The treatment of migrant workers has again been brought into the spotlight amid reports in the Telegraph that three migrant workers, two Pakistani and an Indian national, at the World Cup finals in Qatar, have been held in prison since protests in January over unpaid wages, redundancies and evictions saw authorities arrest and deport many of those involved. The workers had protested against the early termination of their six-month contracts which left them without a salary or a place to live.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak refused to recommit to a Conservative manifesto pledge by Boris Johnson to bring down overall migration levels. Sunak insisted that voters were focussed on tackling illegal migration and small boat crossings into the UK. Recently, home secretary Suella Braverman said that the government needs to get overall immigration numbers down. The 2019 Tory manifesto pledged that overall numbers would come down, which Sunak said he does want to bring down legal migration but would not commit to the target. The prime minister said that he did not want the net migration figure to rise but would not stand by the target made by the Conservatives.
New York City is bussing asylum-seekers 60 miles up the Hudson River to the Crossroads Hotel on the outskirts of the town of Newburgh. The migrant residents are from countries as diverse as Venezuela and Mauritania and each wait to hear if they merit asylum. Once settled, many of the men in the hotel began asking for work immediately. Oscar Eduardo Angula Rivas, 29, left behind his wife and baby in Venezuela to walk for three months in search of freedom before seeking asylum. He was robbed while trying to live in a shelter in New York City, so when the city offered him a bus ride 60 miles upstate to Newburgh, he was pleased. About 60,000 people seeking asylum arrived in New York in the last year, with 41,000 housed in city-funded shelters. It is expected they will cost the city $2.9bn to care for them in the coming year - more than the city pays for its fire department.
The end of controversial United States immigration policy Title 42 may make it easier for Latin American migrants to enter the US according to some. The policy, used during the pandemic, allowed US border authorities to turn away asylum seekers on the basis of COVID-19 fears. Others argue the changes to the policy will make it more difficult, prompting US President Joe Biden to introduce new border policies with a raft of measures to tighten the border.
Mexico police rescue most of 50 migrants kidnapped from bus
Reuters
23-05-18 12:11
Mexican authorities have rescued 34 migrants who were part of a group of about 50 people kidnapped from a bus in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon. Organised crime rings in Mexico are increasingly engaging in the trafficking of migrants hoping to reach the United States, encouraged by the recent withdrawal of a border policy empowering US authorities to expel migrants more swiftly.
Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has promised to send "10 million refugees" home if he wins the May 28 run-off by adopting an anti-migrant tone, in a bid to win nationalist votes and defeat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This significant shift comes after Kilicdaroglu accused the government of allowing an exaggerated 10 million "irregular" migrants into the country, warning that the number of migrants in Turkey, which has a population of 85 million, could rise to 30 million. About 3.6 million Syrian refugees are registered in the country, though migrants and refugees living in Turkey have faced an increasingly hostile climate in recent years, which has led to calls for their departure from the country and violence.
Opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who faces incumbent President Recep Erdogan in a second round of voting on 24 June, has pledged to deport all refugees from Turkey. In addition, the left-wing politician has attempted to reject the support of pro-Kurdish groups. Experts have suggested that Kilicdaroglu will need to broaden his support from moderate Islamists and right-wingers in order to oust Erdogan from power after his two-decade presidency.
Shelters in Chicago are struggling to house hundreds of migrants arriving on buses from the US-Mexico border, after it was revealed the city cannot afford to rent hotel rooms for all arriving immigrants and are pressing for more federal funding. The city's new Mayor, Brandon Johnson, reaffirmed a commitment to welcoming asylum seekers in his inauguration speech saying “there’s enough room for everyone." The scramble for housing in Chicago follows the end of COVID-19 border restrictions and a campaign of busing migrants to Democratic strongholds further north, including New York City.
The Mexican army has found 49 migrants, including 11 children, who were kidnapped from a bus earlier this week. Not all those on board had been accounted for, but troops searched the country’s northern states of San Luis Potosi and Nuevo Leon to look for those who were missing. A drug cartel is believed to be behind the abductions. It is not unusual for cartels to charge migrants fees to cross Mexico and then kidnap them for ransom — in May, a government report revealed that smuggling gangs and cartels had kidnapped over 2,000 migrants of all nationalities in 2022.
A young girl of eight years old has died in the custody of the US Border Patrol after complaints of overcrowding at a centre in Harlingen, Texas. No further details have been provided regarding the child's identity. The death has brought attention to the dangerous conditions migrants are facing. Title 42 restrictions expired on 11 May, which would allow for the expulsion of migrants on health grounds, such as the coronavirus. Despite a subsided number of migrants attempting to enter the US, the Biden administration has received criticism for its handling of the border crisis.
A young girl has died in US Customs and Border Protection custody at a Texas hospital, marking the second such migrant child death this spring. The eight-year-old and her family were detained at an agency facility in Harlingen, Texas when she suffered a medical emergency. She was transported to hospital but died on 9 June 2021. No information regarding her name or place of birth has been released. The death follows last week’s demise of a 17-year-old boy from Honduras who was detained at a facility for under 18s in Florida.
Mexican authorities have located 49 people - including 11 children - who were abducted by a drug cartel in the country’s north on Tuesday. The group, which was travelling across the country to the US border as migrants, were taken when their bus stopped at a petrol station about three hours from the northern city of Monterrey. They have subsequently been found in several groups in the central state of San Luis Potosi and the neighbouring state of Nuevo Leon to the north. At least 33 had been located on Tuesday, with more recovered on Thursday.
The US is set to end the Title 42 policy, which allows for the immediate expulsion of those considered to have crossed the southern border illegally (1 May 2022). Critics warn this could worsen the country's border crisis with some suggesting opening more legal pathways for migration, while others have argued the Biden administration should pass new laws similar to Title 42 to allow for the expedited expulsion of illegal migrants, particularly in the absence of significant reforms to the ailing immigration system.
More migrants were released into the U.S. over the past week than deported or sent back home, according to unpublished data obtained by The Washington Post. While the DHS said that it sent more than 11,000 migrants, including families with children, to more than 30 countries during the past week, which was accompanied by daily news releases describing increased deportations, US border authorities were also making efforts to stem crowding inside detention cells and ease pressure on agents and overcrowded holding facilities, by releasing thousands of migrants while their immigration claims are pending in courts. In the week since the Biden administration lifted pandemic restrictions at the southern border, the number of migrants crossing illegally has dropped significantly. However, migrants are now being released into the country, to await a court date, as the average time someone spends in Border Patrol custody is three to four days at busy crossing points.
The BBC is launching a review of its immigration coverage for impartiality, following criticism that there is “liberal bias” and cultural insensitivity on the issue. The review, which considers whether impartiality is being delivered, will consider the broadcaster’s reporting on the UK government’s deporting of migrants to Rwanda, small boat crossings in the English Channel, the impact of migration on UK communities, and the admittance of refugees from Ukraine. The review will lead to the production of coverage that audiences can trust, says outgoing BBC chairman Richard Sharp.
Anneliese Dodds, the Chairman of the UK Labour Party, has suggested that under Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to plug gaps in the workforce, migration could increase in the “short term”. However, Dodds ruled out setting a target for reducing the annual number of arrivals, claiming it was “not sensible”. The party leader has stated that the UK must end its “dependency” on foreign workers by investing in training up workers already in the country. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged to reduce net migration to 500,000 but refused to commit to the 226,000 promised in the Tories’ 2019 manifesto.
Mexico is temporarily keeping migrants from the US border and transferring people from its boundary with Guatemala to relieve the pressure at its border cities, following the US’s decision to drop restrictions on seeking asylum at its Mexican border last week. Efforts to move people away from the country’s horizon with the US reportedly left shelters in northern border cities below capacity, while facilities were full or overstretched in southern Mexico. Although migrants face transportation problems with “lateral movements to other parts of the country” in some cases, transfers are being made “to relieve local shelter saturation”, according to an internal government presentation that was obtained by Reuters. Some migrants reported that new measures reduced their options to seek international protection, however, and the UN Refugee Agency expressed concern last week about the impact on facilities in Mexico City and southern Mexico.
The UK government is attempting to pass an amendment to the Illegal Migration Bill to create new powers to “search for, seize and retain” the mobile phones of small boat migrants crossing the Channel and “other things on which information is stored in electronic form”. Last year, the Home Office was censured by the High Court for seizing all migrants’ mobile phones crossing the Channel between 2018 and 2020. The judges said the policy violated data protection laws and human rights, saying it was “wholly impractical and disproportionate”.
Women make up a growing number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe and require special attention because of common traumatic experiences, it has been claimed. At present, women are a minority of those making the journey, but their numbers are increasing, with many seeking to escape forced marriages, genial mutilation and rape. Health volunteers are having to resort to knitting dolls with visible genitals in order to make it easier for women from societies where such subjects are taboo to convey their health issues. The French authorities are becoming increasingly unwilling to take in refugees.
