Average of 18 people a day died trying to reach Spain in 2023

NGO’s figure is nearly triple that of 2022, making last year deadliest on record along migration route

An estimated 18 people a day died or disappeared while trying to reach the shores of Spain last year, a leading NGO has said, as increased migration controls led to people taking more treacherous routes in the hope of making it to Europe.

The 6,618 people who died included 384 children, Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said in its latest report, many attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands.

Continue reading...

Labour to table vote calling for release of Rwanda deportation plan documents

Party to ask for details of individual relocation costs and any payments to the Rwandan government

Labour will table a vote in parliament on Tuesday calling for the release of documents relating to the UK government’s Rwanda deportation policy amid claims from Conservative centrists that Rishi Sunak has promised to uphold international treaties.

The vote, which will be part of a humble address on the opposition day debate in the Commons, will ask for any documents that show the cost of relocating each individual asylum seeker to Rwanda as well as a list of all payments made or scheduled to be made to Rwanda’s government.

Continue reading...

Palestinians desperate to flee Gaza pay thousands in bribes to ‘brokers’

Fixers with alleged links to Egyptian intelligence are making a fortune in ‘fees’ from people hoping to exit through the Rafah crossing

Palestinians desperate to leave Gaza are paying bribes to brokers of up to $10,000 (£7,850) to help them exit the territory through Egypt, according to a Guardian investigation.

Very few Palestinians have been able to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing but those trying to get their names on the list of people permitted to exit daily say they are being asked to pay large “coordination fees” by a network of brokers and couriers with alleged links to the Egyptian intelligence services.

Continue reading...

‘I can ride the bus. I can walk the streets’: the joy of freedom for Rohingya resettled in the US

A diplomatic breakthrough has allowed 62 refugees to start a new life in America. Yet a million still remain in fear and poverty in the Bangladeshi camps

After 23 hours on his first international flight, it was only after stepping off the plane in the United States that Nurul Haque finally felt the relief of escaping the refugee camps of Bangladesh, where he was born.

Haque was among the first Rohingya refugees allowed to leave Bangladesh in more than a decade. The 62 people who have flown to the US since late last year might be few, but resettlement has given them hope of opportunity and security that was denied them in Bangladesh.

Continue reading...

No 10 refuses to follow Cleverly in setting end of 2024 as target date for ending all small boat crossings – as it happened

Downing Street refuses to endorse home secretary as he says his aim is to reduce number of people crossing Channel on small boats to ‘zero’. This live blog is closed

At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the PM’s spokesperson claimed the government had “gone further” than promised in tackling the asylum application backlog. In response to comments from Labour and others saying the legacy backlog has not been fully cleared, the spokesperson said:

We committed to clearing the backlog. That is what the government has done.

We are being very transparent about what that entails.

I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023.

That’s exactly what we’ve done.

Continue reading...

‘A bit strange’: hiking group in Germany reported to police as illegal migrants

Club consisting of many Syrians living in Germany has its trip interrupted, as attitudes to migration seem to be hardening

For the past seven years, they’ve crisscrossed Germany, climbing mountains, following babbling streams and trekking through leafy forests.

It was the hiking club’s most recent outing in the eastern state of Saxony, however, that thrust them into uncharted territory. As members of the group, many of them Syrians living in Germany, made their way through the area’s spectacular scenery, a call was made to police to report a group of migrants, amid suspicions that they had been smuggled across the nearby Czech border.

Continue reading...

Sunak rebuked by UK’s statistics watchdog for making misleading claim about government debt – as it happened

The prime minister has been facing questions on his government’s performance from senior MPs on the Commons liaison committee

Social care leaders felt “blindsided” by recently announced changes to visa rules banning care workers from bringing their families to the UK and have “grave concerns” it could drive people from the sector, the Commons health committee heard this morning. PA Media has filed this from the hearing.

The head of Care England, which represents social care providers across the country, criticised a lack of consultation with the sector, saying it left them “particularly concerned, annoyed and irritated”.

Prof Martin Green, its chief executive, told the committee the system is currently already “creaking at the edges” due to a lack of funding, and spoke of the “chronic workforce shortage” it faces.

Today’s guidance does not go far enough. During the many months we have been waiting for its publication, it has become increasingly clear that non-statutory guidance will provide insufficient protection and clarity, and that a change in the law of the land is required.

That is why I am today asking the government to back my private member’s bill which would change the law in this area to ensure children are fully protected.

Continue reading...

Campaigners call on EU leaders to veto ‘costly and cruel’ changes to migration law

Human rights organisations demand ‘more access to legal aid, asylum, medical and social support for people in need’

Proposed changes to the EU’s migration laws risk weakening human rights and could leave the bloc with an “ill-functioning, costly and cruel system”, more than 50 human rights organisations have said as negotiations over the plans enter the final stretch.

In an open letter published on Monday, 57 organisations – describing themselves as “people who see and work with the stark consequences of political choices” – said the package of new laws would “mirror the failed approaches of the past and worsen their consequences”.

Continue reading...

Irish government condemns burning of hotel set to house asylum seekers

Suspected arson attack at Ross Lake House hotel in Galway called a sinister attempt at intimidation

A suspected arson attack has wrecked a hotel in County Galway that was being prepared to host 70 asylum seekers, in the latest sign of a backlash against refugees in Ireland.

The Irish government on Monday condemned the burning of the Ross Lake House hotel in Rosscahill as a sinister attempt at intimidation.

Continue reading...

The Guardian and Observer charity telethon 2023: call our writers and donate

Marina Hyde, John Crace and Polly Toynbee are among those ready to take your calls in support of refugees

Readers have the opportunity to talk to some of their favourite Guardian and Observer journalists on Saturday as part of the annual charity telethon, this year in support of refugees and asylum seekers.

Journalists including Marina Hyde, John Crace, Polly Toynbee, Owen Jones, Peter Bradshaw, Sali Hughes, Simon Hattenstone, Nosheen Iqbal, Zoe Williams and many more will be on hand to take your calls and donations.

Non-telethon donations can be made online by credit card, debit card or PayPal.

Continue reading...

Guardian and Observer charity appeal passes £350,000 in donations

Donations in support of refugee and asylum seekers have got off to a strong start thanks to our readers

The Guardian and Observer charity appeal in support of refugee and asylum seekers has received more than £350,000 in donations from generous readers in less than a week since it launched.

The 2023 appeal is raising money for three charities – Refugee Councils of Britain, Refugees at Home, and Naccom – that support homeless and destitute asylum seekers and refugees and campaign for a fairer and more humane treatment of people arriving in the UK after fleeing war and persecution.

Donations can be made online by credit card, debit card or PayPal, or by phone on 0151 284 1126. We are unable to accept cheques.

Continue reading...

Singapore activist due for Bibby Stockholm ‘would rather die on street’

Yao Hui Charles Yeo, a lawyer and opposition politician, fears for health after recent death on barge

A prominent human rights activist who has been warned that he may be moved to the Bibby Stockholm barge has said he would prefer to die on the streets than go there after it was suspected someone killed themselves on the barge.

Yao Hui Charles Yeo, 33 – a lawyer, activist and opposition politician in Singapore – claimed asylum in the UK after being persecuted and imprisoned in his home country. He has a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and a degenerative disc condition, which causes “moderate to severe” back pain, according to medical reports seen by the Guardian. He is also suffering from trauma as a result of a previous near drowning incident.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer clash over homelessness and the UK economy at PMQs – as it happened

The prime minister faced PMQs for the final time before the Christmas recess

Rishi Sunak is about to take PMQs. It will be the last of 2023.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

Continue reading...

Rwanda bill ‘pushing at edge of the envelope’ but ‘within framework of international law’ says home secretary – UK politics live

James Cleverly says deportation bill contains ‘novel measures’ as MPs debate it

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, a former lord chief justice of England and Wales, has said the government should not try to ignore the jurisdiction of the European court of human rights. In an interview for a podcast called the Judges, he said:

If you have subjected yourself to a court, and it was our voluntary decision to do so, then you have to take the rough with the smooth and if they’ve decided [the court] have this jurisdiction then you ought to follow it.

You can’t expect others to respect the law if you say you won’t respect the law of someone else.

You ought to actually be able, within a set period of time, say a fortnight, to investigate, decide, give him one right of appeal – why you should have more than one right of appeal I simply don’t understand – and remove them.” But, he concedes, it costs money.

Britain is a practical nation – always has been. People can’t afford Christmas. If they call an ambulance this winter – they don’t know if it will come. 6,000 crimes go unpunished - every day. Common sense is rolling your sleeves up and solving these problems practically, not indulging in some kind of political performance art.

This goes for stopping the boats as well. It’s not about wave machines, or armoured jet skis, or schemes like Rwanda you know will never work.

Continue reading...

Tories warn Rishi Sunak that his Rwanda plan ‘will never be law’

As Tuesday’s crucial vote looms, MPs from both wings of the party say PM has tied his future to a bill that cannot succeed

• Read more: The UK’s deal with Rwanda must stay within the rule of law

Senior Tories from across the party are warning that Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda plan will never become law in its current form, ahead of the most critical vote of his premiership.

Liberal Tories confirmed last night that, despite their desire to back the PM against the right, “serious concerns” remain about the plan and more reassurances will be required. Meanwhile, a self-styled “star chamber” of legal figures examining the proposals for the Tory right is understood to have found problems that are “extremely difficult to resolve”.

Continue reading...

Row brews between Home Office and Foreign Office on eve of UN refugee summit

Furore over the controversial Rwanda scheme labelled far from ‘helpful’ as Britain seeks to fulfil role in the international forum

Tensions between the Home Office and Foreign Office are said to be “strained” before the largest international gathering in years on the refugee crisis, with the UK’s contribution overshadowed by the row over Rwanda.

Headed by development minister Andrew Mitchell, the UK delegation at this week’s UN Global Refugee Forum will unveil what it describes as an “ambitious package” that includes delivering schooling to hundreds of thousands of refugee children.

Continue reading...

‘I need mum and dad here’: the charity helping young Afghan footballers reunite with relatives

The Refugee Council is welcoming those who fled the Taliban and providing legal advice on resettlement in the UK

Donate to our charity appeal here

Two years on from their arrival in South Yorkshire, young footballers Elaha Safdari, Najma Arifi and Narges Mayeli are still baffled by the array of regional accents in the UK. “I’m always like, ‘Pardon? Can you please repeat? What did you say?’” laughs Arifi, now 20.

This barrier is only a minor hurdle for the trio, who were forced to flee for their lives when the west pulled out of Afghanistan and the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

Continue reading...

Asylum seekers can be housed at former RAF bases, high court rules

Council says it will apply to appeal court after judge rules in favour of government plans citing high risk of migrants being made homeless

Council bosses are planning to appeal against a high court ruling that gives the government the green light to use two military sites to accommodate thousands of asylum seekers.

Lawyers representing West Lindsey district council in Lincolnshire argued that plans to use the disused RAF Scampton, where the “dambusters” were based during the second world war, were unlawful. Lawyers for Braintree district council where Wethersfield airfield is based, made similar arguments. A local Braintree resident, Gabriel Clarke-Holland, was also involved in the legal challenge.

Continue reading...

Fears grow for hundreds of Rohingya refugees adrift for two weeks

UN warns of possible tragedy unless people are rescued from two boats on Andaman Sea

About 400 Rohingya refugees have been adrift in two boats on the Andaman Sea for about two weeks, according to the United Nations, which called on regional governments to help rescue them.

The number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing by boats in a seasonal exodus – usually from squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh – has been rising since last year due to cuts to food rations and an increase in gang violence.

Continue reading...

UK taxpayers to bear extra cost over Rwanda treaty

Ministers have given more than £140m to Rwandan government in hope of sending asylum seekers to east Africa

British taxpayers will bear extra costs after the signing of a treaty on the deportation scheme for asylum seekers with the Rwandan government, the home secretary has said, as he asserted that the government was not pursuing “cheap and quick popularity”.

The new agreement will mean that the UK will pay for British and Commonwealth judges to preside over a newly established appeals process as well as the costs of all legal fees from anyone sent to the central African country.

Continue reading...