UK, Germany and France agree to cooperate on human smugglers

UK, Germany and France agree to cooperate on human smugglers
Five European countries including the UK, France and Germany agreed on Tuesday to jointly step up the fight against people-trafficking, as London and Berlin signed a bilateral commitment to tackle the gangs. (AFP/File)
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Updated 10 December 2024
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UK, Germany and France agree to cooperate on human smugglers

UK, Germany and France agree to cooperate on human smugglers
  • So far this year nearly 34,000 undocumented migrants have reached British shores
  • The toppling of president Bashar Assad threatens a period of instability in Syria that smuggling gangs could look to exploit

LONDON: Five European countries including the UK, France and Germany agreed on Tuesday to jointly step up the fight against people-trafficking, as London and Berlin signed a bilateral commitment to tackle the gangs.
France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, the Netherlands’ migration minister Marjolein Faber, and Belgium’s migration minister Nicole de Moor and Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, all joined UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Britain’s border security commander Martin Hewitt for Tuesday’s meeting in London.
Ex-police chief Hewitt was appointed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in September to help deliver on his pre-election pledge to “smash” the people smuggling gangs.
A growing issue among European nations, rising irregular migration was also one of the main themes that dominated the UK’s July election which swept Starmer’s Labour Party to power.
So far this year nearly 34,000 undocumented migrants have reached British shores across the English Channel, arriving on dangerous, flimsy vessels. At least 70 people have died, making 2024 the deadliest year on record.
Berlin’s interior ministry told AFP that under the bilateral agreement with the UK, signed on Monday, it will look at “clarifying” the law surrounding activities carried out in Germany in preparation for smuggling people across the Channel.
“This will give German prosecutors more tools to tackle the supply and storage of dangerous small boats equipment and allow the UK and Germany to better counter the continually evolving tactics of people smuggling gangs,” said the UK interior ministry.
Net legal migration to the UK is also running at historically high levels, estimated at 728,000 for the year to June 2024, while the toppling of president Bashar Assad threatens a period of instability in Syria that smuggling gangs could look to exploit.
Germany’s ambassador to London, Miguel Berger, said many of the people-smuggling networks bringing people from Belarus through Poland to Germany were also sending migrants across the Channel.
He said that as a result of Brexit, the UK had withdrawn from EU accords on third-country immigration and the London-Berlin agreement would “see how we can again strengthen our cooperation.”
Germany’s Faeser said the two countries were focused on ending “the inhumane activities of criminal migrant smuggling organizations.”
“By cramming people into inflatable boats under threats of violence and sending them across the Channel, these organizations put human lives at risk.”
Many of the crossings were “planned in Germany” and the deal would help to counter “this unscrupulous business with even more resolve,” she added.
The European ministers’ talks in London were part of the so-called Calais Group.
The ministers agreed to coordinate efforts to deter would-be migrants from paying smugglers, strengthen law enforcement cooperation and disrupt gangs from using illicit finance schemes, according to a list of priorities published by the UK government.
They also pledged to tackle gangs’ use of social media to advertise their services and to explore how information can be shared to “enhance operational and technical cooperation.”
Representatives of the European Commission and the Frontex and Europol agencies also participated in the talks.
Britain’s Starmer called in November for greater international cooperation against smuggling networks, which he described as a “global security threat similar to terrorism.”


China’s Lunar New Year travel rush: World’s biggest annual migration

China’s Lunar New Year travel rush: World’s biggest annual migration
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China’s Lunar New Year travel rush: World’s biggest annual migration

China’s Lunar New Year travel rush: World’s biggest annual migration
  • This year’s Lunar New Year travel rush kicked off on Tuesday and will last for 40 days, concluding on Feb.22

BEIJING: Hundreds of millions of Chinese criss-cross the country during the Lunar New Year holidays each year to reunite with families back in their hometowns or for sight-seeing during an extended festive period, making it the world’s largest annual human migration. The Lunar New Year travel rush, known as Chunyun in Chinese, is often seen as a barometer for China’s economic health and a pressure test for its vast transportation system.

This year’s Lunar New Year travel rush kicked off on Tuesday and will last for 40 days, concluding on Feb.22.

The official Spring Festival holidays, as the new year celebrations are known in China, will run from Jan.28 to Feb.4.

Officials are expecting a record 9 billion domestic trips during the 40-day period, an increase from the around 8.4 billion trips logged last year. Road trips, expected to reach 7.2 billion journeys this year, are projected to account for about 80 percent of all trips, followed by train and air travel.

Rail travel is set to hit a record 510 million trips, a 5.5 percent year-on-year increase, while air travel is expected to exceed 90 million trips.

Top air travel destinations include cities such as Chongqing, Chengdu, Beijing, Harbin and Xian, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Internationally, flights to Tokyo, Osaka, Bangkok and Singapore are also seeing strong demand, according to the civil aviation regulator.

On the first day of Chunyun, total domestic travel is expected to reach 172.39 million trips, including 159.52 million by road, 10.3 million by rail, 2.04 million by air and 530,000 by waterways, the Transport Ministry said on Tuesday.

This year’s travel rush comes as China extended the official Spring Festival break by one day to eight days. The country also expanded its visa-free entry policy to 38 countries, including nearby Japan and South Korea, and doubled the stay period to 30 days. For eligible foreign transit travelers, the permitted stay was extended to 10 days. It was up to six days previously.


Germany's far-right AfD sends out mock plane tickets for migrants

Germany's far-right AfD sends out mock plane tickets for migrants
Updated 14 January 2025
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Germany's far-right AfD sends out mock plane tickets for migrants

Germany's far-right AfD sends out mock plane tickets for migrants
  • The flyers are labelled "Deportation Ticket" and feature the passenger’s name as "Illegal Immigrant" and the destination as "Safe Country of Origin"
  • Several migrants have posted on social media about receiving the tickets over the past few days

BERLIN: German police said Tuesday they are investigating after the far-right AfD distributed election campaign flyers in the style of one-way plane tickets to send migrants home.
The flyers are labelled "Deportation Ticket" and feature the passenger’s name as "Illegal Immigrant" and the destination as "Safe Country of Origin".
AfD campaign demands -- such as cutting benefits for non-Germans and an end to "Islamisation" -- are also listed on the flyers distributed in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe.
Several migrants have posted on social media about receiving the tickets over the past few days, although the AfD has denied specifically sending them to foreigners.
The campaign has sparked a backlash in Germany, with critics comparing the stunt to the one-way tickets to Jerusalem that were distributed by the Nazis in the 1930s.
A Karlsruhe police spokesman told AFP an investigation had been launched into the possible charge of incitement to hatred after a tip-off from a member of the public.

The AfD in Karlsruhe has said in a statement that the flyers were being distributed in the city "in as large a number as possible and without any special requirements or restrictions".
"It is intended to bring our demands in this area, which are fully in line with the law, to the attention of the voters," it said.
The AfD has been buoyed ahead of Germany's election on February 23 after winning the endorsement of US tech billionaire Elon Musk.
One survey at the weekend had the party polling at 22 percent, just eight points behind the CDU/CSU conservatives who are widely expected to lead the next government.
Emboldened by the support of Musk, the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House and events in neighbouring Austria -- where the far right is on the brink of power -- the AfD has been sharpening its rhetoric as the election campaign heats up.
At a party congress last weekend, the AfD's top candidate Alice Weidel explicitly called for the "remigration" of foreigners.
Marcel Bauer, a parliamentary candidate for the far-left Die Linke, accused the AfD of using "fascist methods to incite hatred".
"This threat against our fellow citizens must have consequences," he said.


UK anti-corruption minister resigns over ties to ousted Bangladesh PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, second right, and Tulip Siddiq, left.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, second right, and Tulip Siddiq, left.
Updated 14 January 2025
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UK anti-corruption minister resigns over ties to ousted Bangladesh PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, second right, and Tulip Siddiq, left.
  • Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week he had full confidence in her
  • Siddiq was named as part of Bangladesh’s investigation into whether her family were involved in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure projects

LONDON: The British minister responsible for financial services and fighting corruption resigned on Tuesday after weeks of questions over her financial ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, ousted last year as prime minister of Bangladesh.
Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week he had full confidence in her.
The resignation of a second government minister in two months is a blow to Starmer, whose approval ratings have plunged since his Labour Party won a general election in July.
Siddiq was handed the portfolio for financial services policy after the election, a role that included responsibility for measures against money-laundering.
In a statement, Siddiq said although an investigation into her financial affairs found she had not breached the ministerial code of conduct, her position was “likely to be a distraction from the work of the government.”
“I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position,” she said.
Starmer swiftly appointed Emma Reynolds, who was a pensions minister, to Siddiq’s role.
Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh since 2009, is being investigated there on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. Hasina and her party deny wrongdoing.
Siddiq was named in December as part of Bangladesh’s investigation into whether her family were involved in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure projects.
The anti-corruption commission alleged financial irregularities worth billions of dollars in the awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear power contract, saying Hasina and Siddiq may have benefited.
After facing further scrutiny over the use of properties in Britain linked to Hasina and her supporters, Siddiq referred herself to the government’s independent ethics adviser.
Siddiq lived in a north London property given to her family in 2009 by Moin Ghani, a Bangladeshi lawyer who has represented Hasina’s government, documents filed with Companies House and the Land Registry show.
She also acquired a separate property in London in 2004, without paying for it, from a developer linked to the Awami League, Hasina’s political party, the Financial Times reported this month.
Hasina fled Bangladesh after being toppled following weeks of protests.
Siddiq’s departure follows the resignation of British transport minister Louise Haigh late last year. Haigh acknowledged a minor criminal offense before she entered government, relating to a mobile phone that she had wrongly reported stolen.


Pokrovsk mine halts work as Russia advances in Ukraine

Pokrovsk mine halts work as Russia advances in Ukraine
Updated 14 January 2025
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Pokrovsk mine halts work as Russia advances in Ukraine

Pokrovsk mine halts work as Russia advances in Ukraine
  • The mine and the city of Pokrovsk are at risk of being captured by Russian forces
  • The site is Ukraine’s last producer of coking coal — a key pillar for the war-torn economy used in the production of steel

kYIV: A major coal mine around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk halted operations and evacuated staff, the operator said on Tuesday, with advancing Russian troops just a few kilometers from its facilities.
The mine and the city of Pokrovsk are at risk of being captured by Russian forces, who are pressing hard to try to seize the strategically important city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
“Metinvest announces the suspension of operations at Pokrovske Coal due to the evolving frontline conditions, power supply shortages and the deteriorating security situation,” the mine’s owner, steelmaker Metinvest, said in a statement.
“Faced with a deteriorating security situation, we cannot risk the lives of thousands of employees and their families,” CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov said in a statement.
The site is Ukraine’s last producer of coking coal — a key pillar for the war-torn economy used in the production of steel.
It employed around 10,000 people before the war and produced 5.6 million tons of coal in 2023, according to the mine’s CEO Andriy Akulych.
The closure is a blow to Ukraine, whose economy has been ravaged by the Russian invasion.
The eastern Donbas region, that Russia claims as its own and where the toughest fighting has taken place, is Ukraine’s historic industrial heartland, a bedrock of heavy industry dating back to the Soviet era.
The Pokrvosk mine was also a major source of exports and contributed “significant” revenues to the state budget, the company said, adding that it was “implementing an emergency action plan to ensure the supply of essential raw materials” to its steel plants elsewhere in Ukraine.
That included increasing deliveries from the group’s US-based coal company and using up reserves — though experts said Ukrainian steel would likely become less competitive without access to the mine’s coal.
“With the loss of Pokrovsk, the steel industry would need to import coking coal, which will most likely increase of the price of Ukrainian steel products leading to a decrease of its exports,” Volodymyr Landa, senior analyst of Kyiv-based Center for Economic Strategy, told AFP.
Russian forces are around six kilometers (four miles) from the center of Pokrovsk, according to the DeepState website, which is close to the Ukrainian army.
The city is an important logistics hub and sits on a major road that runs west toward the city of Dnipro.


Controversial influencer Andrew Tate released from house arrest

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate released from house arrest
Updated 14 January 2025
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Controversial influencer Andrew Tate released from house arrest

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate released from house arrest
  • The US-born Briton has been under house arrest since late August 2024
  • Andrew Tate has dismissed the case as a “set up“

BUCHAREST: A Romanian court on Tuesday lifted the house arrest order imposed on controversial influencer Andrew Tate, replacing it with judicial control, his spokesperson said.
The US-born Briton has been under house arrest since late August 2024, after authorities raided his home over accusations including forming an organized criminal group, trafficking of minors, sexual relations with a minor and money laundering.
At the time, his brother Tristan was placed under judicial control, which requires him to appear before authorities regularly.
Andrew Tate has dismissed the case as a “set up.”
The Bucharest Tribunal on Tuesday said it “replaces the measure of house arrest ordered against the defendant Andrew Tate with judicial control for 60 days,” according to a statement by the brothers’ spokesperson.
The judicial control measure grants Tate the freedom to travel throughout Romania, but he is not allowed to leave the country.
The court “rejects as unfounded the proposal to extend the measure of house arrest imposed on the defendant Andrew Tate” requested by prosecutors in early January, the statement added.
The ruling comes after a Romanian court last month granted an appeal by Tate in an older case, refusing to put him on trial over human trafficking charges for now, and referring the case back to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege that 38-year-old Tate, his brother, 36, and two women set up a criminal organization in early 2021 in Romania and in Britain, and sexually exploited several victims. The brothers say they are innocent.
The Tates also face rape and assault allegations in separate cases in Britain, where they have also been accused of tax evasion.
Andrew Tate moved to Romania years ago after first starting a webcam business in the UK.
In 2016, Tate appeared on the “Big Brother” reality television show in Britain but was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.
He then turned to social media platforms to promote his divisive views.
Giving tips on how to be successful, along with misogynistic and sometimes violent maxims, Tate’s videos have made him one of the world’s best-known influencers.