Latest news with #UKImmigration
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Keir Starmer is criticised for making 'deeply dishonest' claims about Labour's record on small boats after PM's boast that 'almost 30,000 people' had been removed from Britain
For once Sir Keir Starmer was in tune with the mood of the country when he said he was 'angry' after more than 1,000 Channel migrants arrived over the weekend. But the Prime Minister was made to look foolish after being criticised for making 'deeply dishonest' claims about Labour's record on small boats. Sir Keir boasted in an online post that 'almost 30,000 people' had been removed from the UK. However, this figure refers to all types of foreign nationals who have no right to live in the UK rather than those who arrive by crossing the Channel. The number of small boat migrants removed in the 12 months to March fell three per cent year-on-year to 2,240. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'This is deeply dishonest. 'The number of removals of small boat arrivals has actually gone down under Labour.' Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir's claims were 'rubbish'. Some 1,195 Channel migrants arrived in the UK from northern France on Saturday – the fifth-highest daily total since the crisis began in 2018. The Prime Minister scrapped the Tories' Rwanda scheme, which was designed to deter migrants from crossing, as one of his first acts in office. Since Labour came to power 38,053 migrants have reached Britain, up a third on the same period in 2023-24, when the figure was 28,452. Officials have privately admitted that internal Home Office assessments indicate Labour is on course to preside over the worst year for Channel crossings. Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK which campaigns for tougher border controls, accused Sir Keir of attempting to 'intentionally mislead the public'. He added: 'The PM's suggestion that 30,000 Channel migrants have been removed is simply not true.' Tory Justice spokesman Robert Jenrick said: 'His fantasy statistics take the public for fools. 'They can see through his smoke and mirrors. Starmer has lost control of our borders.' It comes as Home Office insiders have urged France to 'step up' and fulfil a promise to intercept dinghies at sea. There is frustration within Labour at slow French progress in amending its rules so boats can be stopped once they are in the water, the Mail understands. France first pledged the change earlier this year but has still not completed a legal review, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs on Monday. A Home Office source said: 'The French committed to intervene in the water in February, it's about time they stepped up and did what they've told us they're going to do.' Ms Cooper said in the Commons: 'A French maritime review is looking at what new operational tactics they will use, and we are urging France to complete this review and implement the changes as swiftly as possible.' Ministers have blamed fine weather for the increase in arrivals, with officials saying there have been twice as many days when the Channel is able to be crossed by dinghies compared with last year.
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Britain to ask Kosovo to take UK's small boat migrants as it lines up talks over 'return hubs' in the Balkans after ditching Rwanda plan
Britain wants Kosovo to take migrants who arrive in Britain in small boats under a return hub' deal. The tiny country of 1.6million people, which only declared independence from Serbia 17 years ago, heads a shortlist of nine countries that ministers want to take failed asylum seekers. Sir Keir Starmer is currently looking for allies who might take those who cross the Channel as he seeks a way to reduce the numbers making the perilous journey. He is under mounting pressure after the total number of arrivals by small boats in 2025 hit 13,573, 37 per cent higher than at the same point last year. One of the PM's first acts after taking power was to ditch the Tories' Rwanda migrant deportation scheme. Serbia, North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are also on the list, the Times reported, with ministers wanting to make progress by the time the UK hosts a Balkan conference in the autumn. But Kosovo is at the top after its president, Vjosa Osmani, said earlier this month she was 'open' to talks on the subject, although she had not yet been approached by UK ministers. More than 3,000 migrants entered the EU through the Western Balkans in the four months of 2025, according to border agency Frontex. Official figures showed net long-term inflows into the UK were 431,000 in the year to December, compared with 860,000 across 2023. Numbers had dropped to 739,000 in the year to last June - just before the election - with the peak remaining 906,000 in the 12 months to June 2023. The Tories said the ONS data demonstrated their curbs were already having an impact - although the level in 2024 was still roughly equivalent to the population of Leeds. Separate figures from the Home Office showed 32,245 asylum seekers were housed in hotels as of the end of March this year - despite Keir Starmer 's vow to shut them down. The PM unveiled a crackdown on legal immigration last week, warning that failure to control the system risked turning Britain into an 'island of strangers'. Downing Street was forced to deny angry comparisons from MPs that it was an echo of Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech. Director of population statistics at the ONS Mary Gregory said: 'Our provisional estimates show net migration has almost halved compared with the previous year, driven by falling numbers of people coming to work and study, particularly student dependants. 'This follows policy changes brought in restricting visa applications. 'There has also been an increase in emigration over the 12 months to December 2024, especially people leaving who originally came on study visas once pandemic travel restrictions to the UK were eased.'
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
So who WILL take migrants, Keir? No10 refuses to say which countries it is talking to about return hubs after Albania snub
Downing Street is refusing to reveal which countries it is talking to about taking Britain's unwanted asylum seekers No10 refused to 'get ahead' of discussions with countries it hopes will host its migrant return hubs scheme, after Albania became the first country to rule itself out. In a surprise move, the Prime Minister used a visit to Tirana yesterday to unveil plans to create Rwanda-style centres abroad to house failed asylum seekers from the UK. But the initiative imploded on live TV just an hour later when his host, Albanian PM Edi Rama, ruled out ever taking part in the scheme. At the same time, Labour 's hardline new approach to legal migration, designed to tackle the surge in reform votes, has not helped Sir Keir's personal popularity. A poll by YouGov today showed the PM's personal rating is down five points in a month to a new record low of -46 . At the same time, the popularity of Nigel Farage has risen by 11 points to -29, following the by-election win in Runcorn and Helsby, and gains in local elections. But perhaps most worryingly for Sir Keir, he is down a stunning 34 points with those who voted Labour last year, in a poll carried out after he said Brits were becoming 'strangers in their own land'. Half of those who put him into power last year now have an unfavourable opnion of him. Asked when a list of participating countries for the return hub scheme might be available, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'We've set out what return hubs would focus on, we've set out that they would address the current intolerable situation where asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal routes to remain in the UK attempt various stalling tactics to frustrate their removal, so we've set out what it would deliver. 'We've said that we're entering those discussions with countries. Obviously we can't get ahead of those discussions, so it's not possible to say now when … but we will obviously provide an update depending on how those discussions progress.' Asked why the scheme was announced in Albania, a country which is not taking part, he said Albania was 'one of our closest allies when it comes to tackling illegal migration'. He said the Prime Minister had been in the country to upgrade a bilateral 'strategic partnership' on how to tackle irregular migration. A minister earlier denied that Albania's public refusal to host the UK's migrant return hub scheme was embarrassing for the Prime Minister. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Times Radio: 'I think that's a bit of a reach. This was never intended to be part of our discussions with Albania.' Asked which other countries had said they were open to the scheme, she said she was 'not in a position to name individual countries or set out how that's going to work', but that there would be 'further discussions' with a number of nations. Towering over Sir Keir at a press conference in the capital Tirana, 6ft 7in Mr Rama said his country had no interest in expanding a similar deal it had struck with Italy. Leaving Sir Keir squirming, Mr Rama said: 'I have been very clear since day one when we started this process with Italy that this was a one-off with Italy because of our very close relationship but also because of the geographical situation which makes a lot of sense.' He added: 'We have been asked by several countries if we were open to it and we said no, because we are loyal to the marriage with Italy and the rest is just love.' Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp was highly critical of the diplomatic setback. 'This trip is an embarrassment,' he said. 'Starmer jetted off and now the Albanian prime minister has made clear that there will be no UK return hubs in Albania. So, what was the point of this entire visit?' He added: 'One of the first acts of this Labour Government was to scrap the Rwanda scheme. Now, with 2025 so far the worst year in history for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel, the Prime Minister is scrambling to stitch together a weak imitation. 'Starmer has never cared about stopping illegal migration... now he's in full panic mode, cobbling together half-baked policies to cover up his chaos.' The blow for Sir Keir comes as he looks to talk tough on immigration to combat the rising threat from Reform UK – despite years of saying the opposite.
Arab News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistanis constituted largest group of UK asylum seekers in 2024
LONDON: The number of asylum seekers has risen sharply in recent years in the United Kingdom, with tens of thousands of applications still waiting to be decided, according to official figures. Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Thursday that he had begun formal talks with unspecified countries to create 'return centers' outside the UK for those who have exhausted all legal avenues to remain in the country. The number of asylum seekers in the UK has tripled in recent years, with 84,200 applications in 2024, compared with an average of 27,500 between 2011 and 2020, according to official figures. In 2022, there were approximately 13 asylum applications per 10,000 people in the UK, compared with 25 asylum applications per 10,000 people in the EU at the same time. Some 11 percent of migrants in the UK were asylum seekers or refugees in 2023 — almost twice as high as the 2019 figure of six percent. The proportion of initial asylum applications rejected in 2024 was 53 percent, compared with 88 percent in 2004 and 24 percent in 2022. Between 2004 and 2021, approximately three-quarters of applicants whose initial request was rejected appealed the decision, with a third being succesful. More than 9,000 failed asylum seekers were deported in 2024 — 36 percent more than in 2023. Some 224,700 cases were a 'work in progress' in 2024, with 87,200 awaiting an initial decision and 137,500 awaiting follow-up after an initial refusal, according to official documents. This total has been declining since 2022 but remains four times higher than in 2014 due to longer waiting times for an initial decision and a larger number of people facing deportation. The number of people crossing the Channel in makeshift boats, a route that virtually did not exist before 2018, has increased sharply in recent years. Between 2018 and December 2024, 148,000 migrants risked their lives and reached UK shores by this route, according to official figures. Of those, 95 percent applied for asylum, representing 29 percent of all asylum seekers over that period. Nearly 13,000 migrants have already crossed the Channel in 2025, more than in the same period in 2024. In 2024, the largest group of asylum seekers hailed from Pakistan, followed by Afghanistan. In previous years, they came mainly from Syria and Iran.
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer vows to hunt down and deport Albanian criminals
Albanian criminals in the UK are to be hunted down and deported under measures agreed by Sir Keir Starmer on his first official visit to the country on Thursday. The Prime Minister will announce the expansion of a taskforce in the western Balkans to intercept migrants before they reach the UK as well as new agreements to stop Albanian offenders coming to Britain and identify those behind criminal operations here. The plans include sharing DNA information to identify culprits, work to cut off the flow of 'dirty money' to and from the UK, more sophisticated checks for fake ID documents and programmes to deter those deported from returning. Albanians account for more criminals in British jails than any other nationality with more than 1,200 behind bars. Along with Romanians and Poles, they are also among the foreign nationals with the highest crime rates and most likely to be deported. Sir Keir aims to build on agreements already negotiated between the UK and Tirana to fast-track deportations, which has helped to cut the number of illegal Channel crossings by Albanians by 95 per cent since 2022. The number of Albanians returned to their country has also doubled in the past two years from 2,035 to 5,294 in 2024. The Prime Minister said: 'Global challenges need shared solutions, and the work the UK and Albania are doing together is delivering security for working people in both countries. 'And our joint work to deter, detect and return illegal migrants is further proof that intervening upstream to protect British shores and secure our borders is the right approach. 'Every step we take to tackle illegal migration overseas, cripple the criminal networks that facilitate it and stem the finance streams that fund it is delivering safer streets in the UK, and reducing the strain on taxpayer-funded services. 'But we cannot take this action alone, through closer partnerships and greater cooperation, we are creating real change with our partners across Europe and delivering on our Plan for Change.' During the two-day visit to Albania, Sir Keir will visit the Port of Durres to see how UK support is helping to intercept people smugglers, deter would-be migrants and snare criminals using fake documents. He will announce the expansion of the taskforce with Albania and Kosovo to include North Macedonia and Montenegro. It brings together specialists to mount operations to detect, deter and manage illegal migration through intercepting people smuggling gangs and deploying drones to spot suspicious movements on borders. The two countries will also launch a new project to tackle illicit finance and investigate underground money laundering streams between Albania and the UK. Two forgery detection machines will be donated to the Albanian state police to help officers detect fake documents presented by people trying to illegally enter the UK. The UK will also back Albania in efforts to tackle the 'revolving door' where migrants deported from Britain simply return. The most high profile case is that of Dorian Puka, 28, who has been jailed and deported for burglaries twice but still sneaked back into the UK and is currently taunting the authorities with videos of his high life, driving cars such as a Ferrari and Bentley. A new programme will help young Albanians reintegrate into society and find jobs to stop them being lured back to the UK. It will be focused in north Albania, the source of most illegal migration. The leaders are also expected to step up cooperation to counter serious organised crime, including the funding of a new forensic evidence programme to share and track the DNA swabs of criminals in Albania to solve crimes in the UK. The recent rollout of the programme saw more than 55 serious criminals – including murderers and rapists – taken off Britain's streets thanks to the closer cooperation between the two countries. The Government will invest a further £1 million in the partnership this year to upgrade Albania's forensics, biometrics and digital capability to detect and detain further criminals. It will also allow police forces in both countries to identify and gather evidence in some of the most serious crimes committed in Albania, the UK and beyond.
