EXCLUSIVE The gangster guide to Dubai: The criminals from Manchester, Liverpool and beyond who call it home - and the tricks they use to live it up... without alerting authorities
They are among the legions of gangsters, drug smugglers and fugitives from across the world who have flocked to the city as famous for its criminal underworld as its iconic skyline.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'Don't come here. We'll put you in jail or send you home': That's the message from Greece's new immigration minister as his overwhelmed nation passes a hardline law. So will Keir Starmer take the slightest notice?
The Greek immigration minister does not mince his words. He may be new to the job but his message to the millions of young men waiting in North Africa to come to his country for a life in Europe is clear: 'Don't come here. We will put you in jail or send you back home.' In an exclusive interview with the Mail, Thanos Plevris said: 'The Greeks, like the rest of Europe, want to help real refugees, but we will not be taken for fools. It is the end of the fairy tale that those coming to Greece and Europe in incredible numbers are all women and children. They are mainly men aged between 18 and 30 who are economic migrants. We are not a hotel any more. 'Many are from safe countries, such as Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Now we are telling them that if you sail in illegally by boat to Greece, do not expect asylum but get ready for five years in jail or a ticket home instead.' Greece is on the frontline of Europe's out-of-control migration crisis that, as Britons know well, has reached northern France where trafficking gangs are using fleets of small boats to send tens of thousands of migrants to Dover. Greece, on the other side of the continent, has its own relentless wave of newcomers. This year, at least 10,000 migrants have reached its biggest island, Crete, from lawless Libya a few hundred miles away across the Mediterranean Sea. In the first week of this month alone, just after Mr Plevris was appointed immigration minister, a surge of 4,000 arrived illegally on the island, which is struggling to cope. The coastguard and police are holding the uninvited foreigners in emergency camps in empty warehouses where they get a chilly welcome, basic rations and sleep on concrete floors. As we witnessed, they are young men growing dangerously angry while incarcerated against their will in the stifling summer heat. 'Our big problem today is with Libya and who they are sending over,' the plain-speaking and unapologetic Mr Plevris told me as he promised to stifle the migration flow for ever. 'Libya is using big vessels carrying 200, even 300, people. Of all those who have arrived, 85 per cent are male, and the majority of them are young. They are using Greece to enter Europe illegally for a new life. 'If we just continue to sit and watch, it will never end. Three million migrants are today massing in Libya. 'Now I plan to deter them from setting off for here.' Ten days ago, the Greek parliament passed a new law to help Mr Plevris get his wish. It suspended all asylum applications from those arriving illegally from North Africa for 'at least three months' due to the 'extraordinary' migration emergency. The European Union has sided with Athens, saying the Greek crisis is 'exceptional'. Under the legislation, due to be introduced within days, most of the illegal arrivals will have two choices: a five-year prison spell or deportation to their home country, at Greece's expense. 'We will no longer tolerate an invasion from North Africa,' Mr Plevris said. Migrant camps with prison-like accommodation are being prepared on the mainland to house future arrivals. 'Our immigration ministry is not a hotel service,' Mr Plevris added in a headline-grabbing television soundbite after the law won overwhelming support in parliament. He is also reviewing the 'current situation' where migrants are placed, sometimes for years, in welcoming reception centres with 'menu-style' meals and state benefits, while it is decided if they are genuine refugees or not. Greece's revolutionary agenda is backed by the country's prime minister. A key aide said: 'This is an urgent situation. We are taking extraordinary steps that are difficult and strict. Our government can no longer accept the migration flows from North Africa. People there need to think twice before they pay a large sum of money [to traffickers] to come to this country.' It is anybody's guess if the thousands of young men who have reached Crete in the new surge realise what a bleak future lies ahead. But in the few days since the law was voted in, no boats have arrived from Libya. When the Mail visited two of Crete's emergency holding camps, we were allowed to walk inside among the migrants but not permitted to speak to them. 'Be careful,' I was warned by an armed police officer guarding 400 migrants at a camp on the outskirts of Chania, two hours from the Crete capital of Heraklion. 'These are dangerous people. They all want something from you, even just a cigarette, and they get angry if you don't hand it over.' Inside the warehouse camp, the smell of unwashed men and urine made my eyes smart. As we walked in, the migrants shouted for help, putting up their hands to show ten fingers, the number of days they have been incarcerated here. There was a tinderbox atmosphere and the conditions were unpalatable, to say the least. Some migrants were lying on mattresses, resorting to sharing because there are so few. For the unlucky ones, it was a concrete floor with a T-shirt for a pillow. 'They all sit with their own nationalities, the Egyptians together, the Palestinians together, and so on,' said one female guard at the door of the warehouse. 'They are very difficult to control. There are so few of us, just five, and so many of them. We are tired, they are tired. It is not a safe situation.' One pitiful boy, who whispers to me that he is an Egyptian and 14, is barefoot and wearing just underpants and a shredded T-shirt. In one corner, standing alone, is a tall figure with dark hair and his neck covered in the red and white scarf of Palestine. 'He will say he is Egyptian, if he is asked,' a guard told me. 'But he has come from Gaza. 'He won't have an identity document because he will have destroyed it before reaching Greece. It makes our job of finding out who these people are, if they are bad or good, more difficult.' The police guards, just three men and two women, were under stress. If they open by a crack the giant metal doors to the warehouse to get in and out, throngs of men run to the entrance to try to reach the fresh air and escape the stench for a minute or two. 'No, no, no,' shout the inmates in one crescendo of furious male voices as the doors are snapped shut. Nearer Heraklion, in the mid-Crete town of Rethymno, is a second warehouse camp. If anything, the atmosphere was more tense still. It is on rough land overlooking the sea and a beach, and had nearly 180 men inside when we visited. Inside, we saw a gruff-looking police officer using a metal baton to control the migrants. One Egyptian who argued with him, after dilly-dallying for a few minutes on a visit to the latrine block in the yard, was chased and hit on the arm by the officer. 'You can show my stick on your photographs,' the officer said to me, 'but not my face.' He added: 'These men are disappointed, angry, and increasingly volatile. They will remember me. They expected to get a free pass into Europe because the Libyan boat traffickers told them that. Now we are keeping them here. They are not getting what they wanted or hoped for. It is difficult to make them stay calm. You must be wary.' It is at the Rethymno camp that we saw migrants being deported, first to Heraklion port and then to mainland Greece, in an operation resembling the movement of prisoners. During the afternoon, they were brought out of the warehouse in six nationality groups and made to sit on the ground in the blazing sun for half an hour to wait for buses to take them to the ferry for Athens where migrant camps have already been toughened up. Some held cardboard from torn-up boxes over their heads to protect themselves from the sun as they sat in the dust. Nearly all were barefoot, some bare-chested, and each carried a blue plastic bag of possessions plus a bottle of water. We were told that the migrants and the buses would remain in a closed deck area of the ferry away from fee-paying passengers for the night crossing. It was an operation with little compassion for the migrants, but the country has clearly run out of patience. Mr Plevris, who belongs to the Right-wing faction of Greece's ruling and increasingly conservative New Democracy party, said: 'Our prime minister has warned for years of the problems with immigration. 'We want to support refugees, but we believe it is important for our society that we only take those who want to be part of Europe.' He pointed out how many of the illegal migrants want to 'transfer' their own cultures and religious beliefs to Europe. 'They want to go on living by their own rules and they want us to accept that. But we will no longer do so,' he added. Mr Plevris said the European asylum system was skewed. It encourages migrants who cheat by throwing away their passports (to avoid showing they come from safe countries) or lying about their age to boost their chances of being allowed to stay. Egyptians wanting to escape military service destroy identity papers to disguise the fact they come from a country listed as safe by the United Nations and European Union. If the words of Mr Plevris, 48, sound like common sense today, his critics have dredged up the fact that he was a political firebrand when first elected to parliament in 2007 as a member of a now defunct hard-Right anti-immigration party. In 2011, he made a much criticised speech in parliament, which is still on YouTube. He said: 'In my opinion, the immigration issue can be solved in two ways. The first way is border security, which cannot exist if there are no deaths [to the migrants]. 'The second is that we must understand the logic of disincentives. We must tell the migrants when you come here you will have no social benefits, you will not be able to drink, you will not be able to go to hospital. '[The migrant] must tell others in Pakistan that he is having a worse time in Greece than back home. Unless he sees a life of hell and not a paradise, he will come.' Controversial though his speech was, his appointment is popular with ordinary Greeks today. As I travelled in Athens to interview Mr Plevris, the taxi driver recognised the address. 'Ah. Are you going to see the new minister,' he asked. 'I would like to send him a message from people like me. Tell him on migrants that enough is enough. No more must come in. We all feel the same. We wish him good luck with his new law.'
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Names of SAS troops were published online for a decade in major Ministry of Defence blunder
THE names of SAS troops were published online for a decade in another major Ministry of Defence security blunder – sparking a major inquiry. Defence Secretary John Healey and Army boss Sir Roly Walker were said to be furious over how details of special forces soldiers recruited from the Grenadier Guards were made publicly accessible through an Army in-house magazine. 2 The publication contained a roll call of the names and deployments of its most senior officers including some attached to the UK special forces directorate, who are deployed to the most dangerous combat zones around the world. Last year's edition included the names of ten men in the regiment and the code 'MAB' – a reference to the UK Special Forces' headquarters. It comes after a Ministry of Defence official circulated a spreadsheet containing the names of SAS members and MI6 operatives, along with the details of thousands of Afghans who applied for relocation to the UK. Ministers have since relocated thousands of Afghans to Britain at a cost of up to £7billion. The information was kept a secret for 18 months through a superinjunction used by the MoD – the first time one had been used by the Government against the press. The latest document is produced by the Grenadier Guards regimental association, a charitable enterprise consisting of former service members. General Sir Roly Walker told The Sunday Times: 'As a result of this incident, I have directed an immediate review into our data-sharing arrangements with our regimental and corps associations, to ensure appropriate guidance and safeguards are in place to best support the vital work they do.'
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
England condemn racist ‘online poison' aimed at Jess Carter during Euro 2025
England have condemned the 'online poison' of racist abuse directed at the defender Jess Carter during the European Championship in Switzerland and said they would stop taking a knee before matches because 'football needs to find another way to tackle racism'. Carter received criticism after her performance in England's defeat against France in their opening game of the tournament and was subsequently shifted from left-back to centre-back. She struggled again during Thursday's quarter-final victory against Sweden and has now revealed the unacceptable vitriol she has been a victim of while on international duty. 'From the start of the tournament I have experienced a lot of racial abuse,' the 27-year-old defender wrote on Instagram. 'While I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result I don't agree or think it's OK to target someone's appearance or race. As a result of this I will be taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with.' Carter has received widespread support, most emphatically from her teammates. In a collective statement, the Lionesses said: 'Representing our country is the greatest honour. It is not right that while we are doing that, some of us are treated differently simply because of the colour of our skin. Until now, we have chosen to take the knee before matches. It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism. We have agreed as a squad to remain standing before kick‑off on Tuesday.' The statement added: 'Those behind this online poison must be held accountable.' Lotte Wubben-Moy went further by announcing she was also coming off social media. In a statement, the Arsenal defender said: 'Another tournament goes by where we see the same disgusting racist abuse. It is unacceptable for any person to be subject to this or any kind of abuse. The issue goes beyond sport. But what is being done about it? On the very platforms we post on? I will not continue to feed the very platform that enables abuse with no consequence.' Speaking about the Lionesses' decision to stop taking the knee, Lucy Bronze said: 'It was driven by the group – obviously certain individuals more than others. I think it was just the fact that we feel as a collective, is the message as strong as it used to be? Is the message really hitting hard? Because to us it feels like it's not if these things are still happening to our players in the biggest tournaments of their lives. 'It's about putting another statement out there to say, you know, it's something that still is a problem, it's something that still needs to be put right. More needs to be done in football, more needs to be done in society, what that is right now as an individual, I don't exactly know. But it's something that we collectively as a team and as a federation want to work towards, we want to make changes. This is a small step trying to create another change.' The Football Association is working with authorities to track down those responsible for targeting Carter. The chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said: 'As soon as we were made aware of the racist abuse Jess received, we immediately contacted UK police. They are in touch with the relevant social media platform, and we are working with police to ensure those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice. 'Regrettably, this is not the first time this has happened to an England player, so we had measures in place to allow us to respond quickly and where possible provide information to support any potential police action. We will continue to discuss with the relevant authorities and social media companies about what more can and should be done to prevent this abhorrent abuse.' Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion Kick It Out has also come out in support of Carter, backing her decision 'to look after her own wellbeing', with the prime minister also standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the player. 'There is no place for racism in football or anywhere in society,' Keir Starmer said in a statement. 'I stand with Jess, the Lionesses, and any players who have suffered racism, on and off the pitch.' Uefa condemned what had happened, saying 'abuse and discrimination should never be tolerated, whether in football or society, in person or online' – a stance shared by the player's club, Gotham FC. 'We are heartbroken and outraged by the racist abuse directed at Jess Carter,' Gotham said in a statement. 'Jess is not only a world-class football player – she is a role model, a leader and a valued part of our family. At Gotham, we believe in a culture of mutual respect and remain committed to building a game – and a community – where everyone feels safe, respected and celebrated. There is no place for racism in our sport.' Carter, who was excellent in England's 4-0 group stage victory against the Netherlands, went on to thank 'genuine' England fans for their support, making clear her 'focus is on helping the team any way I can' before their semi-final against Italy on Tuesday. 'Hopefully, speaking out will make the people writing this abuse think twice so that others won't have to deal with it,' she said. 'We have made some historic changes with this Lionesses squad that I am so proud to be a part of and my hope is that by speaking out about this it will make another positive change for all.'
