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riti Patel said there was no quick fix to the migrant crisis following the deaths of 27 people in the Channel on Wednesday.

France reacted furiously to a public letter released by Boris Johnson which set out five steps he thinks both sides should take to tackle the situation, including introducing joint Anglo-French patrols on French beaches and plans to tackle criminal gangs organising the crossings.

Despite millions of pounds spent and dozens of arrests, thousands of people continue to attempt to get to the UK with many paying huge sums to do so.

Here we look at why so many people are willing to risk their lives to get to Britain and where they are coming from...

How many people are crossing the Channel to get to Britain?

Small boat crossings began to surge late 2018. More than 24,000 people have made the crossing from France to the UK by boat so far this year - a sharp rise on the 8,404 in 2020.

In 2019 the number of irregular migrants, who do not come through traditional legal routes, was around 16,000 , while it was about 17,000 in 2020.

The overall number of overall asylum applications in the UK reached 35,737 in 201. It fell slightly to 29,456 last year as a result of far fewer arrivals by air and an increase in arrivals by small boat across the Channel, according to the Government. Asylum applications peaked in 2002 at 84,132.

There is no official record of how many people have died attempting the perilous Channel crossing. Research by the Institute of Race Relations, released in November last year, found 292 people had died trying to cross by vehicle, tunnel or water since 1999.

This year 34 people are believed to have died while crossing the Channel in small boats, including the 27 who drowned after their small dingy sunk on Wednesday.

Which countries are these people coming from?

An estimated half a million Syrians died when President Bashar al Assad ordered a violent crackdown on Arab Spring protesters in 2011, sparking the countrys civil war.

Many Syrians were forced to flee, resulting in the 2015 European migrant crisis, which saw up to a million people being given refuge in Germany and a large camp, that become known as the Jungle, created in Calais.

Military offensives in north-west and north-east Syria internally displaced 684,000 and 174,600 people respectively. Tens of thousands of others forced to flee their homes still live in makeshift camps that do not provide an adequate standard of living.

Many who stayed at the time are now leaving as the war continues, albeit at a lower level, and the country faces huge food shortages.

Amongst adults, Iran was the top nationality claiming asylum in the UK in the year ending September 2021.

Iranian nationals have increasingly been trying to reach the UK by crossing the Channel. The country has long been criticised by human rights groups for its treatment of people who disagree with the regime.

It is a hardline Islamic nation state where people are expected to live under its interpretation of Sharia law.

Iranian Kurds and Christians in particular say they face persecution in Iran.

The Taliban seized back control of Afghanistan earlier this year after the withdrawal of UK and US troops.

The increasingly unstable situation, and fears about a return to the hardline regime, caused many to flee even before soldiers left.

Women and non Muslims face particular suppression under the Taliban regime, Life is also highly dangerous for Afghans who worked with US and UK troops during the 20 years of occupation.

Yemen is one of the Arab world's poorest countries and has been devastated by civil war between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebel forces.

Air strikes are reportedly regularly launched against targets in built up areas.

The UN said the war has resulted in huge levels of suffering and, by December 2020, had caused an estimated 233,000 deaths, including 131,000 from indirect causes such as starvation, lack of health services and infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of people have also been killed or wounded as a direct result of the fighting, including more than 10,000 children.

Iraq has seen years of internal unrest and war and economic opportunities are limited. The country has a significant Kurd population and, unlike Iran, does not has its own autonomous Kurdish region.

Many Kurds fled during the period in which Islamic State advanced across the north of the country from 2014. It was US and UK-backed Kurdish fighters who eventually defeated the militant group.

The countrys Government still sees excessive use of force against protesters, arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances and attacks on freedom of expression, according to human rights groups.

Since Islamic States defeat Turkey has conducted regular military action in the north of the Kurdistan Region, according to the Foreign Office.

Eritrea is a state in northeast Africa on the Red Sea coast, which shares borders with Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti. It is one of the poorest countries in Africa.

According to Amnesty International thousands flee abroad because authorities violate the rights to freedom of expression, religion and freedom of movement.

The highly militarised country has indefinite military conscription, with the average soldier serving six years in the force, and imprisons government critics and pro-democracy leaders.

The large North African country that borders the Red Sea saw huge street protests after the autocratic leader Omar al Bashir was overthrown in 2019.

The Darfur region has been plagued by civil war and conflict for two decades. Some 2m people are estimated to have died in the conflicts and millions more have been driven from their homes.

In 2011 the country split in two, with South Sudan becoming a new state. The government heavily controls the media and has failed to protect the population from human rights abuses arising from armed attacks by militias, according to charities.

Arbitrary arrests of pro democracy activists and human rights offences have significantly increased in Vietnam, according to Amnesty International.

The one party Communist state is undergoing an economic boom thanks to its manufacturing industry, but opportunities are still scarce for many.

Two years ago 39 Vietnamese nationals died while making the crossing in a lorry.

Why do migrants leave France or other safe countries to risk coming to the UK?

The Government has long said refugees should seek refuge in the first safe country they reach.

While there is no legal requirement for someone to claim asylum in any particular country, there is a requirement for the first safe country in which they arrive to hear their claim.

If this does not happen, they people are free to make claims elsewhere. Charity workers in France have claimed many people seeking asylum there do not have good experiences at the hands of the authorities.

Those with family already settled in the UK often want to come here and migrants are also more likely to have some grasp of English than other European languages.

In 2020 Germany received the highest number of asylum applications (122,015), followed by France (93,475).

In the same period, the UK received the firth largest number of number applicants with 36,041, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Read the original here:
Migrant crisis: Why do so many people head to the UK and where are they coming from? - Evening Standard

Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine.

German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said this at a press conference on Thursday, November 25, Ukrinform reports.

"The Chancellor and the President of Ukraine discussed the security situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border and in eastern Ukraine. Chancellor Merkel underlined her support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and stressed that undermining them would not be left without consequences," Seibert said.

Merkel and Zelensky agreed to advance efforts in the Normandy format to implement the Minsk agreements to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict.

The politicians also exchanged their views on the situation on the border between Belarus and the European Union and between Belarus and Ukraine, Seibert added.

Earlier on November 25, Merkel said at a press conference with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki that Berlin saw it as its task to do everything possible to prevent a new wave of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, predicted on November 21 that Russia could resort to a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in January or February next year.

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See the article here:
Merkel, Zelensky discuss situation in eastern Ukraine, migrant crisis - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

More than 150 people have died crossing the English Channel in the last five years according to recorded data but charities warn the true numbers could be far higher.

The number of desperate people who died trying to make it to the UK in 2021 makes up more than 25 per cent of all migrant deaths since records began.

People crossing the English Channel in boats or in the back of lorries surged this year, with over 23,000 making the treacherous crossing so far, according to the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) Missing Migrants Project.

The organisation warned that figures must be considered to be a low count of the true number of missing migrants, due to the challenges of collecting data as well as the large number of invisibleshipwrecks that happen without witness or record.

It comes as efforts continue to identify the 27 people whose lives were lost in the Channel on Wednesday in one of the darkest days of the migrant crisis. A source at the French prosecutors office told i they included three children, seven women and 17 men. One of the women is understood to have been pregnant.

IOM confirmed the tragedy was the largest loss of life in the Channel since it began collecting data in 2014.

What makes people cross the Channel are there are no other routes to get here to claim asylum. You must be on UK soil to claim asylum here, a Refugee Action spokesman told i.

When there is no other option, people put their lives in the hands of criminal gangs and step into flimsy boats and hope for the best.

Of those who cross the Channel, 98 per cent claim asylum, according to Refugee Council.

Charities have condemned the Government for not ensuring there are safer routes for people seeking asylum that dont see people forced to put their lives and the lives of their families in danger.

Minnie Rahman, interim chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), told i: What happened yesterday was a devastating but avoidable tragedy. At least 27 people with hopes, dreams, families and futures died in a cold stretch of sea because this government has been playing politics with peoples lives.

She argued that over the course of the pandemic many safe routes to people seeking asylum have been closed down, leaving no way for people to get to the UK safely.

The Government has repeatedly prioritised, cruel, unworkable and dangerous border measures like pushbacks in the Channel, which will only lead to more deaths, she said.

Experts have also pointed out that while applications for asylum have increased, the number of people resettled has dramatically fallen from the year before.

The number of people granted protection through resettlement schemes has fallen by 46 per cent in the year ending September 2021 and now stands at just over 1,000, said Marley Morris, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) associate director.

The figures also show an overall 18 per cent year-on-year increase in asylum applications, but with total numbers still far lower than the peak in the early 2000s. Moreover, the number of asylum applications with an initial decision pending has continued to rise, in part as a result of extensive delays in asylum processing.

He added the number of asylum applications still pending an initial decision stands at around 68,000, with around two thirds taking more than six months to process.

The Refugee Council is calling on the Government to:

Meanwhile in Calais, a makeshift graveyard has been set up to remember each of the refugees who have died trying to reach Europe. One of the wooden crosses has been placed for newborn Samir Khalida, who was killed when her mother, who left Eritrea for a better life in Europe, fell from a truck, triggering her premature birth.

The graveyard is expected to grow as more and more people attempt to come to the UK over the coming months.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said Wednesdays tragedy serves as the starkest possible reminder of the dangers of these Channel crossings organised by ruthless criminal gangs.

She said the Governments new plan for immigration will overhaul our broken asylum system and address many of the long-standing pull factors encouraging migrants to make the perilous journey from France.

The Home Office said there are other safer and legal routes for people to use to come to the UK such as work and study routes, as well as family resettlement.

It added the new Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will give 20,000 Afghans fleeing persecution a new life in the UK through a safe and legal route.

i revealed on Thursday that the Afghan Resettlement Scheme still has not opened three months after the Government announced it.

Excerpt from:
Migrant crisis: More than 150 people died crossing Channel in last 5 years and the total could be far higher - iNews

B

oris Johnson has said the UK will stand shoulder to shoulder with Poland against those who would try to provoke a migrant crisis on its borders.

Meeting Mr Johnson in Downing Street on Friday, Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned the situation affecting his country is getting crazy.

Poland has been facing a crisis on its border with Belarus for months, with thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East attempting to cross into the European Union.

Brussels has accused Belaruss authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin of deliberately encouraging the migrants to breach its borders in retaliation for sanctions the EU has imposed in response to his repressive rule.

The Prime Minister said during his meeting with Mr Morawiecki: I think this is an important occasion and we are very, very grateful to you for visiting us, for coming to Number 10, to London, because this is a moment where we can reaffirm our commitment to the relationship but also to standing shoulder to shoulder with Poland against those who would try to provoke a migrant crisis, for instance, on Polish borders.

Mr Morawiecki said that things are now getting very much crazy around us.

He said the UK and Poland have almost the same priorities and are on the same hymn sheet.

He also warned of some not so good guys around the democratic world and transatlantic community.

We have to stay together in front of all those challenges, he said.

Mr Morawiecki added that he felt great sorrow over the news that 27 people died attempting to cross the English Channel.

Mr Johnson replied: That, again, underlines that this is a problem that we have to fix together.

The PM also described Poland as the UKs closest European Nato ally on matters of security and defence.

He said: This is a chance for us to reaffirm our commitment to you as I think probably our closest European Nato ally in our thinking and our commitment to our long-term security and defence relationship not to say nothing of our economic relationship.

Downing Street said the men went on to discuss the situation in Ukraine, as well as the impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

They noted concerning threats against Ukraine, and emphasised our unwavering support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, it said.

Both leaders welcomed the close economic, social and cultural ties between the British and Polish people, and looked forward to boosting our trading relationship.

The Prime Minister set out the United Kingdoms ongoing concerns about the detrimental impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the fact that it was creating an impediment to the east-west trade on which Northern Irelands economy depends.

Read more from the original source:
PM says UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Poland on migrant crisis - Evening Standard

To see how far we have come and, spoiler, it is not far at all in the way we talk about refugees, one only has to play a fun game of: who said it, Tory leader or Edwardian priest?

You have got a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain People are really rather afraid that this country might be swamped by people with a different culture In some districts every vestige of comfort had been absolutely wiped out, the foreigners coming in like an army of locusts

The first, of course, was David Camerons controversial comment to ITV News at the height of the refugee crisis in July 2015 (comments from which even Nigel Farage attempted to distance himself). The second isMargaret Thatcher speaking in 1978. The third is courtesy ofCosmo Gordon Lang, the bishop of Stepney, writing about the Jewish diaspora in 1902.

Langs choice of (slightly mixed) metaphors army and locusts continue to be the most common way refugees are written about today: either asmilitary invasion (theNew York Timescarried a picture caption, for example, that described Greek authorities using tear gas, batons, stun grenades and rubber bullets to repel the hordes, and last year the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, appointed a Clandestine Channel Threat Commander to tackle crossings); or as a natural force a flood, an influx, a tsunami, a swarm. Both are, obviously, negative images, but they are problematic for different reasons. The first suggests not only that migration happens in some strategised, organised way, but that refugees have a choice about leaving; it is active and deliberate. The second suggests that migration is uncontrollable; it removes the agency of governments to do anything about it for good or ill.

[See also: How much does the UK government really care about fixing the migrant crisis?]

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The word migrant (often used interchangeably with immigrant, though they mean subtly different things) encompasses refugees, but also those who leave their countries of birth for other reasons, such as economic opportunities or education. Refugees, by contrast, are those who flee because of war, persecution or natural disaster. The former indicates choice, which those risking their lives to cross the English Channel in desperation do not have. Moreover, both migrant and immigrant are examples of nominalisation, or nouns that are formed from verbs. This shift implies identity rather than action; people who migrate are no longer people, but migrants.

Such language conveniently helps shift the responsibility from governments, as it implies that citizens are moving of their own volition, rather than because the circumstances in their home countries leave them no alternative. Using the word refugee, by contrast, acknowledges and calls out conflict, human rights abuses and corruption.

The word illegal is often found alongside immigrant, but this is also wrong as was Boris Johnsons assertion last yearthat crossing the Channel is always criminal, much as he might like it to be. For a start, a person cannot be illegal, even if their actions are. For refugees, the action of crossing borders is not illegal: the 1951 Refugee Convention affords them a legal status and states that host governments are responsible for their protection.

[See also: Twenty-seven people have drowned in the English Channel. This is a predictable and ongoing tragedy]

There is also something distinctly racist about the double standards with which we apply the word migrant. Consider, for example, theTelegraphheadline: Angela Merkel says nein to Theresa Mays calls for early deal on rights of EU migrants and British ex-pats. When British people migrate (and they do in 2019 there were994,000 British nationalsliving in other EU countries alone), they are described as expats, but those who seek refuge or a better life in Britain are migrants. The word expat, an abbreviation of expatriate, originates in the Latin ex meaning out of and patria meaning country or homeland. An expat is literally anyone who has temporarily or permanently left the place they were born, regardless of ethnicity or class. And yet those moving from Africa or Asia are classified as immigrants.

These observations are not academic: the way we talk about the refugee crisis matters. There is a clear link between humanising language and empathy. A study by the University of Sheffield found that after the image of Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy, lying dead on a beach went viral in 2015, refugee became more commonly used on social media than migrant. And it is surely no coincidence that the greatly exaggerated language in the media and politicians speeches is mirrored by a greatly exaggerated public belief of the scale of the problem. Most Britonsoverestimatethe number of non-British nationals in the UK, believing that around a third of the population are migrants; the real figure is more like14 per cent.

We should take care to avoid the easy metaphors of war or disaster, the stigmatising (and incorrect) descriptor illegal, and the generic use of migrant when what we really mean is refugee. Better yet, call them people.

[See also: Leader: A fractured continent]

Read more:
Why the language we use to talk about the refugee crisis matters - New Statesman