LONDON: Nearly 30,000 migrants crossed the Channel from mainland Europe to Britain in small boats in 2023, an annual drop of more than a third, according to government figures released Monday.
The last arrival of the year was on Dec. 16, when 55 people were detected in one boat, according to the figures from the Home Office, the interior ministry.
But the unauthorized arrival of 29,437 people on the southeast English coast is still the second-largest yearly tally since officials began publishing the numbers in 2018.
The perilous journeys across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes have become a huge political problem for Britain’s Conservative government, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledging last year to “stop the boats” and is seeking to revive a plan to send those who arrive illegally in Britain to Rwanda after it was blocked by the courts.
One of five key promises he made for 2023, the promise of reducing persistently high numbers of migrant arrivals could haunt the Tory leader as he attempts to win a general election due this year.
Sunak said last month that there was no “firm date” for meeting his pledge.
The beleaguered leader will likely point to the 36 percent reduction in small-boat arrivals last year, after a record 45,775 migrants made the dangerous journey across the Channel in 2022.
His government claims that a £480 million ($610 million) agreement with France to increase efforts to stop the migrants is starting to pay off, alongside fast-track return deals struck with countries such as Albania.
But Labour, the main opposition party — which has enjoyed double-digit poll leads for the duration of Sunak’s nearly 15 months in power — says Sunak has failed to keep his promise and his immigration policy is in chaos.
The Conservatives had hoped to deter the crossings by preventing all migrants arriving without prior authorization from applying for asylum and sending some to Rwanda.
But the policy remains stalled after the UK Supreme Court ruled that deporting them to the east African country was illegal under international law.
The cross-Channel journeys on small inflatable vessels, which are often overloaded and unseaworthy, have repeatedly proved deadly.
In November 2021, at least 27 people drowned when their dinghy capsized.
The UK government is also under pressure to reduce record numbers of immigration via pre-authorized arrivals, with the number in the year to June 2023 estimated to be 672,000 more than the number who left.
The figures contradict pledges by the Tories — in power since 2010 — to reduce overall migration to Britain after Brexit.
Ministers have in the last year announced various measures aimed at lowering that annual tally by 300,000, including by preventing almost all international students from bringing family members with them.
That change came into force on Monday, with Interior Minister James Cleverly calling the previous practice of permitting dependents to come with foreign students “unreasonable.”
He added that the new rules “will see migration falling rapidly by the tens of thousands and contribute to our overall strategy to prevent 300,000 people from coming to the UK.”
(With AFP and Reuters)
Nearly 30,000 migrants crossed Channel to UK in 2023
https://arab.news/4b7dr
Nearly 30,000 migrants crossed Channel to UK in 2023
- The last arrival of the year was on Dec. 16, when 55 people were detected in one boat
- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made ‘stopping the boats’ one of his top five priorities
‘Peace and stability are ultimate prerequisites for growth and prosperity,’ Indonesia’s president tells WEF
- While world faces tightening financial conditions, trade tensions, political uncertainty, ‘Indonesia continues to grow,’ says Prabowo Subianto
- He says country does not fear economic integration
BEIRUT: History teaches us that “peace and stability are our most valuable assets” and the “ultimate prerequisites for growth and prosperity” as there will be no prosperity without peace, Indonesia’s president said on Thursday.
Prabowo Subianto, in his special address before the World Economic Forum, said: “We gather here in Davos at a time of great uncertainty; a time when wars continue to break out … a time when trust between nations, between institutions, between peoples is fragile.”
According to Subianto, the International Monetary Fund recently described Indonesia as “a global bright spot with strong economic growth amid a challenging external environment.”
While the world faced tightening financial conditions, trade tensions and political uncertainty, “Indonesia continues to grow,” Subianto said, adding that his country’s economy had grown by more than 5 percent every year over the last decade.
“I am confident that this year our growth will be higher,” he said, noting that inflation remained at about 2 percent, while the government deficit had been kept below 3 percent of gross domestic product.
He said that international institutions did not praise Indonesia because of unfounded optimism, but because of evidence. “They recognized that Indonesia’s economy is resilient,” he said, emphasizing that “peace and stability in Indonesia over the years” did not happen by chance.
He added that his country had always chosen unity over fragmentation, and friendship and collaboration over confrontation. He stressed “friendship over enmity.”
Subianto explained that his country had never defaulted on paying its debts and “succeeding regimes always pay the debts of the preceding regime.”
Regarding the economy, the Indonesian president said his country did not fear economic integration, adding: “We have been a trading nation for hundreds of years, and we now conclude trade agreements, not because it is fashionable but we consider it necessary.
“We believe in the concept of win-win. Last year we signed free trade agreements and comprehensive economic partnership agreements with Europe, the EU, Canada (and) Peru, and I have just visited the UK to sign our new strategic partnership and also an economic growth agreement.” He hopes that by 2027 Indonesia has in place a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the UK.
Its policy is part of the country’s strategy to deepen productivity, reduce barriers and unlock private sector growth for Indonesia, ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the Global South, he said.
Subianto added in a session chaired by Borge Brende, WEF’s president and CEO: “We believe that trade integration, when done fairly, is not a threat to sovereignty. We believe trade is a tool for prosperity.
“Indonesia has a clear vision, as we are determined to become a modern country integrated with the global economy (while) providing (a) good quality of life for its citizens, living free of poverty and hunger.”
He further highlighted the importance of political and economic stability as a prerequisite for investments.
Toward the end of his address, the Indonesian president reiterated that “peace and stability is a long and arduous program.”
He added: “Indonesia chooses peace versus chaos. We want to be a friend to all, and an enemy to none. We want to be a good neighbor and a good, responsible citizen of the world, protecting the environment and protecting nature. We must not destroy nature, and live with it.
“Let us build the world we want to live in together. Let us continue the journey to improve the quality of life for all to live in peace, freedom, friendship, tolerance, coexistence, and (with) cooperation for all races, ethnicities, and religions.
“Let us continue our pursuit of justice for all, and security and freedom for all.”
