Latest news with #AndyRain
UPI
4 days ago
- Politics
- UPI
Britain begins detaining 'small boat' migrants to send back to France
Britain began detaining migrants arriving on small boats from France under a deal in which one migrant who arrives without permission is returned for each migrant with an asylum claim or visa application legally lodged in France that Britain accepts. File photo by Andy Rain/EPA-EFE Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A landmark Anglo-French "one-in, one-out" migrant agreement saw the first small boat arrivals on the British coast taken into custody in preparation for being returned to France, the government said Thursday. The detentions got underway on Wednesday with migrants who had crossed the Channel "illegally" held in secure immigration centers pending their removal to France, which was expected to take place in a matter of weeks, according to a Home Office news release. It pledged full transparency, saying detainees would be briefed on the process for returning them to France and kept updated on their progress through the system on an individual basis. For each migrant sent back, Britain will take in one pre-approved to claim asylum who has not previously attempted to enter the country and who has completed a formal application and security clearance process in France that is only open to those with a passport or identity document. Pre-checked individuals, or family groups, will then journey safely from France via scheduled rail, ferry or airline services. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper declined to say how many migrants had been detained but vowed to fight any challenge launched in the courts in an attempt to block them from being sent back to France. "The transfers to immigration removal centers are underway as we speak, so we won't provide operational details at this point that criminal gangs can simply use and exploit. But no one should be in any doubt: anyone who arrives from now on is eligible for immediate detention and return," she said. Cooper added that it was the very early stages of a pilot that would take time to scale up, but stressed, given that France was a safe country for all, including migrants, the government would "robustly defend against any legal challenge that people try." However, Home Office sources told The Guardian that the scheme inked last month during a state visit to Britain by French President Emmanuel Macron would initially only involve about 50 asylum seekers. Immigration lawyers warned that the ambiguous terms of the treaty left it open to legal challenge by individuals trying to prevent their removal from the country. At least one charity cautioned that the scheme shut out people fleeing war or famine in countries including Eritrea or Sudan because they were unlikely to meet the criteria for official identification. "This week in Calais, we spoke with many people from Eritrea and almost none of them have copies of their Eritrean passports because they were never able to obtain one," said a spokesperson for Refugee Legal Support. The spokesperson said the largest group making the journey across the Channel so far this year were Eritreans, 86% of whom had their refugee claims upheld once they reached Britain -- but virtually all of them would never get that chance under the scheme. The deal, marking the first time Britain has been able to return migrants who arrive from France, came as the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats in the first seven months of 2025 topped a record 25,436. Under the treaty, Britain is responsible for the costs of transporting migrants in both directions, and France is entitled to refuse to accept returnees it believes pose "a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any of the Schengen states." Schengen states refer to the borderless, free travel area comprising 25 of 27 member countries of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
UPI
15-07-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Secret plan resettles thousands of Afghans in Britain after data leak
Thousands of Afghan refugees who assisted Britain during the years-long war in Afghanistan have been relocated to British shores under a secret government scheme, but only after data was mistakenly leaked by an official in the British Defense Ministry (pictured Tuesday in London, England). Photo By Andy Rain/EPA July 15 (UPI) -- Thousands of Afghans were relocated to Britain in a secret government scheme after a data breach of nearly 100,000 refugee applicants via Afghanistan following the Taliban's 2021 seizure of power. A British judge suggested it ultimately created "serious" concern over free speech and an independent media. It was revealed Tuesday by British authorities that the private data of nearly 19,000 people was leaked "in error" in February 2022 by a Ministry of Defense official, containing applicant names and other personal details part of the government's so-called "Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy." As a result, the prior government under then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak initiated last year in April a secret Afghan relocation program styled as the "Afghanistan Response Route." As of March, about 36,000 people have been resettled in the island nation under ARAP and other similar resettlement plans. The now-defunct ARAP program was launched in April 2021 and ended earlier this month after immigration policy adjustments by parliament. Nearly 100,000 people, including family members of ARAP applicants, were said to be affected by the incident and could be at risk of harassment, torture or even death if the information got into Taliban hands, a judge said last year in June. It's understood so far to have cost more than $535 million with an estimated final price tag of over $1.1 billion between legal fees, compensation and other related costs. In September 2023, a rare superinjunction was given by a High Court to prevent British media from reporting on the story in a request by then-Defense Minister Ben Wallace to cut back on the risk of notifying Taliban warlords. On Tuesday, the super injunction was lifted. It's thought to be the longest judicial order of its kind and the first time the British government had sought such a restrictive act against the free press. According to officials, the dataset left osecure government computer servers while the unnamed defense official allegedly attempted to verify information. Reports indicate around 4,500 individuals have so far arrived to British shores or in transit via the government's "Afghanistan Response Route." It includes some 900 Arap applicants and roughly 3,600 of their family members. An independent government review commission, seated this year in January, concluded in June that the data was "unlikely to significantly shift Taliban understanding of individuals who may be of interest to them." In 2021, a government whistleblower testified to Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office over the Afghanistan withdrawal of British troops months prior in August. British authorities later paid out nearly $1 million in compensation for almost 300 civilian deaths during the Afghanistan conflict. Whistleblower testimony revealed that "between 75,000 and 150,000" Afghan allies had applied for emergency evacuation out of Afghanistan as the Taliban took control, but fewer than 5% received foreign assistance. British government officials only became aware of the data breach over a year later when excerpts appeared on Facebook. "This data leak should never have happened and was an unacceptable breach of all relevant data protocols," James Cartlidge, the shadow defense minister who sat in Sunak's government when the scheme was hatched, told the BBC on Tuesday. Defense Minister John Healy offered a "sincere apology on behalf of the British government" for the leak in remarks to the House of Commons. However, the situation overall didn't sit well with the judge who stated that by granting his own super injunction, it had "given rise to serious free speech concerns." "The superinjunction had the effect of completely shutting down the ordinary mechanisms of accountability which operate in a democracy," Justice Martin Chamberlain said in his summary judgment. "This led to what I describe as a 'scrutiny vacuum,'" he added.
UPI
23-05-2025
- Business
- UPI
U.S. firm RedBird Capital reaches deal to purchase Britain's Telegraph Media Group
U.S. investment firm RedBird Capital on Friday announced it has reached a deal to be the sole owner of Britain's Telegraph Media Group. File Photo by Andy Rain/EPA-EFE May 23 (UPI) -- The American RedBird Capital Partners private investment firm announced a deal Friday to purchase the British Telegraph Media Group. RedBird will pay $675 million to become the sole owner of the group, which owns The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers. "This transaction marks the start of a new era for The Telegraph as we look to grow the brand in the U.K. and internationally, invest in its technology and expand its subscriber base," RedBird Founder and Managing Partner Gerry Cardinale said. RedBird said it aims to expand TMG's presence in the United States and add new verticals such as events and travel to "maximize the commercial opportunities from a growing international and mass affluent subscriber base." "Telegraph Media Group is an award-winning news media organization, with exceptional journalism at its heart, supported by leading commercial expertise, a commitment to innovation and a laser focus on data to drive strategy," TMG CEO Anna Jones said. "RedBird Capital Partners have exciting growth plans that build on our success -- and will unlock our full potential across the breadth of our business. RedBird's deal to purchase TMG must still undergo regulatory approval after a previous bid by United Arab Emirates Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan was rejected by Britain's last government. RedBird previously joined with Mansour's IMI Media Group to purchase the newspapers after they were seized for outstanding debts, seekign to curtail an auction of the assets by the Barclay family. The government, however, rejected the deal that would have seen IMI take majority ownership of the papers and passed a law barring foreign governments from owning British print media. If approved, TMG would join other acquisitions of Redbird, which include Skydance Media, which is expected to merge with Paramount, as well as sports-focused broadcasters such as Fenway Sports Group and the YES Network, plus Formula One's Alpine Racing team. It also owns the Italian professional football club AC Milan.
UPI
22-05-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Britain's High Court blocks transfer of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
Chagossians residing in Britain protest outside the High Court in London on Thursday ahead of a hearing to decide whether a controversial deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius can go ahead. Photo by Andy Rain/EPA-EFE May 22 (UPI) -- A signing ceremony ceding the British Indian Ocean Territory of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius on Thursday was called off at the last moment after Britain's High Court granted an injunction in the middle of the night to islanders opposing the deal. "On-call" judge, Justice Goose, granted the temporary stay at 2:25 a.m. local time to two Chagos petitioners, ruling that the defendant, the Home Office, must "maintain the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom over the British Indian Ocean Territory until further order," pending a further hearing during working hours Thursday. The 11th-hour legal action forced the ceremony with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mauritian government representatives to be put on hold. Stuart Lake, legal counsel for Beatrice Pompe, one of the claimants, told the Financial Times that his client was "deeply concerned that the government has chosen to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands without any consultation or protections for those that are indigenous to the islands." A British government spokesman declined to comment but insisted the deal with its former colony was "the right thing to protect the British people and our national security." Under the agreement, Britain will transfer sovereignty to Mauritius of the archipelago, home to a giant U.K.-U.S. military base on the island of Diego Garcia, but retain control of Diego Garcia by leasing it back on a 99-year, multi-billion dollar deal. The United States pays Britain for use of the base, but the figure has never been made public. Diego Garcia inhabitants have been engaged in a decades-long legal battle against their forcible displacement during the construction of the base throughout the late 1960s, mainly to Mauritius, the Seychelles and Britain, with the Chagos Islands split off from Mauritius when it became independent in 1968. Joining a protest by Chagos people outside Parliament, the opposition Conservative Party's shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel called Thursday's legal intervention "a humiliation" for Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy. "Their rights, views and voices over the future of Chagos have been ignored by Labour which continues to cause distress and uncertainty for this wonderful community," she wrote in a post on X. "Labour's Chagos Surrender Deal is bad for our defence and security interests, bad for British taxpayers and bad for British Chagossians," said Patel. The deal has also been condemned by Human Rights Watch, which has demanded Britain and the United States pay reparations after a 2023 report alleged the "forced displacement of the Chagossians and ongoing abuses amount to crimes against humanity committed by a colonial power against an Indigenous people." The United States initially welcomed the deal when it was struck in October and will see the other 57 currently uninhabited islands in the archipelago opened up for settlement. Diego Garcia, however, will remain out of bounds to its former residents and their descendants on "security grounds." U.S. President Joe Biden called the deal "a clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes." But the deal was delayed after Donald Trump won back the presidency in November, pending his approval, and after the elections days later in Mauritius over the value of the lease. Trump gave his backing in February during a visit to Washington by Starmer, despite warnings from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior Republicans who said Mauritius' links to China posed a "serious security threat" to U.S. national security.
