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Plan for lifetime ban for Channel migrants is unworkable, say charities
By Charley Adams & Dominic Casciani & Jacob Evans
BBC News
Government plans to ban migrants from re-entering the UK if they cross the Channel in small boats are unworkable and will leave thousands of people in limbo, refugee groups have said.
Under new legislation, Channel migrants would be removed from the UK, banned from future re-entry and barred from applying for British citizenship.
Supporters say the PM is “getting a grip” on illegal migration.
The government is expected to outline the plans on Tuesday.
The proposed measures will apply to anyone arriving on UK shores in a small boat – but there are few details on how they will be implemented, with previous efforts to tighten procedures – such as the Rwanda policy – mired in legal challenges.
PM Rishi Sunak, who has made the issue one of his top priorities, told the Mail on Sunday: “Make no mistake, if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.”
But the Refugee Council, one of a number of charities to criticise the plans, accused ministers of shattering the UK’s long-standing commitment under the UN Convention to give people a fair hearing, regardless of how they get to the UK.
The group’s head Enver Solomon said the plans would “add more cost and chaos to the system”, adding: “It’s unworkable, costly and won’t stop the boats”.
It is thought the legislation would place a duty on the home secretary to remove all those arriving on boats to Rwanda or a “safe” third country “as soon as reasonably practicable” – no matter where they had come from – and would also permanently ban them from returning.
Currently, asylum seekers arriving in the UK have the right to seek protection under the UN’s Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.
But the Mail on Sunday says a clause in the Illegal Migration Bill is expected to apply a “rights brake” to effectively allow the conventions to be circumvented. It is not clear how this would work.
The proposed legislation would also stop those coming to the UK in small boats from applying for British citizenship.
Under current UK law, a person can seek to settle permanently and apply for citizenship after five years in the country – but this is not straightforward.
Last year’s immigration act already gave the home secretary the power to bar Channel migrants from seeking to resettle. It is possible the new plans might be aiming to make this an automatic ban and not a discretionary one.
Downing Street said the government would eventually open up more safe routes for asylum claims, but only “once we have control over our borders”.
While declining to give a timeline, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said rising numbers of Channel crossings meant “there is no time to waste” on implementing the new plans.
But Labour’s Wes Streeting called the measures “the latest in a long line for unworkable gimmicks” and predicted they would not “see the light of day” or get through Parliament.
The shadow health secretary said the government should instead create better safe routes into the country, speed up the processing of asylum claims and direct money into the National Crime Agency to arrest criminal gangs trafficking people.
More than 100 people in three boats were brought to shore by Border Force and the RNLI in Dover on Monday.
Legal challenges
Despite a deal being reached last year, not one migrant has been sent to Rwanda yet and any plans to do so are currently on hold after the policy was met with fierce opposition and legal interventions.
In December, the High Court ruled the scheme did not breach the UN’s Refugee Convention. But that decision is facing further challenges in the courts, with a preliminary hearing expected on Monday at the Court of Appeal.
There is no agreement in place on the return of migrants with the EU.
The home secretary – who will introduce the new laws – told the Sun on Sunday “the only route to the UK will be a safe and legal route”.
The Home Office says there are a number of these routes to the UK.
However, some are only available to people from specific countries, such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, or for British National status holders in Hong Kong.
Other asylum routes accept a limited number of refugees according to precise criteria.
Meanwhile, figures obtained by the BBC show that Home Office charter flights to forcibly remove illegal immigrants from the UK cost more per seat than a first class ticket to New York.
The government spent £12.7m last year on the flights – removing 1,500 people – a Freedom of Information request by BBC News has revealed.
A quarter of the flights took off with 20 or fewer passengers on board, including two flights with less than 10.
Of the 62 flights chartered by the Home Office in 2022, the data shows the flights worked out at an average of £205,000.
What are the current rules for claiming UK asylum?
By Tom Edgington, BBC Reality Check
It is already illegal for migrants to knowingly enter the UK without a visa or special permission.
The rule, part of last year’s Nationality and Borders Act, means people who illegally arrive in the UK can be jailed for up to four years and removed to a safe country. However, very small numbers are likely to be prosecuted.
That’s because the UK has an international legal obligation not to criminally penalise anyone who seeks protection as a refugee.
The government says “safe and legal” routes for those seeking UK asylum already exist. However, most are only available to people from specific countries – like Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Elsewhere, others have criticised the new plans with the Lib Dems calling them “immoral, ineffective and incredibly costly for taxpayers while doing nothing to stop small boat crossings”.
Freedom from Torture, a charity which provides therapy to asylum seekers, described the measures as “vindictive and dysfunctional”.
And Amnesty International called them “disgraceful posturing and scaremongering”.
The government has previously said the Rwanda plan would discourage others from crossing the English Channel but so far there is no evidence that has happened.
In 2022, 45,756 migrants crossed the English Channel to Britain in small boats, according to government figures collated by the BBC.
That is the highest number since the first records in 2018.
Latest Home Office figures show 2,953 migrants have crossed the Channel using this method already this year, originating from a range of countries including Albania, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
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Israeli attacks in Gaza add to the heavy Palestinian toll in the war on Hamas.
Israeli attacks in Gaza add to the heavy Palestinian toll in the war on Hamas. Israeli forces bombarded the central region of Gaza by land, sea, and air. Palestinian officials claimed scores more casualties, and the United Nations health agency stated that thousands of Palestinians were attempting to leave the fighting.
Israel has not wavered in its determination to eradicate the Palestinian militant group Hamas as a reaction to the terrorist organization’s attack on Israel on October 7. This is the case, although international requests have been made for a ceasefire and an improvement in the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
Late on Wednesday, medical personnel reported that Israeli aircraft had carried out three attacks in the Al Nuseirat neighborhood of central Gaza, resulting in the deaths of seven people and injuries to numerous more.
The World Health Organization of the United Nations said that its personnel had witnessed tens of thousands of civilians escape severe strikes in Khan Younis and the Middle Area by walking, riding donkeys, or driving into vehicles. A statement made on Wednesday stated that improvised shelters were being constructed along the road.
On the diplomatic front, where international pressure on Israel has increased, French President Emmanuel Macron sent a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he emphasized the necessity of working for a truce that is both long-lasting and sustainable with the assistance of regional and international allies, according to the French Presidency.
An Israeli bombardment on Wednesday near Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, which is located in the southern Gaza Strip, resulted in the deaths of twenty Palestinians, according to a statement released by the Gaza Ministry of Health. Immediately after the incident, the Israeli military did not provide any remarks.
Medical personnel said that one airstrike resulted in the deaths of five Palestinians in the Al-Maghazi region of central Gaza. Meanwhile, health authorities reported that seven Palestinians’ bodies arrived at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which is located to the north as well.
As night fell, residents in the central Gaza Strip said that Israeli tank bombardment intensified east of Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi, which is the area where tanks have been attempting to force their way through.
An increase in Israeli Army casualties
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that three more troops had been killed in action in Gaza, raising the total number of military casualties to 166 since the beginning of ground operations on October 20.
On October 7, the worst day in Israel’s history, Hamas carried out a cross-border rampage that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 240 hostages. This led to the outbreak of war. The response of the Netanyahu administration has destroyed a significant portion of Gaza, which Hamas administers.
According to the Gaza health ministry, the number of Israeli assaults that resulted in deaths and injuries in the enclave was 21,110 lives lost and 55,243 people injured.
It is estimated that nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been forced to leave their homes.
BLOODLINES OF VIOLENCE
Several countries in the Middle East and the West have expressed concern over the war’s expansion, which now includes the northern border between Israel and Lebanon. According to sources inside the security sector, Hezbollah launched a more significant number of rockets and drones armed with weapons on Wednesday than it has on any other day.
The cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, stated that the situation must be changed. The Israeli military has stated that its airplanes have hit military positions belonging to Hezbollah as well as other locations in Lebanon.
During a news conference, he stated, “The Israel Defense Forces will do it if the world and the Lebanese government do not act in order to prevent the firing on Israel’s northern residents and to distance Hezbollah from the border.” He was alluding to the Israeli military.
In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden stated that the purpose of the United States military strikes that took place in Iraq on Monday was to discourage Iran and militia groups that Iran supports from launching attacks against American personnel and bases. Three Americans suffered injuries as a result of an earlier Monday drone attack by militants with ties to Iran.
Since the beginning of the war, there has been an increase in the number of confrontations that have taken place between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. According to the Palestinian health ministry, a drone strike that occurred on Wednesday during an Israeli raid in Tulkarm killed six Palestinians.
Israeli military forces came under attack from militants in that area during a counterterrorism operation, who threw explosive devices at them. The Israeli military has denied any involvement in the attack. An Israeli Air Force aircraft was said to have struck the individuals who carried out the attack.
The conflict occurred in the Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, a city considered a flashpoint due to its location on one of the primary crossing points into the West Bank.
Witnesses say the six men slain were seated together in the early hours of the morning but were not involved in fights with Israeli soldiers.
“We heard the sound and the screaming; our house is nearby so we came out to see,” said Izzaldin Assaili, a local who lives nearby.
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Russians are banned from traveling and must hand over passports within five days.
By a regulation issued by the government that will go into effect on Monday, Russian citizens who have been prohibited from traveling outside the country will be required to hand over their passports to the authorities within five days of receiving notification of the restriction.
A travel ban can be imposed by the authorities in Russia on a variety of individuals, including conscripts, employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB), convicted individuals, and anyone who have access to state secrets or “information of special importance,” amongst other categories of individuals.
The passport that has been returned will be kept in storage by the authority that issued it, such as the authorities employed by the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Therefore, by the order issued by the government, the passport may be restored following the completion of an application after the travel ban has been lifted.
According to the resolution, those whose freedom to travel was temporarily restricted because they were required to serve in the military or an alternative civilian capacity would be required to present further a military identification card that includes evidence that they have finished their duty.
The Financial Times reported in March, citing unidentified people close to the situation, that Russia’s security services were taking the passports of top officials and executives of state companies to prohibit them from traveling outside the country.
POLITICS
China’s Li promotes greater cooperation with Indonesia.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has advocated for greater cooperation between China and Indonesia, emphasizing the importance of strong bilateral ties. This article delves into the significance of Li’s visit and the potential areas of cooperation between these two Asian nations.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has embarked on a mission to enhance cooperation and strengthen diplomatic ties between China and Indonesia. China and Indonesia hold significant regional influence, and their cooperation can have far-reaching implications in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Economic collaboration is a key focus of discussions, with trade and investment central to the bilateral relationship. Infrastructure development projects like the Belt and Road Initiative may offer joint ventures and partnership opportunities. Cooperation on maritime issues, including security and trade, is of mutual interest, given Indonesia’s strategic location.
Enhancing people-to-people exchanges, such as cultural programs and educational partnerships, can strengthen the bonds between the two nations.
China’s relations with Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia have geopolitical significance, with both nations navigating complex regional dynamics. Collaboration between China and Indonesia can contribute to regional stability and economic growth in Southeast Asia.
Both nations face shared challenges, including environmental concerns and the need for sustainable development.
In conclusion, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Indonesia underscores the commitment of both nations to strengthening their bilateral ties. The potential for enhanced economic cooperation, infrastructure development, and collaboration on regional and global issues paves the way for a deeper and more impactful relationship. As these two influential Asian nations explore areas of mutual interest and address shared challenges, their partnership can shape Southeast Asia and contribute to regional stability and prosperity.
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