Latest news with #irregularMigration
Al Jazeera
23-07-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
UK sanctions 25 targets involved in alleged people smuggling
The United Kingdom has sanctioned 25 targets involved in alleged people smuggling, under a new financial sanctions regime targeting those facilitating the travel of refugees and migrants across the English Channel via small boats. The individuals and entities targeted on Wednesday include a small boat supplier in Asia and gang leaders based in the Balkans and North Africa. 'Middlemen' putting cash through the hawala money transfer system in the Middle East, which is used in payments linked to Channel crossings, are also targeted. It is unclear how effective the new sanctions regime will be, since British authorities can only freeze assets that are in the UK, and most of the smugglers are based elsewhere. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday that it was a 'landmark moment in the government's work to tackle organised immigration crime [and] reduce irregular migration to the UK'. 'From Europe to Asia, we are taking the fight to the people smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions,' he added. The move follows legislation being introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to ramp up enforcement powers for police forces and partners to investigate and prosecute people smugglers. As part of the new sanctions regime, which was introduced two days ago, the government can now freeze assets, impose travel bans and block access to the country's financial system for individuals and entities involved in enabling irregular migration, without relying on criminal or counterterrorism laws. Albanian Bledar Lala, leader of the Belgian operations of an organised smuggling group, and a company in China that advertised small boats for people smuggling on an online marketplace are among those sanctioned. The number of refugees and migrants arriving on England's southern coast via small boats from northern France is a major political issue for Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government, which has seen the far-right Reform UK party make significant political gains with a hardline anti-immigration platform. Starmer recently agreed to migration deals with France and Germany. Earlier this month, Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to a 'one in, one out' deal in which refugees and migrants arriving by small boats would be returned to France in exchange for an equal number of migrants being able to come to the UK from France via a new legal route, which would be fully documented and subject to strict security checks. Last week, Germany and the UK signed a historic defence treaty, in which Berlin committed to making facilitating the smuggling of refugees and migrants to the UK a criminal offence. The law change, which is expected to be passed by the end of the year, will give German authorities more powers to investigate and take action against warehouses and storage facilities used by smugglers to conceal small boats for Channel crossings. Some 37,000 people crossed the English Channel in 2024, and more than 22,000 so far in 2025 – an increase of about 50 percent from the same period last year. Dozens of people have died attempting the journey.
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Macron tells parliament immigration is a challenge that France and UK ‘must fix together'
French President Emmanuel Macron stated that immigration is a "burden for our two countries" during his state visit to the UK. Addressing parliament on Tuesday, 8 July 2025, he called for France and the UK to focus on fixing immigration. Macron highlighted a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity, and firmness. He added that an upcoming summit aims for enhanced cooperation and tangible results to resolve the issue. Watch the video in full above.
Forbes
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
U.K. Eyes Changes To Visa System And Targets Human Rights Convention
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on July 16, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Benjamin Cremel - ... More) The government of the United Kingdom has announced its intention to put pressure on foreign governments to cooperate more on irregular migration to the U.K., by tying visa cooperation to the issue. At the same time, the government also has called for reforms to the European Convention on Human Rights over migration, echoing calls earlier from various European governments. Taken together, the two steps represent a further sharpening of government policy and rhetoric over the issue of migration. The U.K.'s Labour government, since coming to power in July 2024, has made migration one of the most prominent issues, apparently in response to pressure from more right-wing parties such as Reform UK, who want to see migration reduced overall. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was elected on a platform including reducing irregular migration to the U.K., announced he was looking to a more 'transactional' approach to visa arrangements with other countries. His comments suggest he is exploring ways of pressuring foreign governments, particularly in countries whose citizens try to reach the U.K. for shelter, to better cooperate on the issue. This could look like, for instance, countries allowing Britain to deport more of their citizens back to their territories - something many countries are unwilling to accept if the person is not returned willingly. Such 'visa' diplomacy is echoed in recent news that the European Union intends to modify its own system, to suspend or revoke the visa-free travel citizens of certain countries enjoy, if there is a sudden increase in asylum applications from those countries, among other reasons. It is also in keeping with Prime Minister Starmer's championing of recent increases in deportations from the U.K., and his stated desire to establish extra-territorial receptions centers for deportees, known as 'return hubs.' At the same time, the government has called for reforms to be made to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which the country is a signatory. One of the most important, if not the most important, mechanism for protecting human rights in Europe, the ECHR has come in for much criticism in recent years as it has often been seen to stay the hands of European governments looking to deport people without full due process. With this, the U.K. joins nine European countries, including Denmark, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic, who signed an open letter calling for similar reforms. Such calls have been condemned by various civil society groups and migration NGOs, who accuse the signatories of attempting to erode fundamental rights safeguards on the continent. Likewise, Enver Solomon, head of the U.K.'s refugee council, has criticized the U.K. government's targeting of the ECHR, arguing that the government should instead focus on making the asylum system more efficient, rather than attempting to evade its human rights responsibilities. The number of people crossing the U.K. channel has increased 20% since Labour came to office, compared to the same time period the year before. At the same time, government statistics show that overall migration - including people with a valid visa - fell dramatically in 2024.
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
9 EU countries want a new interpretation of European rights to ease deportations
ROME — Leaders of 9 European Union countries say they want a reinterpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights in order to better tackle irregular migration to the continent and increase deportations. The leaders said in an open letter made public in Rome on Thursday that interpretations of the rights convention by the European Court of Human Rights have limited the flexibility of national governments and prevented them from expelling migrants who commit crimes.
Al Jazeera
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Germany to reject undocumented migrants at border: Report
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt plans to send up to 3,000 additional officers to Germany's borders, Bild reports. Germany's new interior minister has issued orders to reject undocumented refugees and migrants and wants to deploy thousands more police officers at the country's borders, according to the Bild newspaper. The publication reported the development on Wednesday, the first day of work for the country's new conservative-led government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has taken a hardline stance on irregular migration. The report said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, a member of Merz's conservative bloc, which has formed a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), has lifted an order from 2015 that allowed entry to undocumented third-country nationals. There was no immediate comment from the ministry. Dobrindt is scheduled to give a statement to reporters later on Wednesday. Dobrindt also plans to send up to 3,000 additional officers to Germany's borders to curb irregular migration, which would raise the number of border police to up to 14,000, the report said, citing unnamed government sources. Advertisement The chairman of the GdP police union, Andreas Rosskopf, told the Rheinische Post newspaper that police have begun to increase the number of officers deployed to the country's land borders after receiving verbal instruction to do so. The border force has been instructed to reorganise rosters where necessary 'in order to achieve greater availability', he said. News outlet Der Spiegel reported that Dobrindt had ordered that extra police be deployed and that they would have to work shifts of up to 12 hours a day to enforce the new regime. The 2015 instruction was given under then-chancellor Angela Merkel, whose term was defined by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in Germany, many fleeing war in Syria. Sign up for Al Jazeera Breaking News Alert Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe. Subscribe Your subscription failed. Please try again. Please check your email to confirm your subscription By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA Before the German election in February, Merz promised a crackdown on migration after a spate of violent crimes blamed on foreign nationals amid rising support for the far right. His coalition has since agreed to reject asylum seekers at borders, enable deportations to Syria and suspend family reunions. Migration has been a contentious issue in Germany, the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world, with 2.5 million refugees, including more than one million refugees from Ukraine. A growing number of German voters say they want the country to accept fewer migrants. Immigration and asylum were hotly discussed before February's elections in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) doubled its vote share. In April, the country suspended the admission of refugees through a United Nations programme, as the outgoing centre-left SDU formed a new coalition with Merz's centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU). Advertisement Since 2016, Germany had participated in a European Union resettlement scheme that accepts refugees selected by the UNHCR. Most come from Turkiye, Egypt, Jordan or Kenya.
