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Arab News
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Britain's PM urges nations to smash migrant smuggling gangs ‘once and for all'
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged dozens of countries to collaborate to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs 'once and for all' when he opened an immigration crime summit on Monday. Starmer is seeking to crack down on would-be asylum seekers arriving in England on flimsy small boats and has brought together delegates from more than 40 nations for the two-day London meeting. The interior ministers of France and Germany were among those attending the Organized Immigration Crime Summit. China and the United States also sent representatives. The UK government is struggling to stop undocumented migrants embarking on dangerous boat journeys across the Channel from France. 'This vile trade exploits the cracks between our institutions... and profits from our inability at the political level to come together,' Starmer said. He argued that resources and intelligence must be shared and that governments need to 'tackle the problem upstream at every step of the people-smuggling routes.' 'There's nothing progressive or compassionate about turning a blind eye to this,' Starmer added. Britain's Home Office (interior ministry) billed the gathering as 'the first major international summit in the UK to tackle the global emergency of illegal migration.' Representatives from across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, as well as North America were due to attend. In a video message played to delegates, Italy's far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni hailed her country's agreement with Albania to process asylum claims at detention centers in the non-European Union country. She claimed that countries 'criticized (it) at first but that then has gained increasing consensus.' Italian judges have repeatedly refused to sign off on the detention in Albania of migrants intercepted by Italian authorities at sea, ordering them to be transferred to Italy instead, and the European Court of Justice is reviewing Rome's policy. Joint action plan The summit is designed to build on talks interior minister Yvette Cooper held in December with her counterparts from Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The five countries signed a joint action plan designed to boost cooperation to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs. Also attending were delegates from countries from where would-be asylum seekers set out, such as Vietnam and Iraq, and countries they transit, such as those in the Balkans. It also brings together the heads of UK law enforcement agencies and their counterparts from Interpol, Europol and Afripol. The Home Office said the summit would discuss the equipment, infrastructure and fraudulent documents that organized criminal gangs use to smuggle people. They would also look at how supply routes work and discuss how to tackle the online recruitment of migrants, including with representatives from social media platforms Meta, X and TikTok. The UK announced on Sunday it was launching adverts on Zalo, the Vietnamese instant messaging system, to warn people of the dangers of people smugglers. Vietnamese nationals are among the top nationalities making the perilous sea voyage across the Channel to Britain. Similar UK campaigns have already been launched in Albania and Iraqi Kurdistan. UK officials are also keen to speak to China about how it can stop exporting engines and other small boats parts used in crossings. According to the Home Office, the UK's National Crime Agency and global law enforcement partners have seized 600 boats and engines since July. 'No right to be here' Starmer told the meeting that since his Labour government took power in July, more than 24,000 people with 'no right to be here' had been returned. But the number of would-be asylum seekers arriving across the Channel set a new record last week for the first three months of the year — at more than 6,600. At least 10 people are dead or missing after attempting the treacherous crossing so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration. More than 157,770 people have been detected trying to enter Britain in dinghies since successive governments began collecting data in 2018. In February, Starmer's government announced it was toughening immigration rules to make it almost impossible for undocumented migrants who arrive on small boats to later receive citizenship. On Sunday, it said it would tighten rules to legally require UK gig economy employers to carry out right-to-work checks. Starmer is under pressure, in part from rising support for Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party, which won roughly four million votes at July's general election — an unprecedented haul for a hard-right party. Rights group Amnesty International stresses: 'Seeking asylum is a human right. This means everyone should be allowed to enter another country to seek asylum.' 'The people are not the problem,' it says on its website. 'Rather, the causes that drive families and individuals to cross borders and the short-sighted and unrealistic ways that politicians respond to them are the problem.'
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK PM urges nations to smash migrant smuggling gangs 'once and for all'
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged dozens of countries to collaborate to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs "once and for all" when he opened an immigration crime summit on Monday. Starmer is seeking to crack down on would-be asylum seekers arriving in England on flimsy small boats and has brought together delegates from more than 40 nations for the two-day London meeting. The interior ministers of France and Germany were among those attending the Organised Immigration Crime Summit. China and the United States also sent representatives. The UK government is struggling to stop undocumented migrants embarking on dangerous boat journeys across the Channel from France. "This vile trade exploits the cracks between our institutions... and profits from our inability at the political level to come together," Starmer said. He argued that resources and intelligence must be shared and that governments need to "tackle the problem upstream at every step of the people-smuggling routes". "There's nothing progressive or compassionate about turning a blind eye to this," Starmer added. Britain's Home Office (interior ministry) billed the gathering as "the first major international summit in the UK to tackle the global emergency of illegal migration". Representatives from across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, as well as North America were due to attend. In a video message played to delegates, Italy's far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni hailed her country's agreement with Albania to process asylum claims at detention centres in the non-European Union country. She claimed that countries "criticised (it) at first but that then has gained increasing consensus". Italian judges have repeatedly refused to sign off on the detention in Albania of migrants intercepted by Italian authorities at sea, ordering them to be transferred to Italy instead, and the European Court of Justice is reviewing Rome's policy. - Online recruitment - The summit is designed to build on talks interior minister Yvette Cooper held in December with her counterparts from Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The five countries signed a joint action plan designed to boost cooperation to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs. Also attending were delegates from countries from where would-be asylum seekers set out, such as Vietnam and Iraq, and countries they transit, such as those in the Balkans. It also brings together the heads of UK law enforcement agencies and their counterparts from Interpol, Europol and Afripol. The Home Office said the summit would discuss the equipment, infrastructure and fraudulent documents that organised criminal gangs use to smuggle people. They would also look at how supply routes work and discuss how to tackle the online recruitment of migrants, including with representatives from social media platforms Meta, X and TikTok. The UK announced on Sunday it was launching adverts on Zalo, the Vietnamese instant messaging system, to warn people of the dangers of people smugglers. Vietnamese nationals are among the top nationalities making the perilous sea voyage across the Channel to Britain. Similar UK campaigns have already been launched in Albania and Iraqi Kurdistan. UK officials are also keen to speak to China about how it can stop exporting engines and other small boats parts used in crossings. According to the Home Office, the UK's National Crime Agency and global law enforcement partners have seized 600 boats and engines since July. - Domestic pressure - Starmer told the meeting that since his Labour government took power in July, more than 24,000 people with "no right to be here" had been returned. But the number of would-be asylum seekers arriving across the Channel set a new record last week for the first three months of the year -- at more than 6,600. At least 10 people are dead or missing after attempting the treacherous crossing so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. More than 157,770 people have been detected trying to enter Britain in dinghies since successive governments began collecting data in 2018. In February, Starmer's government announced it was toughening immigration rules to make it almost impossible for undocumented migrants who arrive on small boats to later receive citizenship. On Sunday, it said it would tighten rules to legally require UK gig economy employers to carry out right-to-work checks. Starmer is under pressure, in part from rising support for Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party, which won roughly four million votes at July's general election -- an unprecedented haul for a hard-right party. Rights group Amnesty International stresses: "Seeking asylum is a human right. This means everyone should be allowed to enter another country to seek asylum." "The people are not the problem," it says on its website. "Rather, the causes that drive families and individuals to cross borders and the short-sighted and unrealistic ways that politicians respond to them are the problem." pdh/jkb
Khaleej Times
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
UK PM urges nations to smash migrant smuggling gangs 'once and for all'
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged dozens of countries to collaborate to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs "once and for all" when he opened an immigration crime summit on Monday. Starmer is seeking to crack down on would-be asylum seekers arriving in England on flimsy small boats and has brought together delegates from more than 40 nations for the two-day London meeting. The interior ministers of France and Germany were among those attending the Organised Immigration Crime Summit. China and the United States also sent representatives. The UK government is struggling to stop undocumented migrants embarking on dangerous boat journeys across the Channel from France. "This vile trade exploits the cracks between our institutions... and profits from our inability at the political level to come together," Starmer said. He argued that resources and intelligence must be shared and that governments need to "tackle the problem upstream at every step of the people-smuggling routes". "There's nothing progressive or compassionate about turning a blind eye to this," Starmer added. Britain's Home Office (interior ministry) billed the gathering as "the first major international summit in the UK to tackle the global emergency of illegal migration". Representatives from across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, as well as North America were due to attend. In a video message played to delegates, Italy's far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni hailed her country's agreement with Albania to process asylum claims at detention centres in the non-European Union country. She claimed that countries "criticised (it) at first but that then has gained increasing consensus". Italian judges have repeatedly refused to sign off on the detention in Albania of migrants intercepted by Italian authorities at sea, ordering them to be transferred to Italy instead, and the European Court of Justice is reviewing Rome's policy. Online recruitment The summit is designed to build on talks interior minister Yvette Cooper held in December with her counterparts from Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The five countries signed a joint action plan designed to boost cooperation to dismantle migrant smuggling gangs. Also attending were delegates from countries from where would-be asylum seekers set out, such as Vietnam and Iraq, and countries they transit, such as those in the Balkans. It also brings together the heads of UK law enforcement agencies and their counterparts from Interpol, Europol and Afripol. The Home Office said the summit would discuss the equipment, infrastructure and fraudulent documents that organised criminal gangs use to smuggle people. They would also look at how supply routes work and discuss how to tackle the online recruitment of migrants, including with representatives from social media platforms Meta, X and TikTok. The UK announced on Sunday it was launching adverts on Zalo, the Vietnamese instant messaging system, to warn people of the dangers of people smugglers. Vietnamese nationals are among the top nationalities making the perilous sea voyage across the Channel to Britain. Similar UK campaigns have already been launched in Albania and Iraqi Kurdistan. UK officials are also keen to speak to China about how it can stop exporting engines and other small boats parts used in crossings. According to the Home Office, the UK's National Crime Agency and global law enforcement partners have seized 600 boats and engines since July. Domestic pressure Starmer told the meeting that since his Labour government took power in July, more than 24,000 people with "no right to be here" had been returned. But the number of would-be asylum seekers arriving across the Channel set a new record last week for the first three months of the year -- at more than 6,600. At least 10 people are dead or missing after attempting the treacherous crossing so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. More than 157,770 people have been detected trying to enter Britain in dinghies since successive governments began collecting data in 2018. In February, Starmer's government announced it was toughening immigration rules to make it almost impossible for undocumented migrants who arrive on small boats to later receive citizenship. On Sunday, it said it would tighten rules to legally require UK gig economy employers to carry out right-to-work checks. Starmer is under pressure, in part from rising support for Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party, which won roughly four million votes at July's general election -- an unprecedented haul for a hard-right party. Rights group Amnesty International stresses: "Seeking asylum is a human right. This means everyone should be allowed to enter another country to seek asylum." "The people are not the problem," it says on its website. "Rather, the causes that drive families and individuals to cross borders and the short-sighted and unrealistic ways that politicians respond to them are the problem."
The Independent
31-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Keir Starmer to call for countries to unite to eradicate ‘vile trade' people smuggling at summit
The UK and other countries affected by people smuggling must not allow the "vile trade" to pit them against one another, the Prime Minister will tell a summit aimed at cracking down on illegal migration. Sir Keir Starmer will call on the 40 countries that are gathering in London on Monday and Tuesday to work together to stop people-smuggling gangs in the same way they would terrorists. Countries including Albania, Vietnam and Iraq - from where migrants have travelled the UK - will join the talks, which are the first of their kind, alongside representatives from France, the US and China. Ministers and enforcement staff will discuss international co-operation on illegal migration, as well as supply routes, criminal finances and online adverts for people smuggling during the meeting. Officials from social media companies Meta, X and TikTok will also join discussions on how to crack down on the online promotion of irregular migration. Sir Keir is expected to call for unity among the nations involved when he addresses the summit on Monday afternoon. "This vile trade exploits the cracks between our institutions, pits nations against one another and profits from our inability at the political level to come together," he will say. The Prime Minister will point to his time working across borders to foil terrorists when he was director of public prosecutions. He will add: "I believe we should treat organised immigration crime in the same way. "I simply do not believe organised immigration crime cannot be tackled. We've got to combine our resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream at every step of the people-smuggling routes." The summit will deliver "concrete outcomes" for nations in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and North America, according to the Home Office. Developments aimed at tackling illegal migration ahead of the gathering include: - The Government will expand right-to-work checks to cover gig economy workers by making amendments to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Businesses that do not carry out the checks could be fined up to £60,000, or face closures, director disqualifications, and even up to five years in prison. - Home Secretary Yvette Cooper signalled she wanted to crack down on the number of people who have arrived in the UK on a student or work visa and have since claimed asylum. - The Government is reviewing how Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the right to family life, applies to migration cases, Ms Cooper said. Several deportation attempts have been halted by how the ECHR clause has been interpreted in UK law. Ministers have looked to a tougher approach in Denmark for inspiration. - Some £1 million in UK funding will go towards strengthened efforts to root out people-smuggling kingpins in Iraq's Kurdistan region, the Home Office announced. - The UK has launched an advertising campaign on Vietnamese social media and messenger app Zalo, warning people about trusting people-smuggling gangs in an effort to reduce irregular migration from the south-east Asian country. Speaking ahead of the summit, the Home Secretary said law enforcement needed to "work together across borders" to bring down people smuggling gangs. She added: "Only a co-ordinated international response across the whole irregular migration route can effectively dismantle these networks. "The Organised Immigration Crime Summit is the first of its kind and will reinforce the UK's position as a leader by securing international commitments to disrupt Organised Immigration Crime at every stage of the business model. "The summit demonstrates mine and the Prime Minister's absolute dedication to disrupting the callous organised criminal gangs, strengthening our borders and ultimately save countless lives." On Sunday, senior Tory shadow minister Alex Burghart said Labour should never have scrapped the Rwanda deportation plan. "It was ready to go, and Labour came in, they won a majority, and they scrapped it. There is now no deterrent programme," he said.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Yahoo
A billion-dollar black market is thriving online — and tech platforms are struggling to stop it
It isn't hard to find the heart of the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam. It's happening online. Per Mongabay, a recent report by nonprofit watchdog TRAFFIC found an "alarming breadth of online adverts" offering illegal wildlife products for sale in Vietnam. The research, conducted between June 2021 and July 2023, found widespread availability of products from endangered and threatened species — including elephants, tigers, pangolins, rhinos, tortoises, and freshwater turtles — across "major e-commerce and social media platforms." TRAFFIC identified 22,497 online advertisements for illegal wildlife products during the study period. That's equivalent to 30 posts per day. Of those, 8,232 advertisements were for elephant products, while 8,327 advertisements were for tiger products. The primary platforms used by traffickers were Facebook and Zalo, a Vietnamese instant messaging platform. A staggering 51.3% of illegal trade advertisements were found on Facebook alone. Importantly, the study noted that advertisements on Zalo dropped significantly toward the end of the study because the platform implemented a policy to lock accounts associated with the illegal wildlife trade. TRAFFIC reports tiger products, elephant ivory, rhino, and pangolin products are among the most popular illegally traded items online. Advertisements for tortoises and freshwater turtles also included critically endangered and protected species for sale — advertised both as pets and as meat. Products were advertised for various purposes, from ornamental to religious to medicinal to pets. Most listings were for animal-based traditional medicines, exotic pets, wild meat, jewelry, and ornamental pieces. TRAFFIC also found traffickers are getting craftier with their postings to avoid detection from monitoring software. Some sellers hop to new groups or platforms regularly to avoid detection, per the report. Others use code words, slang phrases, or emoticons to evade tracking systems. Though it's hard to quantify, illegal wildlife trading is estimated to be a billion-dollar industry. This harmful trade directly threatens the survival of many endangered and threatened species. The World Wildlife Fund states that illegal wildlife trading is second only to habitat destruction in threats to species' survival. Wildlife poaching can cause detrimental imbalances in a region's ecosystem, reducing the population of core species. This can have ripple effects across a region's animal and plant life, even impacting the people who live in those regions and depend on the natural environment. Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species? Definitely Depends on the animal No way Just let people do it for free Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Simply put, thriving wildlife means thriving ecosystems and a healthier environment for all. While there are laws in Vietnam banning illegal wildlife trading, that isn't enough to evade traffickers. More needs to be done — and it may start with tech companies. In the report, TRAFFIC called for social media and e-commerce companies to "enhance their monitoring capabilities, train staff, and implement stricter policies against posts enabling illegal wildlife trade." The organization also said law enforcement and government agencies should partner with online platforms to investigate repeat posters — and to follow through with prosecution. The nonprofit highlighted the need for traditional medicine to move away from using protected species. Additionally, TRAFFIC called for nongovernmental organizations to collaborate with online companies and governments to increase awareness and understanding of wildlife protection laws. It's important to mention that TRAFFIC's investigation was done with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development's Saving Threatened Wildlife project. USAID, which provides billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance overseas, is under threat of being closed by President Donald Trump. His administration has said the agency is full of "ridiculous" and "malicious" pet projects with minimal oversight. Research such as TRAFFIC's report, however, is key to understanding — and stopping — poaching and illegal wildlife trade. You can reach out to your representatives if you want to advocate for a solution that would support the continuation of these initiatives. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
