PARIS: Paris and London are discussing a trial to deport undocumented migrants from the United Kingdom to France in exchange for allowing others to join family in Britain, France’s interior ministry said Thursday.
The United Kingdom is seeking to crack down on migrants crossing the Channel from France to England on flimsy rubber dinghies in search of a better life.
France and Britain have pledged to step up the fight against people smugglers who enable the sometimes deadly crossings.
Both sides are discussing “a trial,” France’s interior ministry said.
It would be carried out “on a one-for-one basis of a legal entry for family reunification in exchange for (France) readmitting undocumented migrants who managed to cross” the Channel to the United Kingdom.
“Setting up legal routes, as well as re-entries (to France) to discourage migrant smuggling networks, are part of possible solutions,” it added.
Asked for comment, the British Home Office said the United Kingdom, France and other European countries were “exploring fresh and innovative measures to dismantle the business models of the criminal smuggling gangs.”
Last year, more than 36,800 people crossed the Channel, up 25 percent from 2023, according to British figures.
According to French authorities, 78 migrants died in 2024 while trying to reach England aboard small boats, a record since the start of the trend in this area in 2018.
The United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands in December agreed to boost cooperation against irregular migration.
France, UK mull migrant swaps in bid to stem Channel crossings
https://arab.news/cyzws
France, UK mull migrant swaps in bid to stem Channel crossings
- France and Britain have pledged to step up the fight against people smugglers who enable the sometimes deadly crossings
Over 1,400 Indonesians left Cambodian scam groups in five days: embassy
- Scammers working from hubs across Southeast Asia lure Internet users globally into fake romances and cryptocurrency investments
- Some foreign nationals have evacuated suspected scam compounds across Cambodia this month
PHNOM PENH: More than 1,400 Indonesians have left cyberscam networks in Cambodia in the last five days, Jakarta said on Wednesday, after Phnom Penh pledged a fresh crackdown on the illicit trade.
Scammers working from hubs across Southeast Asia, some willingly and others trafficked, lure Internet users globally into fake romances and cryptocurrency investments, netting tens of billions of dollars each year.
Some foreign nationals have evacuated suspected scam compounds across Cambodia this month as the government pledged to “eliminate” problems related to the online fraud industry, which the United Nations says employs at least 100,000 people in Cambodia alone.
Between January 16-20, 1,440 Indonesians left sites operated by online scam syndicates around Cambodia and went to the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh for help, the mission said in a statement.
The “largest wave of arrivals” occurred on Monday when 520 Indonesians came to the embassy, it said.
Recent Cambodian law enforcement measures against scam operators meant more citizens would likely continue showing up at the embassy, it added.
“The main problem for them is that they do not possess passports and they are staying in Cambodia without valid immigration permits,” according to the embassy.
It urged Indonesians leaving scam sites to report to the embassy, which could assist them with securing travel documents and overstay fine waivers in order to return home.
Indonesia said this week that its embassy in Phnom Penh handled more than 5,000 consular service cases for citizens in Cambodia last year — more than 80 percent of which were related to Indonesians who “admitted to being involved with online scam syndicates.”
Cambodia arrested and deported Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi, accused of running Internet scam operations from Cambodia, to China this month.
Chen, a former adviser to Cambodia’s leaders, was indicted by US authorities in October.
Analysts say Chen’s extradition has left some of those running Internet scams from Cambodia fearing legal consequences — after the criminal enterprises ballooned for years — with some operators opting to release people or evacuate their compounds.
