Police in India have arrested two men in connection with the deaths of four people near the US-Canada border in January 2022. The bodies, including that of a three-year-old child, were found lying together frozen in a field in Canada’s Manitoba, 12m away from the US border. Authorities in Gujarat state, where the family was from, said the arrested men were “illegal immigration” agents. Police are also trying to arrest two agents based in the US and Canada. The family – Jagdish Patel, 39, Vaishaliben, 37, their daughter, Vihangi, 11 and son, Dharmik, 3 – were from Gujarat’s Dingucha village, where many … Continue reading Update: Two arrested in case of Indians who froze to death at US-Canada border

Resistance is mounting to a controversial plan from Arizona’s governor to build a wall of shipping containers along the US-Mexico border. The makeshift barrier is being built by Governor Doug Ducey in his waning days in office. Construction began earlier this year, with Mr Ducey saying it was an attempt to “secure” the border. Critics say the project unlawfully cuts through tribal and federal lands. With just weeks left until Mr Ducey leaves office, work crews operating along Arizona’s eastern border with Mexico have been making progress on the barrier, which consists of double-stacked shipping containers and razor wire. That … Continue reading How a US governor is building a border wall with shipping containers

France says it is increasing the number of rescue boats in the English Channel to deal with the growing number of migrants trying to reach the UK. Two additional vessels are being deployed in what the French Coastguard describes as an “unprecedented” move. It follows criticism of the French response to the incident in November 2021 in which 27 people drowned trying to cross to the UK in a dinghy. More than 40,000 people have made such crossings this year – a record number. The French Coastguard says the Lapérouse survey vessel has just arrived in the port of Calais, while … Continue reading France speeds up Channel migrant patrolling

Three stowaways were rescued from a ship’s rudder in the Canary Islands after having sailed from Nigeria 11 days earlier.  The three men were found on the Alithini II oil tanker at the Las Palmas port by Spain’s Salvamento Maritimo, which reported the men appeared to have symptoms of dehydration and hypothermia. Spanish news agency EFE reported the men were seen by medics at the dock upon arrival and taken to the hospital shortly thereafter. A photo shared by the agency shows the three men sitting on the ship, with their feet dangling over the water.  The Maltese-flagged oil tanker left Nigeria … Continue reading LOL: 3 Nigerian stowaways found on ship’s rudder after 11 days at sea

Home Secretary Suella Braverman is to travel to Paris to sign an expanded deal to try to stop people crossing the English Channel in small boats. Under the revised agreement, the amount the UK pays France to cover the cost of increased patrols at their end will go up from from about £55m a year to £63m. The number of officers patrolling the French coast to try to stop people setting off will rise from 200 to 300. In recent weeks, Ms Braverman has come under growing pressure over the issue. So far this year, more than 40,000 people have … Continue reading UK and France to sign revised deal on Channel migrants crisis

Charities have branded the actions of the Italian government “illegal” after it prevented 250 people disembarking two migrant rescue ships. There are 215 blocked on the Geo Barents and 35 on Humanity 1. Children and people with medical issues were allowed to leave the ships in Catania, Sicily, but others were not. Two other rescue boats remain at sea. The new Italian PM has promised to crack down on migrants travelling across the Mediterranean. Italy is one of the main entry points into Europe and since the start of the year 85,000 migrants have arrived on boats, according to the UN. … Continue reading Standoff as Italy stops male migrants from disembarking rescue ships

Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Thursday called for a halt to illegal migration through the Balkan route. “European authorities have a joint responsibility to stop illegal migration so that we can continue to help people who urgently need our support,” Faeser said before taking part in a conference in Berlin with representatives of Balkan countries. The minister pointed out that more and more people are arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean and the Balkan route. Meanwhile, she pointed out that Germany has taken in more than one million refugees from Ukraine since the war began on February 24. This … Continue reading German Interior Minister calls for a halt to illegal immigration via the Balkan route

At least 34 migrants have died after the boat they were travelling in sank off Syria’s coast. Twenty survivors are being treated in a hospital in the southern Syrian city of Tartus, the country’s health ministry said. Quoting survivors, officials said the boat was carrying between 120 and 150 people from Minyeh, near the Lebanese port city of Tripoli. They said rescue operations were ongoing in challenging conditions. Located on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, Tartus is located about 30 miles (50 km) north of the Lebanese port city of Tripoli. Lebanon hosts an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and almost 14,000 … Continue reading Dozens of migrants killed as boat sinks off Syrian coast

Two buses carrying migrants were sent from Texas to just outside Vice-President Kamala Harris’s residence in Washington DC on Thursday, amid a growing political row over immigration. The state’s Republican governor said the move was intentional and called for tighter immigration policies. It comes a day after Florida sent migrants to a Massachusetts island. Both states appear to be escalating a tactic which has seen Republican states send migrants to Democratic areas. As political tension over the number of people arriving at the US-Mexico border grows, states such as Texas and Arizona have sent thousands of migrants to cities such … Continue reading Texas sends migrants to vice-president’s Washington residence

Five people have been arrested for smuggling migrants into western Europe on private jets, Italian police say. The suspects gave the migrants fake diplomatic papers for the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis. Private jets, officially heading to the Caribbean, took them from Turkey to a stopover at a European airport, where the migrants declared their real identity and claimed asylum. Police believe the gang charged about €10,000 (£8,650) per person. The five suspects have been arrested in Rome and Brussels. Two other suspects are still on the run. An Italian, three Egyptian men and one Tunisian woman were … Continue reading Five arrested for private jet diplomat asylum scam

The authorities in the Netherlands are investigating the death of a three-month-old baby in the country’s main reception centre for asylum seekers. They say the baby died on Wednesday morning in “a sports hall that serves as emergency shelter” in the north-eastern Ter Apel village. “Unfortunately, medical help was to no avail,” the country’s Health and Youth Care Inspectorate said in a statement. The baby’s name, gender or nationality have not been publicly released. The inspectorate said it would “investigate all possible aspects that may have played a role in the death of the baby”. This will include examining whether … Continue reading Tragic: Dutch authorities investigate baby death at asylum centre

Washington DC’s mayor has asked for National Guard troops to be activated to help process undocumented migrants arriving on buses in the district. Muriel Bowser called the arrival of some 4,800 migrants from the southern border a “humanitarian crisis” that had brought her city to a “tipping point”. The bus trips were organised in Texas and Arizona in protest against the Biden administration’s border policies. Migration across the US-Mexico border has surged to record levels. Officials in border states have grown increasingly restive over what they perceive as the federal government’s inability to manage the crisis. Texas Governor Greg Abbott … Continue reading Washington DC overwhelmed by migrants from the border