Latest news with #France-UK
STV News
6 days ago
- Politics
- STV News
Migrant Channel crossings reach 50,000 since Labour took office
The number of migrants crossing the Channel since Labour came to power has passed the significant milestone, as ITV News Political Reporter Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe explains More than 50,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since Labour came into office. Home Office figures showed on Monday that 474 migrants have arrived by small boat since July 2024. Speaking on Tuesday morning, government minister Baroness Jacqui Smith described the numbers as an 'enormous problem,' saying she understood the public's 'concern'. Pointing to the government's recently implemented returns deal with France, Smith said the government remained determined to bring the number of crossings down. The Home Office released images earlier this month showing the first migrants detained under the new France-UK deal. / Credit: Home Office Earlier this month, the government began detaining migrants under a new 'one in, one out' deal with France. Under the scheme, some migrants who crossed the Channel illegally will be detained and returned to France in exchange for asylum seekers with links to the UK. The scheme is currently being piloted, and the UK government hopes to expand it further. Critics say the number of migrants being returned remains a long way off what is needed to either bring the numbers down or serve as a legitimate deterrent. The government will not confirm how many migrants this involves, although it has previously been reported that the number stands close to 50 a week. 'We need to build camps,' says Kemi Badenoch in response to the number of migrants currently arriving in the UK There have been 27,029 arrivals so far this year, which is 47% higher than the same point of 2024 when the figure stood at 18,342, and 67% higher than 2023's figure of 16,170. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described those crossing the Channel as 'an invasion'. Reacting to the milestone being reached, Philp, the Conservative MP for Croydon South, said: 'Labour has surrendered our borders, and the consequences are being felt in our communities, from rising crime to shocking cases of rape and sexual assault by recent arrivals.' ITV News filmed a small boat of people assumed to be migrants crossing the Channel on Monday morning. Speaking from the Isle of Wight, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed that if she were in office, she could bring the numbers down 'very quickly'. She went on to say Labour lacked a deterrence as she called for the return of the previous Conservative government's Rwanda scheme, where migrants' asylum claims would have been processed in the African country, with successful applicants being granted leave to remain in Rwanda. Pushed on whether the Conservatives could reduce Channel crossings to zero, Badenoch said, 'I think that we can,' adding, 'It wouldn't happen straight away, but it would happen quickly'. Badenoch said, 'My team are now looking at what we can do in terms of detention centres, but stopping people from coming here in the first place – if they think they're going to be sent to Rwanda and not get here, get a free hotel, get benefits, then they won't come here.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
LeMonde
11-07-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Migration: France agrees to return deal with UK
At the conclusion of French President Emmanuel Macron's two-day state visit to the United Kingdom, which was followed by a France-UK summit on Thursday, July 10, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that an agreement had been reached on cross-Channel migration. For the first time, the deal establishes the principle that people turned back from the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats will be returned to France. The number of people affected is expected to be around 50 per week. This is a minimum, according to London, which has in turn committed to accepting, in the opposite direction, individuals whose nationality would almost automatically guarantee them asylum in the United Kingdom or who are eligible for family reunification. The numbers involved remain very modest compared to the 21,000 people who have crossed the Dover Strait since the beginning of the year (a 50% increase compared to the same period in 2024). Nevertheless, the Labour leader described the agreement as "groundbreaking." "Previous governments tried and failed to secure results like this," said Starmer during a joint press conference with Macron on Thursday at Northwood, a military base in northwest London.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US may recognise Russia's control over Crimea as part of potential peace deal
The United States has been considering recognising Russian control over Crimea as part of a future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv. Source: Bloomberg, citing unnamed informed sources familiar with the course of the talks Details: According to the sources, the potential concession by the US has become another signal of US President Donald Trump's desire to secure a peace deal as soon as possible, especially after both he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed readiness to end mediation efforts if talks do not make rapid progress. "Doing so risks undermining international laws and treaties prohibiting the taking of land through use of force," Bloomberg noted. For the Kremlin, such an agreement would represent a strategic victory. Russia's leader Vladimir Putin has for many years sought international recognition of the annexation of Crimea, which most countries around the world consider illegal. Bloomberg stated that this proposal is not final and requires further consultations with Kyiv. The US's European allies are categorically against any recognition of the occupied territories as Russian. "Talks would be moot if the Kremlin didn't agree to stop the fighting, and that providing Ukraine with security guarantees to ensure that any deal holds up was essential," the sources said. Quote: "The Paris talks also built on France-UK efforts to form a postwar 'reassurance force' in Ukraine, as well as plans to ensure that Kyiv has an adequately resourced and manned military as part of a package of security guarantees." Details: Officials in Paris and London hope that such an initiative will demonstrate Europe's seriousness in supporting Ukraine and persuade Trump to back these guarantees. Background: On 17 April, a meeting between the Ukrainian delegation and representatives from France, Germany and the United Kingdom took place in Paris. They discussed, among other things, a complete ceasefire, a multinational contingent and security guarantees for Ukraine during the meeting. An American delegation, led by Rubio and Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for the Middle East, also arrived in Paris to take part in the talks. On 18 April, Rubio stated that it is necessary to determine in "a matter of days" whether peace in Ukraine is possible, emphasising that the United States has other priorities and that it is ready to abandon efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine if in the coming days it becomes clear that no progress is being made. Trump said he might abandon attempts to stop the war between Ukraine and Russia if "one of the two parties makes it [the peace process – ed.] very difficult". Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
