UK injects 100 million pounds to boost border security
The UK on Monday announced that it will invest 100 million pounds as part of its efforts to control soaring illegal migration.
The new funding is earmarked for up to 300 extra National Crime Agency (NCA) officers, state-of-the-art detection technology and new equipment targeting criminal networks behind people smuggling, the Home Office said.
The NCA's Border Security Command and other law enforcement agencies will benefit from a cash injection to strengthen investigations targeting smuggling kingpins and disrupt their operations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and beyond, it added.The funding package will go towards supporting a new pilot of the "one-in, one-out" UK returns agreement, which will see migrants who arrive illegally on small boats returned to France.It will also support the new powers to be introduced when the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill becomes law, criminalising the creation and publication of online material that promotes a breach of immigration law.
"This additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan, and will turbo-charge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down, working with our partners overseas, and using state-of-the-art technology and equipment," said UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.The Labour Party minister accused the previous Conservative Party government of allowing small boat smuggling gangs to embed their criminal trade across the English Channel, putting lives at risk with dangerous migrant crossings."They must not be allowed to get away with this vile crime. That is why this government has developed a serious and comprehensive plan to dismantle their business model, from disrupting their supply chains across the European continent to clamping down on their illegal working operations here in the UK," said Cooper.The new investment package unveiled this week is aimed at enabling more intelligence to be gathered on organised immigration crime gang members and support "upstream capacity building" by intensifying efforts in transit countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia to target organised immigration crime.New hi-tech surveillance capabilities and AI-assisted intelligence and data analysis tools as well as the implementation of extended police powers to seize and download digital devices to gather evidence and intelligence, are among the government's priorities.
"We currently have 91 investigations ongoing into the most dangerous people smuggling networks impacting the UK, and are working with partners at home and abroad to target, disrupt and dismantle them. This additional funding will help boost our capacity and capability, enabling us to target more offenders," said Rob Jones, NCA Director General. The agency reported that in 2024-25, it achieved 351 NCA-led disruptions of organised immigration crime networks and activity - its highest level on record - and a 40 per cent increase on the previous financial year. Last week, it announced the agency's biggest people-smuggling raid and seizure of boat engines in Bulgaria.The added investment is expected to build on this to arrest and prosecute major smuggling gang leaders and the seizure of more small boats and engines.The investment comes as the latest statistics revealed more than 25,000 migrants made dangerous small boat crossings to enter the UK illegally last month, marking a new record for July.
The government also plans a clampdown on student visas to stop migrants using the study route as a way to enter the UK legally and later claim asylum. It will see UK universities face stricter rules around course completion rates to maintain their ability to sponsor visas for foreign students, who typically pay higher fees than domestic students.
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Business Standard
20 minutes ago
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Year after uprising, Bangladesh struggles to find political stability
Abdur Rahman Tarif was talking to his sister Meherunnesa over the phone when the voice on the other end of the call suddenly fell silent. In that moment, Tarif knew something bad had happened. He rushed home, dodging the exchange of fire between security forces and protesters on the streets of Dhaka. When he finally arrived, he discovered his parents tending to his bleeding sister. A stray bullet had hit Meherunnesa's chest while she was standing beside the window of her room, Tarif said. She was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her dead. Meherunnesa, 23, was killed on Aug 5 last year, the same day Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country in a massive student-led uprising, which ended her 15-year rule. For much of Bangladesh, Hasina's ouster was a moment of joy. Three days later, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over the country as head of an interim government, promising to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms. A year on, Bangladesh is still reeling from that violence, and Hasina now faces trial for crimes against humanity, in absentia as she is in exile in India. But despite the bloodshed and lives lost, many say the prospect for a better Bangladesh with a liberal democracy, political tolerance and religious and communal harmony has remained a challenge. The hope of the thousands who braved lethal violence a year ago when they opposed Sheikh Hasina's abusive rule to build a rights-respecting democracy remains unfulfilled, said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights group. Stalled change Bangladesh's anti-government movement exacted a heavy price. Hundreds of people, mostly students, were killed in violent protests. Angry demonstrators torched police stations and government buildings. Political opponents often clashed with each other, sometimes leading to gruesome killings. Like many Bangladeshis, Tarif and his sister took part in the uprising, hoping for a broader political change, particularly after when one of their cousins was shot and killed by security forces. "We could not stay home and wanted Sheikh Hasina to go, 20-year-old Tarif said. Ultimately we wanted a country without any discrimination and injustice. Today, his hopes lie shattered. We wanted a change, but I am frustrated now, he said. After taking the reins, the Yunus-led administration formed 11 reform commissions, including a national consensus commission that is working with major political parties for future governments and the electoral process. Bickering political parties have failed to reach a consensus on a timetable and process for elections. Mob violence, political attacks on rival parties and groups, and hostility to women's rights and vulnerable minority groups by religious hardliners have all surged. Some of the fear and repression that marked Hasina's rule, and abuses such as widespread enforced disappearances, appear to have ended, rights groups say. However, they accuse the new government of using arbitrary detention to target perceived political opponents, especially Hasina's supporters, many of whom have been forced to go into hiding. Hasina's Awami League party, which remains banned, says more than two dozen of its supporters have died in custody over the last one year. Human Rights Watch in a statement on July 30 said the interim government is falling short in implementing its challenging human rights agenda. It said violations against ethnic and other minority groups in some parts of Bangladesh have continued. 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People's expectation was (that) Yunus government will be focused and solely geared towards reforming the electoral process. But now it's a missed opportunity for them, Kalimullah said. A frustrated population For some, not much has changed in the last year. Meherunnesa's father, Mosharraf Hossain, said the uprising was not for a mere change in government, but symbolized deeper frustrations. We want a new Bangladesh It's been 54 years since independence, yet freedom was not achieved, he said. Tarif echoed his father's remarks, adding that he was not happy with the current state of the country. I want to see the new Bangladesh as a place where I feel secure, where the law enforcement agencies will perform their duties properly, and no government will resort to enforced disappearances or killings like before. I want to have the right to speak freely, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Business Standard
20 minutes ago
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'EU, US import Russian goods but target us': India defends oil purchase
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First Post
20 minutes ago
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Cambodia, Thailand discuss ceasefire monitoring, POW issues in Malaysia meeting
Thai and Cambodian officials kicked off high-stakes border talks in Malaysia on Monday, aiming to cement the fragile ceasefire that followed five days of deadly clashes. read more Military attaches from various countries visit a hospital that was damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand. File image/ AP Thai and Cambodian officials gathered in Malaysia on Monday for the first round of cross-border committee negotiations since a tense truce was agreed upon last week following five days of deadly armed border battles that killed dozens and displaced over 260,000 people. The four-day General Border Committee meetings were originally scheduled to be held by Cambodia, but both parties eventually agreed on a neutral site in Malaysia, the annual chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which negotiated the cease-fire last month. 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Fighting erupted in 2011 at Preah Vihaer, after which the ICJ in 2013 reaffirmed its earlier ruling, rankling Thailand. Relations deteriorated again sharply in May this year, when a Cambodian soldier was shot dead in a brief fracas in one of the disputed border zones, setting off diplomatic and trade sanctions, one against the other. Soon after two incidents last month in which Thai soldiers were wounded by land mines in disputed territory — for which Thailand blamed Cambodia — the two sides downgraded diplomatic relations and fighting broke out, each side blaming the other for starting the armed clashes. The talks this week will include finalizing details and scope of reference for an ASEAN monitoring team, Malaysian Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Mohamad Nizam Jaffar said Monday. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Despite some reports of attacks after the ceasefire came into effect, Nizam said such incidents were typical spillover violence and both sides showed strong commitment during Monday's talks to uphold the ceasefire. The main session of the General Border Committee on Thursday will be led by Thai Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Natthaphon Nakpanit and Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Seih, who also serves as deputy prime minister, and include observers from Malaysia, the United States and China, officials said. Despite the truce, tensions have persisted as both countries organized tours of the former battle areas for foreign diplomats and other observers to highlight damage allegedly caused by the other side. The two countries also continue to accuse each other of having violated international humanitarian laws with attacks on civilians and the use of illegal weapons. The battles are now fought on the propaganda front The propaganda war continues with accusations, denials, and cries of 'fake news,' while supporters of each side also tangle on social media. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Each side has blamed the other for starting the fighting and for indiscriminately targeting civilian sites with long-range weapons such as artillery and rockets, and using prohibited weapons. The hottest issue is Cambodia's allegations that Thailand has mistreated and tortured a squad of captured Cambodian soldiers. Two wounded members of the 20-man Cambodian group were repatriated on Friday. However, Thai officials said Monday that the soldiers 'qualify as prisoners of war' and 'will be released and repatriated only when the armed conflict ends,' which it considers a separate matter from last week's ceasefire. Thai military spokesperson Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said at a news briefing Monday that Thailand has invited representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, and the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, OHCHR, 'to visit the detained Cambodian soldiers on site.' Cambodia had called for such access. Neither the ICRC nor the OHCHR responded to a query from The Associated Press asking about any communications with the two governments. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Cambodia's king formalizes former leader Hun Sen's military role A surprise statement on Monday night in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh announced that Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni issued a Royal Decree authorizing the country's influential former leader Hun Sen to work together with his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet, in guiding military and national defense affairs. The king's decree said he was acting because the nation 'is suffering from serious violations and threats to its territorial integrity by the Thai soldiers, and in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of Cambodia.' King Sihamoni generally keeps a low profile and exercises no political power or influence, taking no initiative in any state or government work. The 72-year-old Hun Sen, who is very active on social media, maintained a high profile during the fighting, urging his country's soldiers and hurling invective at Thailand and its leaders. He was once a guerrilla fighter with the Communist Khmer Rouge. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It was not clear why Hun Sen would need or want authorization from King Sihamoni, since there has been no open dissent inside the country criticizing his actions during the conflict. The decree appeared to be a response to foreign news stories suggesting Hun Sen was usurping his son's authority. Hun Sen seemed to confirm this, saying on Facebook that he was exercising his rights as a five-star general with experience 'to fight the thieves who invaded my country,' after noting criticism from Thai media.
