Migrant crossings to UK hit new record, heaping pressure on Sunak
Migrant crossings to UK hit new record, heaping pressure on Sunak/node/2483756/world
Migrant crossings to UK hit new record, heaping pressure on Sunak
A grab from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament’s Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) shows Rishi Sunak attending a Parliamentary Liaison Committee hearing, London, Mar. 26, 2024. (AFP)
Migrant crossings to UK hit new record, heaping pressure on Sunak
HO spokesperson: ‘The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible’
‘We continue to work closely with French police, who are facing increasing violence and disruption as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys’
Updated 27 March 2024
Reuters
LONDON: More than 4,600 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2024, a record total for the first three months of the year and giving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a fresh political headache.
Provisional data from the Home Office, or interior ministry, showed on Wednesday that 4,644 people had been detected arriving across the Channel on small boats such as inflatable dinghies up to March 26 this year.
That compares with 3,770 for the same period last year and 4,162 for 2022, the previous record high.
Sunak is hoping his flagship scheme to deport those arriving in Britain without permission to Rwanda will deter people from making the dangerous cross-Channel crossings. Legislation which aims to get that plan up and running after a series of legal setbacks is due back in parliament next month.
“The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible,” a Home Office spokesperson said last week.
“We continue to work closely with French police who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.”
Overall annual numbers fell 36 percent last year from 2022’s record total, which led to Sunak claiming the government was beginning to have success in “stopping the boats,” one of his key priorities ahead of an election expected later this year.
But the latest increase will add to pressure on Sunak, whose Conservatives are well behind the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls with immigration a major concern for some voters.
“Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Rishi Sunak keeps on telling the British people that small boat arrivals are coming down and his promise to stop the boats remains on track,” said Stephen Kinnock, Labour’s immigration spokesperson.
Foreign workers help Spain’s economic growth outpace the US and the rest of Europe
Tapping into foreign labor helped Spain’s economy grow by about 3 percent last year
Tapping into foreign labor helped Spain’s economy grow by about 3 percent last year
Updated 8 sec ago
AP
GUISSONA: Inside a cavernous production plant in Spain, people from 62 nationalities work side by side to keep a food company humming as millions of legs of ham travel on hooks along conveyor belts. Foreign workers have helped to make Spain’s economy the envy of the industrialized world, even as anti-immigration sentiments grow elsewhere in Europe and in the United States. “BonÀrea would not be possible if it weren’t for the people from other countries who have come here to work. We should be eternally grateful to them,” the company’s head of human resources, Xavier Moreno, told The Associated Press during a recent visit. Tapping into foreign labor helped Spain’s economy grow by about 3 percent last year, smashing the euro zone average of 0.8 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That also beat the US growth rate of 2.8 percent, according to OECD projected figures, where President Donald Trump has pledged to close borders and deport immigrants who are in the country illegally. Spain’s ministry for social security and migration says 45 percent of all jobs created since 2022 have been filled by around half a million new foreign-born workers. Nearly 3 million foreigners now represent 13 percent of the country’s workforce. “We had two ways to deal with the challenge,” the minister, Elma Saiz, told the AP. “That Spain be a closed and poor country or an open and prosperous one.” Pedro Aznar, professor of economics with the Esade Business School in Barcelona, said the influx of foreign workers has helped Spain fare far better than Germany, the traditional motor of Europe’s economy, whose manufacturing industry is in crisis. Spain is driven by services, in particular its buoyant tourism sector. Foreigners do typically lower-wage jobs that many Spaniards don’t want. And while Spain takes in fewer asylum-seekers than other European countries, it’s in the rare position to attract millions of economic migrants from South America who swiftly incorporate into Spain’s job market and social fabric thanks to the common language. Practically all of Spain’s population growth since the COVID-19 pandemic is due to immigration, with 1.1 million people arriving in 2022, according to the Bank of Spain. It credits the newcomers with sustaining the aging country’s social security system — a challenge common in other European nations. The bank said 85 percent of the 433,000 people who found a job last year between January and September were foreign-born. Bucking the anti-migration trend Across Europe, the rise of anti-migrant sentiment has spurred far-right political parties. Spain also has seen the rise of anti-migration political forces that focus on unauthorized migration from Africa and Islamic countries, but they haven’t been able to impose their narrative as deeply. Mohamed Es-Saile, 38, arrived from Morocco illegally when he was 16, crossing into Spain’s north African exclave of Ceuta. He now works legally as an electrician and repairman at bonÀrea. “I don’t feel any hate toward migrants here,” Es-Saile said. “From my point of view, a person (from abroad) can adapt to situations in a new country, even sometimes better than people from that country.” Latin Americans have made up the bulk of immigrants who arrived legally. According to the most recent census, over 4 million Latin American immigrants were living in Spain legally in 2023. Víctor Razuri was brought over by bonÀrea from Peru last year as a mechanic and electrician. The 41-year-old said he has had little problem adapting. “In Peru, you don’t see many people from other parts of the world. When I got here, I was working with people from Ukraine, from Morocco, and with a few other people from Latin America,” he said. “It was a little tough at first, but I think I have adapted.” To help integrate newcomers, bonÀrea offers classes in Spanish and Catalan, help with work permits, and finding homes and schools. Representatives of workers from different countries meet regularly to discuss issues related to cultural differences. ‘Our future prosperity’ Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has defended legal migration, drawing attention to its economic benefits. Spain added an estimated 458,000 authorized immigrants last year, according to the National Statistics Institute. While 31 percent come from other EU countries, leading countries of origin also include Morocco, Colombia, Venezuela, China, Peru and Ukraine. New arrivals often take service jobs, construction, farming, fishing and home care and cleaning. “Welcoming those who come here looking for a better life is not just an obligation, it is also an essential step to guaranteeing our future prosperity,” Sánchez told Parliament in October. An aging Spain requires workers Social changes in Spain have opened the job market for newcomers without creating dramatic social tensions, despite chronic high unemployment at 10.6 percent. The Bank of Spain estimates that an aging Spain will need 30 million working-age immigrants over the next 30 years to sustain the balance between workers and retirees-plus-children. In Barcelona, cafe owner Jordi Ortiz said there is no way he could keep his business going without his staff of mostly South Americans. “It is basically 80 percent of people from abroad, 20 percent from here,” Ortiz said. “Spaniards just don’t want to work in the service sector.” Emily Soto, originally from the Dominican Republic, serves tables at the cafe. She and her family emigrated in 1998. Since then, things have changed. “When I got here there was nobody else from my country, I mean we could count them on our fingers,” Soto said. “But now they just keep coming.” Contractor Víctor Lisbona in Barcelona said fellow Spaniards no longer follow in their parents’ footsteps, and estimates that around 80 percent of the carpenters, electricians and construction professionals he has worked with are foreigners. “Young Spaniards don’t want to do the hard jobs, the construction work, driving trucks, carpentry. They want to study to be lawyers, doctors,” Lisbona said. New work permits for migrants Spain has struggled with unauthorized migration across the Mediterranean Sea and has backed European Union deals with Morocco to try to stem flows. Meanwhile, the stream of migrant boats journeying from Africa’s west coast to Spain’s Canary Islands has created a humanitarian crisis. Countless die in the attempt. Sánchez toured Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia last year to promote a temporary work scheme whereby African workers could get legal and safe passage to Spain. Results have yet to be seen. The government also aims to bring unauthorized migrants already in Spain into the system. In November, Sánchez’s left-wing coalition announced it would provide work permits and papers to some 900,000 foreigners already in the country illegally over the coming three years, with hopes they will work and pay taxes. BonÀrea will be waiting to give them jobs, Moreno with human resources said, with some 700 posts likely available.
Two killed in blast at Taliban religious school in Pakistan: police
The sprawling campus is home to roughly 4,000 students who are fed, clothed and educated for free
Updated 11 min 20 sec ago
AFP
Peshawar: A blast at an Islamic religious school in Pakistan where key Taliban leaders have studied killed two people on Friday, police said.
The explosion happened as people gathered for weekly Friday prayers at the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania school in Akora Khattak, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) east of Peshawar.
“Two people have died, and 11 others are wounded. However, there are fears that the death toll may rise,” said police officer Noor Ali Khan, adding that the head of the school may have been killed.
It was given the nickname the “University of Jihad” for its fiery ideology and the number of Taliban fighters it has produced.
The sprawling campus is home to roughly 4,000 students who are fed, clothed and educated for free.
For decades, Pakistani madrassas have served as incubators for militancy, indoctrinating tens of thousands of refugees who have few other options for education than the fire-breathing lectures from hard-line clerics.
At least 47 feared trapped after glacier burst in Indian Himalayas — media reports
Incident took place near highway in Uttarakhand state’s Chamoli region, less than 5km from popular Hindu temple of Badrinath
At least 57 workers engaged in road construction in border area, which adjoins Tibet, were trapped, senior police officer says
Updated 28 February 2025
Reuters
NEW DELHI: At least 47 people were feared to be trapped following a glacier burst in the Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, local media reported on Friday.
The incident took place near a highway in the state’s Chamoli region, less than five kilometers (3 miles) from the popular Hindu temple of Badrinath, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of devotees each year.
At least 57 workers engaged in road construction in the border area, which adjoins Tibet, were trapped, senior police officer Nilesh Anand Bharne told news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake.
“Out of these, 10 workers have been rescued and sent to the army camp near Mana (village) in critical condition,” he said.
Rescue workers were finding it difficult to reach the spot where the 47 were trapped due to heavy snowfall, ANI reported another senior official as saying.
Indonesia’s new sovereign fund will run with commercial mindset, official says
New fund to focus on good returns in sizeable projects and creating high-value jobs
Risk management will paramount to address governance concerns
Updated 28 February 2025
Reuters
JAKARTA: New sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia will focus on large-scale projects generating good returns as it prioritizes sectors championed by the government to increase economic growth and create jobs, its chief investment officer told Reuters. Danantara, which was launched this week and is slated to eventually manage more than $900 billion worth of assets including government stakes in state firms, has been described by officials as Indonesia’s version of Singapore’s Temasek fund.
“All the money that goes to Danantara will be used commercially and productively to generate economic activities,” chief investment officer Pandu Sjahrir told Reuters on Friday, adding the fund was not restricted to investing in state firms or projects.
President Prabowo Subianto has pledged $20 billion for Danantara’s “first wave of investment” that will target projects in natural resources processing, artificial intelligence development, and energy and food security.
The initial capital will come from the government and dividend payments from the state company stakes that it will hold. In 2025, Jakarta has said it expects dividends from state-owned enterprises of 90 trillion rupiah ($5.4 billion).
“We will be deliberate, slow, and most likely be boring in our investment activities. Because our job really is to find good returns,” Pandu said, noting risk management would be paramount given the public scrutiny the fund will face.
The government has pledged transparency, saying the fund could be audited anytime.
The company is still in a discovery stage for its cost of capital, Pandu said, and would be looking at projects with minimum acceptable rate of return close to those on Indonesian government bonds.
In its first year, Danantara will focus on domestic investment, including in private equity and debt markets, and will be open to offshore investment after that. Danantara’s size means it will look to invest in projects worth $1 billion or more, with investment decisions based on the returns and the ability to create high-value jobs, he said. A number of investors have already approached Danantara for potential partnership, including large funds from the United States, Middle East, North Asia and Southeast Asia, Pandu said.
Unlike Jakarta’s existing sovereign fund, the Indonesia Investment Authority, Danantara is not required to have partners for its investment projects, Pandu said.
Fitch Ratings said on Monday in its report the credit profile of some state-controlled firms could weaken if Danantara requires higher dividend payouts or if they were pursuing riskier projects as a result of Danantara’s approach.
Russia says it foiled Ukrainian assassination plot against senior Putin-linked Orthodox priest
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the allegation
Updated 27 min 26 sec ago
Reuters
MOSCOW: Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday it had foiled an attempt by Ukraine’s military intelligence service to assasinate Tikhon Shevkunov, a senior priest in Russia’s Orthodox Church.
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the allegation.
Shevkunov, who has been described in Russian media reports for years as “Putin’s confessor” — something he has neither confirmed nor denied — has maintained a public acquaintance with President Vladimir Putin since the late 1990s and the Kremlin has said the two men know each other well.
In 2023, he was appointed metropolitan of Crimea, becoming one of the top Russian Orthodox Church officials on the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The FSB said in a statement it had detained one Russian and one Ukrainian man in connection with the plot and had confiscated an improvised explosive device. It said the two suspects, whom it did not name, had confessed.
It said that the two men, who it said had been recruited by Ukraine using the Telegram messenger service, had been plotting the assassination attempt since mid 2024 and had planned to kill Shevkunov in Moscow.
Ukraine has taken responsibility for a number of assassinations in Russia since the start of the war in 2022, including pro-Moscow Ukrainian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in April 2023, and the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, Igor Kirillov, in December 2024.