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Officials say 179 people trying to cross Channel were rescued after four French-led operationsOne person has died and two others are missing in the Channel after an incident involving a small boat, French rescue services have said.According to the Préfecture maritime Manche et mer du Nord, four French-led rescue operations took place in the Channel on Wednesday, coordinated by the regional operational surveillance and...

Ombudsman says papers show EU agency made four offers to help Greece with surveillance of boat that sank, but got no responseOpinion: Emily O’ReillyThe rules governing the EU’s border and coastguard agency Frontex must be urgently revised if Europe is to avoid a repeat of last year’s tragedy off the coast of Greece in which about 600 people are thought to have died, an...

Continuation of war has left more refugees unsettled, with councils stepping in to to relieve most cases of homelessnessCouncils have called for urgent review of funding for Ukrainian refugees amid alarm that 9,000 have reported as homeless and many more are needing longer-term support – with no sign of the war ending after two years.The government announced on Sunday that it would extend by...

Refugees will have ‘certainty and assurance’ says Home Office, but charities say move insufficient as many face homelessnessUkrainians who sought sanctuary in the UK after the Russian invasion will be permitted to extend their visas for an extra 18 months, the Home Office has announced.More than 200,000 Ukrainians visa holders have arrived in the UK since March 2022, with the first visas to expire...

Lawyers see Basir’s case as test of European policies that fail to provide safe routes to sub-Saharan asylum seekers For 25-year-old Basir, it was a ray of hope after fleeing Sudan more than a decade ago. For his lawyers, the asylum request he made from Morocco was the ultimate test of whether Spain – and more broadly the EU – was willing to provide...

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin plans to change constitution to remove birthplace right to citizenship on island that is part of FranceFrench authorities have announced a controversial plan to amend the constitution to revoke birthplace citizenship on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, claiming it would help stem an immigration crisis.The reform was announced by interior minister Gérald Darmanin on Sunday after he arrived...

Gun Ufuk, 29, sentenced to 20 years in prison over deadly sinking that occurred metres from shoreAn Italian court has sentenced a people smuggler to 20 years in prison for involvement in a shipwreck last year that killed at least 94 migrants.The court in the southern city of Crotone found Gun Ufuk, a 29-year-old Turkish national, guilty of crimes including causing a shipwreck and...

More than 7,000 people used route between west Africa and Canary Islands last month, up from 500 in January last yearThe head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, have flown to Mauritania to sign a series of deals on migration and energy, as data reveals there has been a surge in people-smuggling operations to the...

Atlantic route to chain of islands is deadliest migration passage to Spain with 6,007 people dying last yearThe number of people from west Africa who braved the sea in boats to reach Spain’s Canary Islands jumped more than 1,000% in January from a year before, according to data released by the country’s interior ministry.A total of 7,270 people reached the archipelago in the Atlantic...

Country accused of violating torture convention in hope of finding justice decade after incident in which at least 15 people diedA 25-year-old from Cameroon has filed a complaint to the UN against Spain, accusing the country of multiple violations of the convention against torture in hope of seeking justice after an incident in 2014 during which at least 15 people died while trying to...

Boat drivers from former Soviet republics often have very little experience and no idea what they are doing is illegal, say NGOsPeople smugglers are increasingly recruiting people from former Soviet republics in central Asia to pilot boats carrying migrants from Turkey to Italy, say NGOs and lawyers.The migrants are taken by sea from Turkey to Italy, often using sailing boats, as an alternative to...

Scheme to help African economies aimed at curbing illegal migration from continentThe Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is poised to announce her grand plan for Italy in Africa as she strives to position her country at the forefront of European cooperation on the African continent in return for curbing illegal migration.The so-called Mattei plan, named after Enrico Mattei, the founder of the oil company...

District runoff in Thuringia closely watched to gauge whether huge protests against party have dented supportThe far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland party has been narrowly beaten in its first electoral test since revelations came to light of its involvement in a plan for the mass deportation of foreigners that has sparked huge protests across Germany. Its candidate lost against a conservative rival in a...

Utah senator accuses ex-president of exploiting issue for political gain by directing Republicans to block dealDonald Trump’s directive to congressional Republicans to not agree to a deal with Democrats on immigration and border control is “appalling”, Mitt Romney said.“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump,” Romney, the Republican senator from Utah, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Continue...

Rights of lone minors were not protected, with some deported and others left homeless for monthsSpain, Greece and Hungary have been rebuked by courts for failing to protect the rights of children.It adds to a string of recent rulings that have reprimanded countries across Europe over the treatment of lone minors who are seeking asylum. Continue reading...

Prime minister expected to talk about Rwanda bill after it cleared Commons as Tory ‘rebels’ abandoned protestIn an interview with LBC, Chris Philp, the Home Office minister, claimed that Rishi Sunak was in a better position in the light of the Rwanda bill getting a third reading. Asked if Sunak was “stronger or weaker” after the passing of the Bill but the departure of...

ICMPD expects people to try to move before anticipated post-election tightening of migration lawsMigration to Europe will increase in 2024 as people try to reach the continent before the introduction of new laws aimed at cutting the number of arrivals, a leading thinktank has said.Unsettled by multiple election campaigns in Europe, including the UK, and the US, during which immigration will be a divisive...

Exclusive: Pekka Haavisto says being ‘united against all external threats’ is key to security amid tension with RussiaFinland must crack down on hate speech against minorities if it is to appear “united against all external threats”, including from Russia, a leading candidate in the country’s presidential election has said.The Nordic country, which is governed by a coalition including the far-right Finns party, needs to...

Lax employment law cited as motivation for ice-cold crossing in which five people died off WimereuxThe mayor of the French seaside resort where five people died off the coast trying to reach the UK has blamed the British immigration system for the crisis that engulfed the town at the weekend.“What’s happening today is their fault,” said Jean-Luc Dubaële, the mayor of Wimereux, claiming Britain...

Suit is aimed at stopping a law allowing police to detain people suspected of crossing the US border without authorizationThe US Department of Justice has sued Texas and its Republican governor, Greg Abbott, to block a new and controversial state immigration law from going into effect.After threatening the state with legal action after last year’s passage of SB4, a new Texas law which allows...

Independent French auditors say UK information on people crossing Channel is ‘very patchy’The UK is not coordinating sufficiently with France to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats or providing enough detailed information, French state auditors have said.The cour des comptes, an independent French body that examines the use of public funds, has published a report on the efficiency of...