How Europe is cracking down on migrants with deportations in DAYS while soft-touch Starmer lets 50,000 cross channel
With public anger growing over soaring entries to their nations, more leaders are taking a harsher stance on migration - and dishing out swift deportations.
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Migrants onboard a boat during a rescue operation, before their boat capsized on the open sea, off Greece, June 14, 2023
Credit: Reuters
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Migrant workers arrive for the morning shift at the Fincantieri ship yards
Credit: Chris Eades
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Numerous countries are taking a tougher stance on migration
Credit: Dan Charity
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer passed the damning milestone of 50,000 people crossing the Channel in small boats under his watch.
This is despite pledges from Labour to cut net migration to the UK when they entered office last year.
Home Office stats show arrivals this year are 47 per cent higher than the same point in 2024 and 67 per cent higher than in 2023.
Some 474 people arrived on Monday, taking the total since Starmer's landslide to 50,271.
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Sir Keir did not repeat his predecessor Rishi Sunak's pledge to "stop the boats" - instead proposing to "smash the gangs" smuggling people into Britain as his solution.
But the PM has come under increasing pressure to lower immigration numbers amid growing discontent - with Downing Street admitting "there's clearly much more to do".
A Sun investigation uncovered a string of generous perks offered to small boat migrants - including discounts on martial arts classes and dinghy days out plus £1 Aston Villa match tickets for kids.
Meanwhile, governments in Europe are cracking down and booting migrants out at swift speeds.
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PORTUGAL
On Friday, dozens of migrants landed at an Algarve beach - but were immediately detained.
A total of 38 people arrived on the small wooden boat, but they were quickly rounded up by cops.
And many have been hauled before court in a lightning crackdown.
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Illegal migrant LIVE STREAMS step by step channel crossing & boasts 'my dream was to come here' from 4 star asylum hotel
Authorities said: "The migrants were in a debilitated state and in need of medical care, showing signs of dehydration and hypothermia."
But 31 of the 38 were taken to court the following day where a judge gave them 20 days to voluntarily return to Morocco.
Portugal's government has vowed to crack down hard on migration.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government issued thousands of deportation orders during a tight election campaign earlier this year amid surging popularity for the far-right Chega party.
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"This is a case of Montenegro becoming Trumpian," said opposition politician Pedro Nuno Santos during the campaign.
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Dozens of migrants arrived at an Algarve beach
Credit: X
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Far-right party Chega president André Ventura addresses followers
Credit: Getty
GREECE
Greece's Conservative-led government has pledged to bring in a "disincentive-based policy" to deter migrants.
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Migration Minister Thanos Plevris recently told Skai TV: "From now on, the government will follow a policy of drastically reducing benefits."
He even pointed to the menus given to migrants at camps, which he called "hotel-like".
The government even went as far as to suspend processing asylum applications from North Africa for three months amid a surge in arrivals.
Many of them had arrived on Crete, Greece's largest island.
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But the deputy mayor Eleni Zervoudaki told The Sun: "From the moral side it's illegal and it's not right, but from the other side I can understand the government is searching for a way to stop illegal immigration."
The hairline stance taken by the Greek government has paid dividends - with numbers of arrivals nosediving since the move.
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A shipwreck of a boat is stranded at a shore in the northern part of Lesbos island
Credit: Reuters
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A migrant reacts with emotion after arriving on Lesbos in 2020
Credit: Alamy
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GERMANY
Under former Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany famously adopted an "open door" that saw tens of thousands of people arrive in the country.
But fast-forward to 2025, and Berlin is taking a much stricter stance on the matter.
New Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to crack down on illegal immigration upon entering office.
The open door order has now been revoked, undocumented asylum seekers are being pushed back, and far more cops deployed to the German border.
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Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has confirmed that the measures will continue to remain in place.
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German federal police checks car arriving at the German-Polish border
Credit: Getty
POLAND
Not content to simply police their border, Polish authorities have announced that fences will be built to prevent illegal migration.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk didn't mince words earlier this year when he said: "Anyone who visits Poland, takes advantage of our hospitality and brutally violates the law will be deported from Poland."
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Poland has also carried out brutal immigration raids involving 26,000 police officers and 1,000 border guards.
Nearly 1,500 migrants were detained in the raids between February 13 and 14.
Karol Nawrocki won the Polish presidency this summer on a campaign that targeted refugees and migrants.
His key slogan was "Poland first, Poles first".
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Polish Border Guards check a vehicle at Polish-German border
Credit: Reuters
ITALY
Italy has taken an increasingly muscular approach to immigration over the past few years.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni claims Italy under her watch has become a "model to follow" for other nations.
The country even took the unprecedented step to ground a reconnaissance plane used by a German migrant rescue charity.
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NGO Sea-Watch hit back at Italy over the move, calling it "a new escalation in the Italian government's fight against civilian human rights observation in the Mediterranean".
Italy is also trying to establish an offshore asylum processing system in Albania.
Sir Keir Starmer once said he showed "great interest" in this prospective deal.
In the UK, anger at illegal migration is focused on expensive asylum hotels and private housing being used to put up Channel crossers.
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Italian police officers stand at the entrance of a recently build Italian-run migrant centre
Credit: AFP
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