworkable" and "unethical".

James Wilson, deputy director of Detention Action, said: "We are disappointed that the High Court has found the removal of refugees to an autocratic state which tortures and kills people is lawful. However, we will fight on.

"The Rwanda policy is brutal and harmful and we will now consider an appeal against today's judgment."

However, Ms Patel called for ministers to "press ahead" with the policy as she welcomed the judgement.

She said: "No single policy will stop the Channel crossings, but this important policy will save lives, help break the business model of the criminal gangs and prevent asylum abuse."

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter: "It is welcome news that the High Court has ruled that the Rwanda policy is lawful.

"It is one of the only humane ways of dealing with the vile people trafficking gangs who are exploiting so many people."

Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo added: "We welcome this decision and stand ready to offer asylum seekers and migrants safety and the opportunity to build a new life in Rwanda.

"This is a positive step in our quest to contribute innovative, long-term solutions to the global migration crisis."

Rishi Sunak's official spokesman said the Prime Minister welcomed the High Court's ruling.

He did not give a timeframe for flights taking off, but added: "We want to go as quickly as possible."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64024461
 
<b>Gatwick Airport: Man's body found in undercarriage of plane</b>

A man's body has been found in the undercarriage of a plane at Gatwick Airport.

The Tui flight had travelled from The Gambia's capital Banjul to the airport in West Sussex.

Sussex Police said the discovery was made at the airport at about 04:00 GMT on 7 December.

A Gatwick Airport spokesperson said: "This is terribly sad news and our thoughts go out to the family and friends of the deceased."

Tui said it would not comment as the incident was a police matter.

Sussex Police said: "Officers are investigating and a report will be prepared for HM Coroner."

A spokesperson for The Gambia's government said the man was an unidentified black male.

The 2,760-mile (4,444 km) journey from The Gambia to the UK usually takes about six and a half hours on a direct flight.

There have been several cases of stowaways being found dead in the UK.

In 2001, the body of Mohammed Ayaz, 21, from Pakistan, was found in the car park of a branch of Homebase in Richmond, near Heathrow Airport.

Four years earlier, another stowaway fell from a plane on to a gasworks near the store.

In 2007 the body of a young man was found in the landing gear of a British Airways plane in Los Angeles.

In August 2012, a man's body was found in the undercarriage bay of a plane at Heathrow after a flight from Cape Town.

The next month, Jose Matada, 26, from Mozambique, was found in a street in Mortlake, West London.

He died of multiple injuries after falling from a plane travelling from Angola.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-64055796
 
The government has said it is trying to stop the "excessive use of hotels" to house asylum seekers after violence outside accommodation in Merseyside.

Fifteen people, including a 13-year-old boy, were arrested after protests turned violent in Knowsley on Friday.

A police officer and two members of the public were injured as missiles including lit fireworks were thrown.

Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell said the violence was "completely unacceptable".

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, he said: "We have a duty to welcome these people.

"Often they are caught in desperate jeopardy, but equally we have a duty to house them appropriately and to work with local people.

"The Home Office is trying very hard now to stop the excessive use of hotels and find different ways of placing them in appropriate places in the community and that is something the Home Office will achieve."

BBC
 
Clashes between anti-immigration protesters and police have erupted outside Cornwall's Beresford Hotel, which houses 200 asylum seekers. One protester was spotted trying to cross the road but a police officer stopped him. On the other side of the road, counter-protesters from Cornwall Resists are outside the hotel facing off against two anti-migrant groups who have turned violent against the police. Hundreds of people are reportedly on opposite sides of the road as tensions soar in Cornwall.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/worl...sedgntp&cvid=477ad303e2e04d84a30295dd1bc38769
 
Some of Britain’s biggest unions have accused the government of being “complicit” in attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers, and are urging members to “mobilise” against far-right groups seemingly emboldened by the rhetoric of senior Tory politicians.

The first big intervention by trade unions on the increasingly politicised issue follows comments on Friday by the Conservative party’s deputy chairman, Lee Anderson, who said he had sympathy with people protesting outside hotels.

His remarks came days after the home secretary, Suella Braverman, said hotels providing refuge to asylum seekers were causing “understandable tensions”, and protesters targeting them were not “racist or bigoted”.

A wave of protests, many organised by far-right anti-immigrant groups, has targeted hotels in recent weeks, with a number culminating in violent clashes with police.

One far-right group involved is Patriotic Alternative (PA), founded in 2019 by Mark Collett, an admirer of Adolf Hitler, who once suggested Mein Kampf as one of three books people should read. PA, Britain’s fastest-growing far-right group, delivered hundreds of leaflets attacking migrants to homes in Merseyside days before a riot outside a hotel in Knowsley housing asylum seekers.

f 13 main unions including Britain’s largest, Unison, which has more than 1.3 million members, the GMB, which has 600,000, along with the National Education Union, which has at least 450,000, have issued a joint statement saying: “We know whose side we are on when we see far-right mobs attacking refugees, and politicians playing the mood music.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...p&cvid=25b56ab573414b4c9a85554e94a94849&ei=23









Continue reading
 
MenInG said:
Some of Britain’s biggest unions have accused the government of being “complicit” in attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers, and are urging members to “mobilise” against far-right groups seemingly emboldened by the rhetoric of senior Tory politicians.

The first big intervention by trade unions on the increasingly politicised issue follows comments on Friday by the Conservative party’s deputy chairman, Lee Anderson, who said he had sympathy with people protesting outside hotels.

His remarks came days after the home secretary, Suella Braverman, said hotels providing refuge to asylum seekers were causing “understandable tensions”, and protesters targeting them were not “racist or bigoted”.

A wave of protests, many organised by far-right anti-immigrant groups, has targeted hotels in recent weeks, with a number culminating in violent clashes with police.

One far-right group involved is Patriotic Alternative (PA), founded in 2019 by Mark Collett, an admirer of Adolf Hitler, who once suggested Mein Kampf as one of three books people should read. PA, Britain’s fastest-growing far-right group, delivered hundreds of leaflets attacking migrants to homes in Merseyside days before a riot outside a hotel in Knowsley housing asylum seekers.

f 13 main unions including Britain’s largest, Unison, which has more than 1.3 million members, the GMB, which has 600,000, along with the National Education Union, which has at least 450,000, have issued a joint statement saying: “We know whose side we are on when we see far-right mobs attacking refugees, and politicians playing the mood music.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...p&cvid=25b56ab573414b4c9a85554e94a94849&ei=23









Continue reading
Click to expand...


I am gobsmacked by Suella Braverman’s comments about hotels causing tension by providing housing to refugees.

I know first hand from my working background that the home office has a refugee resettlement division and they give funding and responsibilities for housing to local authorities across the UK.

Now let’s use Hillingdon local authority in London as an example. If a hotel or a private landlord is housing refugees then they are getting funding for this from the local authority who were told to so by the home office and Suella Braverman!

Suella Braverman may lose her position as an MP in Hampshire as there are boundary changes and it’s no longer a safe seat, she clearly needs the votes of white middle England but she may say does not believe in violent protest but she knows what she is doing.
 
Refugees who arrive in the UK by small boat from today will be banned from claiming *asylum or using human rights law to stop their removal.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman is set to publish long-promised legislation on Channel crossings on Tuesday that she has admitted "pushes the boundaries of international law".

This will include preventing people who come to the UK illegally from claiming asylum.

Ms Braverman will ask for this to apply from the moment she unveils the proposals in the Commons to avoid people smugglers "seizing on the opportunity to rush migrants across the Channel", a government source told Sky News.

She is expected to say that under the new illegal migration bill, asylum claims from those who travel to the UK in small boats will be inadmissible.

Arrivals will be removed to a third country and banned from ever returning or claiming citizenship.

Refugee charities have already described the plans as "costly and unworkable" and said they "promise nothing but more demonisation and punishment" of asylum seekers.

Writing in The Sun, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK has a "proud history of welcoming those most in need".

But he claimed that those arriving in small boats were doing so via "safe, European countries", and were not "directly fleeing a war-torn country" or "facing an imminent threat to life".

SKY
 
Rishi Sunak has said the crackdown on small boats crossing the Channel is needed as the current system that is being exploited is "unfair on the British people".

The prime minister described the new Illegal Migration Bill as "tough, but it is necessary and it is fair".

"This will always be a compassionate and generous country... but the current situation is neither moral nor sustainable, it cannot go on. It is completely unfair on the British people."

As Mr Sunak spoke, the UN Refugee Agency said it is "profoundly concerned" by the government's plans which it said would "amount to an asylum ban".

But Mr Sunak insisted "we have tried it every other way, and it hasn't worked".

The prime minister was speaking from Downing Street after Suella Braverman, the home secretary, unveiled new legislation that will mean people arriving on small boats in the UK will be detained and removed and banned from ever returning.

Mr Sunak confirmed that the rules would apply retrospectively, affecting everyone arriving in the UK illegally from Tuesday.

SKY
 
Sub-Saharan migrants flee Tunisia following wave of racist attacks

Sub-Saharan migrants living in Tunisia have been the target of a surge in racist attacks, following a February 21 speech by President Kais Said denouncing what he called "hordes of illegal immigrants". Since then, many migrants have been urgently trying to return to their countries of origin. The Ivory Coast in particular has organised a repatriation of its citizens, who have had to pack up their lives and leave with just a few days' notice. Our correspondents in Tunis and Abidjan followed some of them from their hasty departure to their arrival in a country that many had left long ago.
 
Asylum plan 'very concerning' and would break international law - UN refugee agency

The government's proposed asylum law is "very concerning" and would block even those with a compelling claim, the United Nations refugee agency has said.

The UNHCR's representative to the UK, Vicky Tennant, told the BBC the measure would break international law and was not needed to stop Channel crossings.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he is "up for the fight" to bring in the law and overcome any legal challenges.

Labour has said the plans risk "making the chaos worse".

On Tuesday, the government outlined a new law which would effectively ban anyone arriving in the UK via an illegal route from claiming asylum.

Anyone found to have entered the country illegally will also be blocked from returning or claiming British citizenship in future.

The measure is part of attempts to address an increase in the number of people arriving in the UK via Channel crossings each year, which rose from around 300 in 2018 to more than 45,000 in 2022.

Asked for her reaction to the plans on the BBC's Newsnight, Ms Tennant said: "We're very concerned. This is effectively closing off access to asylum in the UK for people arriving irregularly.

"We believe it's a clear breach of the Refugee Convention, and remember even people with very compelling claims will simply not have the opportunity to put these forward."

The Refugee Convention, first agreed in 1951, is a multilateral treaty that sets out who qualifies as a refugee and the obligations of signatory states to protect them.

...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64884435
 
What will the new law mean?

  • People removed from the UK will be blocked from returning or seeking British citizenship in future
  • Migrants will not get bail or be able to seek judicial review for the first 28 days of detention
  • There will be a cap on the number of refugees the UK will settle through "safe and legal routes" - set annually by Parliament
  • A duty on the home secretary to detain those arriving in the UK illegally and remove them to Rwanda or a "safe" third country - this will take legal precedence over someone's right to claim asylum
  • Under-18s, those medically unfit to fly, or those at risk of serious harm in the country they are being removed to will be able to delay removal
  • Any other asylum claims will be heard remotely after removal
BBC
 
I honestly never thought I would see UK act this way.

We seem to have suffered a collective nervous breakdown since 2016.

At least these awful Tories will be gone in two years but it will take so long to repair our reputation across Europe.
 
"I don't want to attend the Home Office to proceed with my claim. I don't want to risk it," says Dravid, 28, who arrived in the UK from India on fake documents last year.

"They may detain me and send me to Rwanda. At the moment I don't have any choice."

In the week the government ratcheted up its strategy to stop small boat crossings, asylum seekers have told Sky News the threat of being deported to Rwanda was already driving people underground; into a life of living illegally outside of the system with no official place in society.

We arranged to meet three men in south London who all came to the UK to claim asylum - and are all now ditching their claims and going into hiding.

Abinthan, 21, says he fled persecution and torture in Sri Lanka and then risked his life crossing the Channel in a small boat. It took him several failed attempts before he finally got to the UK at the beginning of this year.

He moves his head from side to side - with fear in his eyes - to show me how he looks around trying to avoid the police or anyone to do with authority.

"I'm very nervous," he says. "If a police car is there I don't go that way."

Ayudson studied business in Sri Lanka and tells us he, too, fled persecution.

SKY
 
The UK is well within its right to stop illegal border crossings and deport any incoming illegal immigrants.
 
Can asylum seekers in Europe survive the cost-of-living crisis?
People fleeing violence are being driven into extreme poverty by escalating prices — but there is hope.

Towards the end of 2021, governments across Europe had scarcely eased their COVID-19 restrictions when the continent was gripped by a new problem: a cost-of-living crisis caused by soaring prices and low wage growth over the past decade.

From 2022, the war in Ukraine threw global supply chains into further disarray, leading to surging inflation. In January this year, consumer prices in the United Kingdom rose by 10.1 percent and across the eurozone by 8.5 percent.

The short answer: Food poverty and labour exploitation are hitting asylum seekers harder than citizens, researchers and advocacy groups told Al Jazeera. Women, especially mothers, have found their needs falling through the gaps. But these problems can be eased through a number of strategies aimed at socioeconomic integration – and examples of hope already exist.

...
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/...s-in-europe-survive-the-cost-of-living-crisis
 
UK asylum plans: Plans on future of migrant hotels to be announced

The government is expected to make an announcement in the coming weeks on how it plans to stop housing migrants in hotels.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has signalled it wants to end the practice, which she says costs around £6m a day.

The Daily Telegraph reports that disused ferries are being considered to house people - but this has not been confirmed.

Former airbases in Lincolnshire and Essex are among sites being looked at.

Private hotels are currently used to house asylum seekers as part of the government's legal obligation to provide people seeking help with a basic level of accommodation.

The BBC understands more than 51,000 people are being housed in 395 hotels.

The government says private accommodation options are at maximum capacity and argue they do not represent good value for money for the taxpayer.

It has made reducing illegal migration a key priority and has unveiled measures it says will deter people crossing the English Channel in small boats.

More than 45,000 reached the UK via the dangerous route last year, up from around 300 in 2018.

The government's Illegal Migration Bill would ban anyone who enters the country illegally from claiming asylum on arrival - or in the future.

It would also create an annual cap on the number of refugees the UK will settle through "safe and legal routes", and impose a legal duty on the Home Secretary to swiftly detain and remove anyone who arrives illegally.

The government's policy to deport migrants to Rwanda has been ruled to be legal by the High Court, but is facing further challenges in the courts.

The home secretary has said there is no limit to how many migrants Rwanda would be able to take - however no flights have taken off.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We have always been upfront about the unprecedented pressure being placed on our asylum system, brought about by a significant increase in dangerous and illegal journeys into the country. We continue to work across government and with local authorities to identify a range of accommodation options.

"The government remains committed to engaging with local authorities and key stakeholders as part of this process."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65074419
 
Around 20 demonstrators held signs with phrases like ‘Stop immigration now’ and ‘Close migrant hotels’ outside the Beresford Hotel in Newquay on Sunday.

But they were soon outnumbered by 150 counter-protesters who declared asylum seekers welcome in Britain.

These crowd members fought back with placards reading ‘Cornwall has no place for racists but we welcome refugees’ and ‘UK government must provide safe passage for refugees’.

Footage from the scene showed groups of police officers holding back protesters as violence broke out.

Alongside the two taken into custody, two others were issued with dispersal anti-social behaviour notices – although police said the majority of people acted peacefully.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/worl...p&cvid=5f01371b09ee40f3a205c8c36986235e&ei=44
 
Suella Braverman has insisted Rwanda is a safe country, as she defended plans to send some migrants who arrive in the UK illegally there.

In an interview with the BBC, the home secretary was shown evidence of Congolese refugees being shot dead by police during protests over conditions in a Rwandan camp in 2018.

In response, Ms Braverman said the High Court had found Rwanda to be safe.

But she acknowledged the plans were still facing a legal challenge.

Under the government's proposals, people who arrive in the UK through illegal routes could be sent to Rwanda on a one-way ticket to claim asylum there.

In December the High Court ruled the plan was legal, but the decision is currently going through an appeals process.

Appearing on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Ms Braverman was presented with evidence from the United Nations refugee agency that 12 Congolese refugees were shot dead by Rwandan police during protests over cuts to food rations.

The home secretary said she was "not familiar with that particular case", but added: "That might be 2018, we're looking at 2023 and beyond.

"The High Court, senior expert judges, have looked into the detail of our arrangement with Rwanda and found it to be a safe country and found our arrangements to be lawful."

She added that Rwanda has "a track record of successful resettling and integrating people who are refugees or asylum seekers" and that the government's legislation made provisions for "extreme circumstances", where there is "unforeseeable, serious and irreversible harm", for individuals to challenge the decision to send them to Rwanda.

Last month several papers reported that a source in the Home Office had claimed there were plans to get flights to Rwanda off the ground by the summer.

But the government has not committed to a timeframe publicly.

Ms Braverman said she believed the Rwanda policy would have "a significant deterrent effect" so that people would stop making the journey across the Channel to the UK.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping small boats crossing the channel one of his top priorities.

The home secretary refused to commit to a date for achieving this goal.

She said she wanted to deliver on the pledge as quickly as possible but said the government could not control timeframes for an ongoing legal challenge over the Rwanda policy.

"There's a hearing later this month, we need to wait for the court to adjudicate," Ms Braverman said.

"I can't control court deadlines and therefore we will respect any decision from the court but we have to abide by the timelines set by the judges."

Labour's shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy said the Rwanda policy was "a con trick being perpetrated on the British people", as it would most likely never materialise.

She added that it had cost the taxpayer "a huge amount of money and hasn't seen a single person go to Rwanda".

The Liberal Democrats said Ms Braverman's comments showed that the Rwanda plan was "unworkable" and "on hold".

BBC
 
The Home Office is on a collision course with a Conservative council and MP, as well as human rights groups, after confirming it will house about 500 asylum seekers on a giant barge off the Dorset coast.

In a statement, the Home Office said the Bibby Stockholm, to be berthed in Dorset’s Portland port, would accommodate single men in “basic and functional accommodation” and healthcare, and would be cheaper than housing them in hotels.

The Home Office was “exploring the use of further vessels to accommodate migrants”, it added.

The decision, widely expected but held up while officials negotiated the use of the Barbados-registered 220-bedroom barge, prompted condemnation from Tory-run Dorset council, which said it was seeking urgent clarification from the Home Office on a series of issues.

Councils will reportedly be paid £3,500 per asylum seeker housed on a ship. However, the Home Office announcement said only that it would consult on “financial support”.

Richard Drax, the Conservative MP for South Dorset, who has pledged to pursue legal routes to stop the barge being moored off Portland, said the 13,000-population port lacked the necessary infrastructure and had not been consulted.

While the barge will have security, as well as catering, asylum seekers are not detained and so will be free to go into Portland. Drax said this would be an issue: “Outside there will be no control over where they go, what they do, in a very sensitive seaside town.”

People would be moved on to the barge “in the coming months”, the statement said, adding that the Home Office was “in discussions with other ports and further vessels will be announced in due course”. The Bibby Stockholm is now moored off Genoa, Italy.

Guardian
 
The Home Secretary said those fleeing the conflict in Sudan would be detained and could be removed to Rwanda under the government’s Illegal Migration Bill.

“There is no good reason for anybody to get into a small boat and cross the channel in search of a life in the UK,” Ms Braverman said when asked what will happen to Sudanese asylum seekers arriving in the country.

The British government is not planning to set up a bespoke scheme for the country like those used for Ukraine and Afghanistan and is only evacuating British citizens and embassy staff.

Almost 4,000 Sudanese small-boat migrants have crossed the English Channel since 2020, and they are already the eighth-highest nationality using the route.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said on Tuesday that number would “likely” increase because of the crisis. He urged those fleeing the conflict to “seek sanctuary in the first safe country they reach”.

The home secretary told Sky News on Wednesday there were “various mechanisms” for those fleeing Sudan to seek asylum in the UK. “The UNHCR is present in the region, and they are the right mechanism by which people should apply if they want to seek asylum in the UK,” she said.

There is no asylum visa for people wanting to reach the UK legally, and it is unclear how people could practically apply for other types of visa and take commercial flights to Britain amid the chaos in Khartoum.

Backbench Conservative MPs including Tim Loughton have urged the government to commit to setting up safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to arrive in the UK without travelling by small boat.

Ms Braverman, whose Illegal Migration Bill returns to Parliament on Wednesday, has said the bill is needed because “we are seeing an unacceptable level of people coming here illegally”.


https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...p&cvid=21866cfe75854d91bc63430cfda2ff9c&ei=10
 
UK men offered £10K to pose as dads in visa scam, BBC investigation finds

British men are taking payments of thousands of pounds to pose as fathers for migrant women, a BBC investigation has found.

They are being offered up to £10,000 to add their names to birth certificates - enabling a child to get UK citizenship and giving mothers a residency route.

Scammers are using Facebook to tout for business and claim to have helped thousands of women in this way.

Facebook says such content is banned by its rules.

The investigation, by BBC Newsnight, found that the fraud is happening in different communities around the UK.

It uncovered agents operating across the UK who find British men to be fake fathers.

A researcher went undercover, posing as a pregnant woman who was in the UK illegally, and spoke to people offering these services.

One agent, who went by the name Thai, told her he had multiple British men who could act as fake fathers and offered a "full package" for £11,000.

He described the process as "very easy" and said he "would do everything" to get the child a UK passport.

Thai, who didn't advertise on Facebook, said he would concoct a convincing backstory in order to successfully dupe the authorities.

He introduced the undercover researcher to a British man called Andrew, who he said would pose as a father. Andrew would be paid £8,000 from the total fee.

During their meeting, Andrew showed his passport to prove he was a UK national. He also took selfies with the researcher.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65556437
 
Significant failings in the UK's asylum system have been highlighted by the UN's refugee agency, including torture victims being detained and laws not being "complied with".

In a scathing report, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees noted "numerous risks to the welfare of asylum-seekers" after its investigation between 2021 and 2022.

It warned that officials were being forced to do "too much, too quickly, and with inadequate training".

However, the Home Office said "significant improvements" have been made since the audit took place.

The report warned the system they saw could lead to "well-founded" litigation if people were sent to Rwanda.

It said: "The current registration and screening systems expect staff to do too much, too quickly, and with inadequate training, facilities, guidance and oversight. As a result, much of their hard work is wasted, and the system frequently fails to achieve its goals".

The audit said the agency "observed or was told about numerous risks to the welfare of asylum-seekers, including instances of trafficking and vulnerability being overlooked and teenage children and victims of torture and trafficking being detained".

"Registration and screening records were often incomplete, inaccurate, or unreliable, and laws and published policies were not complied with."

Interpreters were left to deal with "central aspects" of the screening interviews.

There was also no way for the quality of the work done to be checked, nor a standardised system across the board.

"For all of these reasons, there is a real risk that decisions based on information collected at screening will be flawed," the report said.

The UN body said plans to make asylum claims "inadmissible" if the applicant came through a safe third country mean screening processes need to be reliable and fair.

If the same system they saw was used, it "will lead to errors, causing distress to individuals, delays, and well-founded litigation" when people get removed from the UK.

SKY
 
The government is to use two more barges to house an extra thousand asylum seekers, Rishi Sunak has announced.

The first barge to hold asylum seekers will dock in Portland in the next two weeks, the prime minister told a news conference in Kent as he provided an update on his "stop the boats plan".

He added that two more ships have been secured today, while thousands of extra spaces for migrants have also been found in hotels by making people share rooms.

Mr Sunak said: "I say to those migrants who are objecting, this is more than fair. If you're coming here illegally claiming sanctuary from death, torture or persecution, then you should be willing to share a taxpayer funded hotel room in central London.

"To reduce pressures on local communities we will also house people on ships. The first will arrive in Portland in the next fortnight and we've secured another two today."

Mr Sunak insisted his "stop the boats plan" is "starting to work", with the numbers making the Channel crossing down by around a fifth since last year.

He said the returns deal with Albania had led to 1,800 people being sent back, and was having a deterrent effect.

SKY
 
We will try to appeal - Sunak

We're now hearing the first reaction from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following the Court of Appeal's ruling.

He said: "While I respect the court I fundamentally disagree with their conclusions.

"I strongly believe the Rwandan government has provided the assurances necessary to ensure there is no real risk that asylum-seekers relocated under the Rwanda policy would be wrongly returned to third countries – something that the Lord Chief Justice (NB: one of the three Court of Appeal judges) agrees with.

"Rwanda is a safe country. The High Court agreed. The UNHCR have their own refugee scheme for Libyan refugees in Rwanda. We will now seek permission to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.

"The policy of this government is very simple, it is this country – and your government – who should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs. And I will do whatever is necessary to make that happen."
 
Forty-one migrants have died in a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa, survivors told local media.

A group of four people who survived the disaster told rescuers that they were on a boat that had set off from Sfax in Tunisia and sank on its way to Italy.

The four survivors, originally from the Ivory Coast and Guinea, reached Lampedusa on Wednesday.
More than 1,800 people have lost their lives so far this year in the crossing from North Africa to Europe.

Local public prosecutor Salvatore Vella said he had opened an investigation into the tragedy.
 
Rishi Sunak ‘won’t allow foreign court to block’ Rwanda plan

Rishi Sunak has promised not to allow foreign courts to stop Britain sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, even as a group of more centrist Conservative MPs urges him not to abandon Britain’s international human rights commitments.

The prime minister said on Friday his patience was being “worn thin” by delays to the Rwanda plan, which was ruled illegal under domestic and international law by the supreme court last month.

As Tory MPs continued to row publicly over whether the UK should overrule the European Convention on human rights, the prime minister said he would not let the plan be stopped by international judges.

Speaking to reporters at the Cop summit in Dubai, Sunak said: “There should be no more domestic blocks to us putting in place this programme. But I’ve also been clear that I won’t allow a foreign court to block us from flights taking off. My patience is worn thin, the British people’s patience is worn thin.”

Conservative hardliners, including the former home secretary Suella Braverman have put heavy pressure on the prime minister to overrule or even abandon Britain’s commitments to the ECHR and the UN refugee convention in an attempt to start flights to Rwanda.

Another group of moderates is urging the prime minister not to bow to such demands, citing the importance of complying with international law.

More than 20 Tory MPs from the centrist One Nation group have written a letter to the prime minister warning him not to resile from Britain’s international obligations.

Damian Green, the former immigration minister, was one of nearly 30 MPs to sign the letter, which was first reported by the Financial Times. He said: “We want Britain to meet its international obligations and defend the rule of law.”

Sir Bob Neill, the Conservative chair of the Commons justice committee, told the FT: “Many Conservative voters in traditional seats are uneasy with picking fights with the country’s institutions and want to keep to the treaties we have entered into.”

In an interview with the Times last week, James Cleverly, Braverman’s successor as home secretary, suggested he had sympathy with the arguments of the centrist MPs.

“I do not want to do anything that might undermine the key cooperation we have with countries [who] are very wedded to the ECHR for understandable reasons,” he said. “Nothing is cost-free. Everything needs to be considered, the advantages and disadvantages.”

Sunak is still working on domestic legislation and a new treaty with Rwanda, which he hopes will deal with the concerns raised by the supreme court last month. Judges warned that the plan as it stands risks people being sent back to their home countries even if their asylum applications are successful.

Braverman has suggested that a new treaty with Rwanda could allow the UK to send observers to Rwanda to guarantee that asylum seekers are not mistreated. However, reports this week suggest Kigali is cooling on the idea of a new treaty, apparently stung by public criticism of its asylum system.

Sunak said on Friday that a new treaty with Rwanda and new domestic legislation were close.

“We’re finalising that at the moment,” he said. “It’s important that we get it right because this is such a vital issue.”

SOURCE: THEGUARDIAN​
 
The UK has given Rwanda a further £100m this year as part of its deal to relocate asylum seekers there.

The payment was made in April, the Home Office's top civil servant said in a letter to MPs, after £140m had already been sent to the African nation.

Sir Matthew Rycroft said another payment of £50m was expected next year.

The revelation came hours after Rishi Sunak vowed to "finish the job" of reviving the plan after the resignation of his immigration minister this week.

The scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing and potentially resettlement, in order to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats, was first announced by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022.

But it has been repeatedly delayed by legal challenges and no asylum seekers have been sent from the UK so far.

Until now it was known that the government had spent at least £140m on the policy. Sir Matthew had previously refused to disclose updated figures, saying ministers had decided to set out the costs annually.

The figures were disclosed in a letter to Dame Diana Johnson, who chairs the home affairs select committee and and her fellow Labour Dame Meg Hiller, who chairs spending watchdog the public accounts committee.

Dame Meg told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the full cost of the policy so far had only been revealed after repeated inquiries.

"It almost looks like the government's got something to hide," she said.

Sir Matthew stressed that the extra payments were not linked to the new treaty signed this week between UK and Rwanda as part of the government's attempt to amend the policy, which was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court last month.

Downing Street has said the costs associated with the deal were set out in the original agreement with Rwanda and that it was always going to involve "additional funding".

Legal migration minister Tom Pursglove said the money was being spent to ensure the Rwanda policy was "robust".

He added that the scheme was "key" to reducing the amount the government spends on housing migrants in UK hotels - currently £8m a day.

Robert Jenrick's immigration minister role was split into two following his resignation. Michael Tomlinson is the illegal migration minister.

Labour branded the revelation of the extra costs "incredible", with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper adding: "How many more blank cheques will Rishi Sunak write before the Tories come clean about this scheme being a total farce?"

"It's basically £100m for every home secretary trip to Rwanda," she said.

The Home Office has said Rwanda has an initial capacity to take 200 people a year, but there are plans to increase that number when the scheme begins.

The department has also estimated the cost of sending someone to a safe country - not specifically Rwanda - is £169,000, compared to £106,000 if they remain in the UK.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Sunak held a press conference where he urged Tory MPs to back his plan.

The prime minister was speaking a day after immigration minister Robert Jenrick resigned over the government's revised policy, saying he believed it was destined for failure.

Mr Sunak insisted the new emergency legislation set out by the government would end the "merry-go-round of legal challenges" over the flights of some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The bill compels judges to treat Rwanda as a safe country and gives ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act. But it does not go as far as allowing them to dismiss the European Convention on Human Rights, as some on the right of the Conservative Party have called for.

The bill faces opposition from MPs in different factions of the Conservative Party when it returns to Parliament next week.

Also on Thursday, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman reiterated that it would fail to "stop the boats" and called on the government to fully exclude international law.

The Times has reported that senior government lawyers had warned No 10 the emergency legislation could still allow migrants to lodge challenges against their removal to Rwanda.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Pursglove insisted the legislation would "close off the routes to try to frustrate the appeals process".

On Sky News he said ministers would "engage constructively with parliamentarians around any concerns that they have".

Source: BBC

www.bbc.com

UK paid Rwanda an extra £100m for asylum deal

It means the UK has spent £240m on the scheme, despite no asylum seekers being sent to the African nation.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Last edited:
An asylum seeker has died on board the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Dorset Police said they received a report of a "sudden death of a resident on the Bibby Stockholm" at 6.22am on Tuesday.

They said officers are conducting inquiries into the circumstances of the incident.

Sources who have spoken to a number of people living on the barge have told Sky News the individual took their own life.

Further details are yet to be confirmed, including the individual's age and country of origin.

The Bibby Stockholm, docked in Portland Port in Dorset, is one of a number of alternative sites the Home Office is using to house asylum seekers.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said the death will be investigated "fully".

"Tragically, there has been (a) death on the Bibby Stockholm barge," Mr Cleverly told the House of Commons.

"I'm sure that the thoughts of the whole House, like mine, are with those affected.

"The House will understand that at this stage I am uncomfortable getting into any more details. But we will of course investigate fully."

Source : Sky News​
 
Rishi Sunak denies doubting Rwanda plan when chancellor

Rishi Sunak has said it was his job when he was chancellor to question the cost of the government's Rwanda scheme but denied doubting it could work.

Papers seen by the BBC this week suggested that in 2022 Mr Sunak wanted to scale back plans to send asylum seekers to the African nation.

The documents also indicated he was not sure the policy would be a deterrent.

Speaking to BBC One's Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Mr Sunak said that, as chancellor, he "scrutinised" all plans.

However, he said this did not mean he did not back the Rwanda policy, pointing out that he had funded the scheme.

"Just because someone's asking tough questions doesn't mean that they don't believe in the proposal," he said.

Under the scheme, some migrants would be sent to Rwanda for processing and potentially resettlement.

The government has argued this would discourage people from trying to get to the UK in small boats.

The scheme was first announced in April 2022 when Boris Johnson was prime minister.

However it has run into legal difficulties, with the Supreme Court ruling it was unlawful last year.

The BBC has seen No 10 documents that were prepared in March 2022 when then-PM Boris Johnson was trying to persuade Mr Sunak to sign off on funding for the plan.

The papers describe a significant difference of view between No 10 and 11 Downing Street on the effectiveness of the proposed scheme saying the chancellor believes the "deterrent won't work". One of the government's key aims was to implement a tougher policy that would put people off the idea of crossing the English Channel in small boats looking for asylum in the UK.

The documents also reveal that No 10 proposed telling Mr Sunak to "consider his popularity with the base" if he was reluctant to sign up to changes to the migration system, including the Rwanda plan.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "These papers show total con of Tories' Rwanda plan and how incredibly weak Rishi Sunak is.

"He knew costs were extortionate and resisted as chancellor. But he's now so weak he's writing £400m cheques to Rwanda for no one to be sent."

Asked about the documents on Sunday, Mr Sunak said that he had asked "probing questions of every proposal" that crossed his desk, but added: "To infer from that that I don't believe in the scheme of the principle of deterrence is wrong."

He said the proof was "in his actions" and that as prime minister he was trying to pass legislation to put in place the Rwanda policy.

The legislation, introduced to overcome the objections of the Supreme Court, states that Rwanda should be considered a safe country under UK law.

However, Mr Sunak faced criticism from both sides of his party - with some arguing it would break international law, while others feared it would not go far enough.

After the Safety of Rwanda Bill was announced Robert Jenrick quit as immigration minister describing the legislation as a "triumph of hope over experience" and Suella Braverman, whom Mr Sunak sacked as home secretary, said the bill was "destined to fail".

The bill passed its first stage in the House of Commons with a comfortable majority, but Mr Sunak faces a battle to get it through Parliament when it returns in the coming weeks.

During his interview, Mr Sunak was also asked if he would ever ignore an order from the European Court of Human Rights to halt deportation flights.

These type of injunctions - known as Rule 39 orders - were previously used to block the removal of migrants to Rwanda in June 2022.

Mr Sunak did not directly say if he would ignore such an order but insisted he would not "let a foreign court stop our ability to remove people, once we have been through our process of parliament and our court system".

The Safety of Rwanda Bill includes a measure that says ministers can decide whether to comply with such an orders.

However, the One Nation group of Conservative MPs has urged the prime minister to "think twice before overriding" the European Court of Human Rights.

Source: BBC

www.bbc.com

Rishi Sunak denies doubting Rwanda plan when chancellor

The prime minister says it was his job to scrutinise policies after the BBC reported he had concerns.
www.bbc.com
 
Four Rwandans have been reportedly granted refuge in the UK over fears of persecution in the East African nation despite the government saying it is an "unequivocally safe" place to send asylum seekers.

The details of the four cases are in addition to the six people who had UK asylum applications approved between April 2022 and September 2023, Home Office figures suggest, according to the Observer.

One of the Rwandans was a supporter of an opposition party led by Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the newspaper reported.

He was reportedly granted asylum on 12 October, the day after the government's case in the Supreme Court arguing the country was safe.

Another report said he sought refuge in the UK because he feared he would be targeted by Paul Kagame's regime over a family member's suspected links to the opposition.

The revelation comes as the Rwanda bill passed the third reading in the Commons last week by 320 votes to 276.

However, plans could be stalled as a House of Lords majority voted not to ratify an agreement on Monday, which could pose a threat to it becoming an act.

The government signed a treaty guaranteeing that anyone sent to Rwanda would not be transferred to another country where they could be at risk.

This comes after the Supreme Court last year ruled against the plan of a one-way ticket for those who arrive in Britain via small boats in the English Channel to Rwanda's capital, Kigali.

It said refugees could be sent back to the countries they fled from, making them vulnerable to danger.

The government argued the plan would stop people from making dangerous trips across waters to reach English shores.

A Home Office letter dated 17 October last year reportedly accepted he had a "well-founded fear of persecution".

A spokesperson for the department said: "People from many different nationalities apply for asylum in the UK. This includes nationals from some of our closest European neighbours and other safe countries around the world.

"As part of our response to the Supreme Court's judgment, we have signed a treaty with Rwanda which makes clear that individuals relocated to Rwanda under the partnership will not be returned to an unsafe country."

Source: Sky News

news.sky.com

Four Rwandans granted refuge in UK over fears of persecution - as government argues country is 'safe'

The Rwanda bill passed the third reading in the Commons last week but the House of Lords voted not to ratify the agreement
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
Rishi Sunak's flagship Rwanda Bill will face its first test in the House of Lords later.

Peers will debate the main principles of the legislation, with the Lib Dems pushing to kill the bill in its entirety.

The "fatal" motion is expected to fail, but peers are expected to try to strip out key powers as the bill progresses.

The government's plan aims to halt legal challenges against sending asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Last week, peers inflicted a defeat on the scheme when they called for a UK-Rwanda treaty to be delayed until Kigali improves its asylum procedures.

Key votes on the legislation in the Lords are not expected until next month, but any changes made by peers are likely to be overturned by the Commons.

The government is hoping to get the flights to Rwanda running by the spring.

More than 70 speakers are scheduled to speak in the debate on Monday. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, a critic of the scheme, is among dozens of peers down to speak who are expected to oppose the plans.

The prime minister was able to pass the bill through the Commons after a Conservative rebellion failed to materialise.

Mr Sunak has argued deporting some asylum seekers to Rwanda will be a deterrent to migrants seeking to get to the UK by crossing the Channel in small boats, but Labour has labelled the plan an expensive "gimmick".

Debate over the legislation has exposed on-going divisions among Conservatives - leading to two deputy chairmen, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, quitting their roles in order to vote for the rebel amendments.

In the final round of voting in the Commons on 18 January, more than 60 Conservative MPs backed rebel amendments to allow the UK government to ignore parts of human rights law when sending people to Rwanda.

Dozens of Tory MPs had suggested they would be willing to abstain or even vote against the entire bill without fundamental changes.

However, in the event, just 11 MPs voted against it - including former immigration minister Robert Jenrick and former home secretary Suella Braverman.

The votes were a culmination of months of Conservative party infighting and coincided with a poll funded by a group called Conservative Britain Alliance - which projected Labour was on course for a 120-seat majority.

Tory pollster Lord Hayward has called for the Electoral Commission to look into polls pushed by groups with no credible identifiable "beneficial owner".

Source: BBC

www.bbc.com

Rwanda Bill to face first of several key tests in Lords

The PM's flagship plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda has already faced fierce opposition from peers.
www.bbc.com
 
Lords hand fourth defeat to Sunak over Rwanda bill

In the final vote on amendments to the government's Rwanda bill today, the Lords handed Rishi Sunak a fourth defeat.

This amendment mandates that those who worked with the UK military or government overseas, such as Afghan interpreters, to be exempted from removal to Rwanda.

The House of Commons rejected a similar measure yesterday, but the Lords are insisting.

The result is:

253 in favour.
236 against.
That means the amendment passes with a majority of 57.

As a result of today's votes, the bill will return to the House of Commons tomorrow for MPs to have their say, as the parliamentary "ping-pong" process continues.
 
Lords delay Rwanda bill to next week in blow to Rishi Sunak's agenda

The House of Lords has delayed the passing of the government's Rwanda bill until next week - in a blow to Rishi Sunak's attempts to get planes off the ground deporting illegal migrants to the country.

MPs overturned Tuesday's attempts by the House of Lords to dilute the plan - but peers have now put forward even more changes to the proposed new law.

It is now expected that the Commons will consider the changes on Monday next week, dashing Number 10's hopes to get it through today.

Downing Street has been unwilling to concede any ground on the areas that peers are trying to amend, including on the treatment of people who served with or for the British armed forces abroad.

Number 10 had set its sights on passing the legislation this week as part of its plans to get planes in the air in the spring.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was tabled last year after the Supreme Court ruled the previous scheme to deport asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the UK was unlawful.

The current bill aims to declare Rwanda safe and not allow courts to consider the safety of the nation during appeals.

This is being done based on a new treaty agreed between the UK government and Kigali.

Speaking earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister's spokesperson ruled out doing a deal on any of these changes.

They said: "We are not considering concessions.

"We believe the bill as it stands is the right bill and the quickest way to get flights off the ground."


news.sky.com

Lords delay Rwanda bill to next week in blow to Rishi Sunak's agenda

The government was defeated twice, with peers backing the need for a report before Rwanda to be considered safe, and also preventing the deportation of those who served with or for the armed forces.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

mominsaigol
UK announces radical changes to its immigration rules
Replies
46
Views
877
mominsaigol
mominsaigol
D
[PICTURES] Indians pretending to be Afghans to claim asylum in UK
Replies
65
Views
2K
emranabbas
emranabbas
R
Gaza war driving Muslim ‘isolation’ in UK: MWL chief
Replies
38
Views
743
Cpt. Rishwat
Cpt. Rishwat
L
UK child poverty numbers reach a record high
Replies
2
Views
170
aboveandbeyond
A
KingKhanWC
Why are Indians risking it all to chase the American Dream?
Replies
34
Views
884
KingKhanWC
KingKhanWC
Back
Top