Channel crossings – Central News Hub

UK targets Vietnamese with online ads to deter Channel crossings

The government on Monday launched a new global social media campaign, aimed at Vietnam in particular, to deter migrants from trying to cross the Channel from northern France on small boats. It comes as statistics showed the number of arrivals using the hazardous and highly contentious route up by 15 percent so far this year compared to the same period in 2023. An increasing proportion of “small boat” arrivals hail from Vietnam, with the southeast Asian nation among the top 10 nationalities for migrants crossing the Channel, according to the UK interior ministry. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” one of his top priorities, and claimed to be succeeding when they fell by around a third last year.

A reversal on that could prove politically perilous for the Conservative leader ahead of a general election expected later this year. The new online adverts, which feature real testimonies from those who have previously made the dangerous journeys, are being posted on Facebook and YouTube to target Vietnamese migrants. “The social media posts emphasize the consequences of traveling to the UK illegally, dangers people can expect to face, and set out the risks of being indebted to and exploited by the people smuggling gangs,” the interior ministry said. They also warn prospective migrants of “the reality” of living in Britain “with no right to be in the UK and no access to public services or funding.” It follows a similar campaign last year targeting migrants from Albania, which contributed to a 90-percent reduction in arrivals from the Balkan country, the ministry said. Sunak’s government is also persevering with controversial proposals to deter cross-Channel small boat journeys by trying to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The UK Supreme Court had blocked the plan over safety fears, but Sunak has introduced proposals to declare Rwanda “safe” and agreed a new treaty with the east African country to kickstart deportations. Flights could take off within months if lawmakers approve the draft law. Official figures show 4,244 people have made the Channel crossing so far this year in 2024. That compares to 3,683 in the same 12-week period last year. There were nearly 30,000 such arrivals in total in 2023. The interior ministry has reportedly said that smugglers organizing the crossings are adapting their methods, using bigger boats and packing more people onto them.

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UK sets 2-week asylum claim goal as Channel crossings surge

Two-thirds of all applications are granted at first review and half of all appeals are successful, it said…reports Asian Lite News

Home Secretary Priti Patel is aiming to draft new laws to reject the asylum claims of Channel migrants within two weeks of their arrival in Britain.

The plan aims to deal with government concerns that asylum seekers have become immune to detainment and deportation policies due to international laws, The Times reported on Saturday.

Patel has ordered Home Office officials to develop powers to expedite asylum claims, with a new goal of two weeks per application.

The UK is facing its biggest backlog of asylum claims for almost two decades, with more than 90,000 people now waiting to hear the results of their asylum applications. Each asylum claim takes an average 12 months to process.

One strategy the Home Office is considering implementing is a rejection protocol if asylum seekers are found to have reached Britain through “safe countries.”

But Patel has been warned that the two-week asylum claim strategy will prove difficult as a result of some migrants fleeing conflict or persecution in their home countries.

However, she said a fortnight is a “reasonable” window for immigration officials, according to Home Office sources.

The new strategy is part of a wider government target to slow Channel crossings, which reached a record 28,381 last year. That number is set to double this year, according to government statistics.

Meanwhile, Patel has incorrectly told MPs that most migrants crossing the English Channel are not asylum-seekers after a Home Office report claimed that “almost all” of them are.

In a Home Affairs Committee session on Wednesday, Patel responded to questions on the government’s plans for tackling the Channel crisis through the provision of alternative safe routes.

Conservative MP Tim Loughton said the number of migrants reaching Britain on small boats tripled last year to more than 28,000 and asked the home secretary about the alternative routes available to them.

“We have people coming from Syria and Afghanistan, we do have the work of the Afghanistan resettlement scheme — that is a safe and legal route that has been stood up,” Patel said.

But when challenged on the routes available to asylum-seekers from countries other than Syria and Afghanistan, she said: “For economic migrants, they don’t need safe and legal routes because they should be claiming asylum in many of the other countries they’re travelling through.”

Patel added: “The majority of them are people that are not claiming asylum or fleeing persecution.”

But her department’s most recent report on migrant statistics, which was released in November, said “almost all” people who arrive via the Channel on small boats claim asylum.

Two-thirds of all applications are granted at first review and half of all appeals are successful, it said.

Patel told the Commons committee that migrants crossing the Channel “should be claiming asylum in other countries,” despite this not being a requirement for any asylum-seeker under UN regulations.

Priti Patel has falsely told MPs that most migrants crossing the English Channel are not asylum seekers, after the Home Office’s own report said “almost all” are

At one point she appeared to call anyone not from Afghanistan or Syria an "economic migrant"https://t.co/fiPHjDvVD2
— Lizzie Dearden (@lizziedearden) February 2, 2022

She said new safe and legal routes were being created for asylum-seekers beyond Afghanistan and Syria, but did not provide any details. She added: “We don’t currently have those routes in place.”

British law requires anyone claiming asylum in Britain to be physically present in the country, limiting options for people stuck in countries they are attempting to flee and, campaigners say, forcing them to take perilous routes.

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