Small vessel rescued en route to island of Lampedusa, which has received 8,500 people this week
A newborn baby has been found dead on a boat carrying people to the Italian island of Lampedusa during a rescue operation, the Ansa news agency has reported.
The baby was born during the journey and died soon after birth, Ansa reported, adding that about 40 people were onboard.
Continue reading...PM says breed, responsible for series of attacks, will be banned once it has been properly defined
Here is the full text of what Rishi Sunak said in his video statement about banning American XL bully dogs. (See 11.50am.)
The American XL bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children.
I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality.
It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities.
I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe.
Continue reading...Boat travelling from north Africa capsized near tiny Italian island, with all other passengers rescued
A five-month-old boy has drowned during a rescue operation off the Italian island of Lampedusa after a boat carrying people from north Africa capsized.
The tragedy occurred as migrant landings on Lampedusa surged, leaving the small island struggling to cope. About 1,850 people landed on Wednesday, bringing the total number of migrants in Lampedusa to more than 6,700, the Ansa news agency said.
Continue reading...Akif Rasuli spent more than two years behind bars after being accused of people smuggling
A Greek court has awarded thousands of euros in compensation to an Afghan refugee who spent more than two years in prison after being wrongfully accused of people smuggling, in a rare step hailed by campaigners.
A three-member appeal court sitting on the Aegean island of Lesbos ruled that Akif Rasuli had not only been unjustly jailed, but should be recompensed for the ordeal he had been made to endure.
Continue reading...IOM says half of country’s population now in need of aid and protection after months of violence
Five million people have been displaced by civil war in Sudan, which is facing a rapidly mounting humanitarian emergency after months of serious fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary force.
The displacement figure, provided by the International Organization for Migration, echoes a warning from the UN’s main refugee agency, UNHCR, that more than $1bn would be needed to support those fleeing the violence into neighbouring countries.
Continue reading...Ruling against man who claimed family were ‘pushback’ victims seen as blow to efforts to make Frontex accountable
A Syrian refugee has lost a landmark case against the EU’s border protection agency, Frontex, after he and his family were forcibly deported from Greece before his asylum application was processed.
The ruling is seen as a major blow to efforts to make the operations of Frontex in Greece and other countries more transparent and accountable to the member states who employ them.
Continue reading...More than 800 people made the journey on Saturday, bringing the total for the year so far to almost 21,000
More than 800 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday, the highest number on a single day so far this year.
The latest provisional government data put the figure at 872 people in 15 vessels, suggesting an average of about 58 people in each one.
Continue reading...Israeli PM also orders plan to remove all African asylum seekers after protests by rival groups of Eritreans
The Israeli prime minister has said he wants Eritreans involved in a violent clash in Tel Aviv to be deported immediately and has ordered a plan to remove all of the country’s African asylum seekers.
The remarks on Sunday followed bloody protests by rival groups of Eritreans in south Tel Aviv the day before that left dozens of people injured. Eritreans, supporters and opponents of Eritrea’s government, faced off with construction lumber, pieces of metal and rocks, smashing shop windows and police cars. Israeli police in riot gear fired teargas, stun grenades and live rounds while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters.
Continue reading...Statement comes amid concern about allegations Saudi forces have killed hundreds of migrants
Germany ended a training programme for Saudi border forces, who have been implicated in the mass killing of migrants at the country’s border with Yemen, after it was alerted to reports of “possible massive human rights violations”, the German interior ministry has said.
In a statement to the Guardian, the ministry said training undertaken by the federal police service for the Saudi border force had been “discontinued after reports of possible massive human rights violations became known and, as a precaution, are no longer included in the current training programme [for Saudi security forces]”.
Continue reading...Footage provides latest shocking glimpse of conditions endured by refugees in north African country
Footage has emerged showing a woman lying dead on the floor of a migration detention centre in Libya in the latest shocking glimpse of the conditions endured by refugees in the north African country.
The clip, believed to have been filmed two weeks ago and shared with the Guardian by a group who arrived in Tunisia from Libya, shows a room inside the Abu Salim detention centre in Tripoli.
Continue reading...Home secretary confirms government considering fitting some migrants with electronic tags
Suella Braverman has said the government will “do whatever it takes” if its plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is “thwarted in Strasbourg”, and confirmed the government is considering fitting some migrants with electronic tags.
In an interview with the BBC, the home secretary stepped up her attack on the European court of human rights (ECHR), calling it politicised and interventionist.
Continue reading...Amnesty links wildfires and lack of legal migration routes to deaths of 19 people believed to be asylum seekers
Refugees and migrants in Greece are facing off against the “two great injustices of our times”, Amnesty International has said, as it linked wildfires and scant access to legal migration routes to the deaths of 19 people believed to be asylum seekers.
As wildfires continue to rage across swathes of Greece, authorities in the country said they were working to identify the charred remains of 18 people found this week in the dense forests that straddle the country’s north-eastern border with Turkey.
Continue reading...Some took parts of wooden seats for buoyancy after watching friends die on drifting vessel
Facing hunger, thirst and a rising number of deaths, some of the group of asylum seekers who were adrift for more than a month in the Atlantic resorted to breaking off chunks of the boat’s wooden seats in hopes of floating to land, a friend of three of the survivors has said.
More than 90 people are believed to have died before the rickety boat that had set off from Fass Boye, a seaside town in Senegal, was found off Cape Verde last week. Survivors said they left on 10 July aiming to reach Spain’s Canary Islands and spent weeks drifting at the mercy of powerful Atlantic trade winds.
Continue reading...Experts say army received bribes from people smuggling until 2015 law associated with Mohamed Bazoum
Observers have linked Mohamed Bazoum’s support for European Union policies aimed at stifling migration routes through north Africa to his ousting as president of Niger last month.
Army officers toppled Bazoum on 26 July, as Niger became the fourth west African country since 2020 to have a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.
Continue reading...Article says Commons could bypass the parliamentary standards machinery after Labour leader says MP should be forced out. This live blog is closed
Starmer says there is a massive mismatch between what the government is saying about how things are going well with the economy, and the lived experience of people.
O’Brien suggests the two teenagers Starmer met today would have been happier if Starmer was still committed to getting rid of tuition fees.
I do think the current scheme is unfair and ineffective and that is why we will change it, so the current scheme will be changed by the incoming Labour government and we will set out our plans.
I am not going to pretend that there isn’t huge damage to the economy and that has meant that some of the things that an incoming Labour government would want to do we are not going to be able to do in the way we would want in the way that we would want.
We are working up our proposals on that and I will fully come back and talk them through when we got them.
Continue reading...Prime minister says he is ‘not complacent’ and figures showing fall in crossings compared with 2022 show his approach is working
Rishi Sunak and Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, were both given a chance to show off their painting skills when they visited a nursery in Harrogate this morning. According to PA Media, they were both painting bees. Keegan’s bee would merit a gold star. Sunak’s looks more like a parrot with a squint.
In his pooled TV interview, Rishi Sunak also stressed the government’s commitment to extending access to free childcare. He said:
It is really important to me that young families have access to high quality affordably childcare. That is why the government is expanding its offer of free childcare.
Currently working families can access 30 hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds. As part of our big reforms we are extending that all the way down to little ones as young as nine months.
Continue reading...Tory attempt to capitalise on Channel crossings draws attention to immigration and strengthens opposition lead on issue
Government attempts to make capital out of the issue of Channel crossings in a special “small boats week” appear to have backfired with the public, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.
“Small boats week”, earlier this month, was dogged by a series of disasters, including figures showing record numbers of crossings; the evacuation, due to a health scare, of the Bibby Stockholm barge used to house migrants, and the deaths of at least six people when a small boat capsized and sank in the Channel.
Continue reading...At least two of detained Iraqis and Sudanese suspected to have links to human trafficking networks
Four people have been arrested in France after the deaths of six men whose boat capsized while crossing the Channel.
French judges are considering charges including involuntary manslaughter against the Iraqi and Sudanese suspects, according to reports.
Continue reading...Walking Borders said it told authorities in four countries on 20 July about vessel with more than 100 asylum seekers onboard
A Spanish NGO alerted authorities from four countries on 20 July about a boat carrying an estimated 130 asylum seekers that was found earlier this week with just 38 survivors and the bodies of seven dead people on board.
Relatives of those onboard said the large fishing vessel had left Fass Boye, a seaside town in Senegal on 10 July, and was heading for Spain’s Canary Islands. The boat was spotted on Monday about 150 nautical miles (277km ) north of the Cape Verdean island of Sal.
Continue reading...Mayor of Portland says ‘buck stops with Suella Braverman’ after it took three days to inform ministers about outbreak
The Home Office should accept responsibility for failing to immediately remove asylum seekers from a giant barge after the detection of a dangerous bacteria, the mayor of Portland has said.
Carralyn Parkes said the “the buck stops with Suella [Braverman]” after Whitehall briefings over the weekend claimed that contractors on the Bibby Stockholm were to blame for delays as it took three days to inform ministers about the outbreak of legionella.
Continue reading...