Anti-immigrant rallies staged across Poland
"Without closing Poland to illegal immigration, without starting deportation campaigns, without abandoning political correctness... security will gradually deteriorate," Konfederacja co-chairman Krzysztof Bosak told the crowd in the eastern city of Bialystok.A minute's silence was held at some gatherings in memory of a 24-year-old Polish woman murdered in the central city of Torun. In the capital Warsaw, rival rallies took place just metres away. There were no reports of violence. Police have since arrested a Venezuelan man in the case. Right-wing politicians claim Poland is in danger of being flooded by illegal migrants. Immigration has increased over the last decade - but official figures show that migration is lower so far this year than in previous years.Earlier this month, Poland introduced checks on its borders with Germany and Lithuania after Berlin began turning away asylum seekers. Germany introduced its own controls on the Polish and Czech borders in 2023.In March, Poland temporarily suspended the right of migrants arriving in the country via its border with Belarus to apply for asylum.
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The Sun
23 minutes ago
- The Sun
Keir Starmer's end-of-term report card is in and it makes for grim reading – he has three big problems
IT is the end of the school year and Parliament is shutting down for the summer holidays. But if Sir Keir Starmer is hoping to spend August in his swimming trunks larking about by the pool, he should think again. 1 The PM's end-of-term report card is in — and it makes for grim reading. The economy is shrinking, his popularity is plummeting and his pesky backbenchers are busy rebelling. The only thing on the up in Britain is illegal immigration and crime. Across the board, Sir Keir and his chums in Labour's class of 2024 are at risk of scoring straight Fs — and failing the British public. In Opposition, Keir Starmer campaigned like a swotty prefect. Dull, yes, but a safe pair of hands who promised to fix broken Britain and restore integrity in politics. But in No10 he has been more Dunce than headboy. The PM has a big problem with his three Rs: Reeves, recession and rebellions. He must master each of these to turn things around. Let's start with Rachel Reeves. On the campaign trail she promised the most 'pro-business' government in British history, and cosplayed Margaret Thatcher by declaring herself the 'Iron Chancellor'. PM vows to drastically increase the numbers of channel migrants sent back to France But once safely tucked up in the Treasury, she dropped a £40billion tax bomb on us — clobbering businesses with that crippling NICs hike. The results were predictable. Britain's economy has gone from the fastest-growing in the G7 to one that is SHRINKING after the tax rises kicked in. Unemployment numbers are up and struggling businesses are thinking twice before hiring because of the eye- watering costs. You don't have to be a maths whizz to work out the numbers don't add up. If Keir Starmer is not careful he could end up with another big problem — a recession. Labour has always had a bad reputation with money. The problem is simple: They love spending money but are rubbish at making it. Now, Labour MPs are busy clamouring for a new wealth tax. ('What wealth?', I hear you cry.) This would be a grave mistake. Eye-watering costs If you squeeze people and businesses with higher and higher taxes they will stop spending, stop hiring, and stop investing. That is how we have ended up in this doom-loop where people feel poorer and cut back on treats like holidays and dinners out. It hacks away at people's happiness and optimism. If you work hard but life isn't getting better, your local pub or shop is closing down, and your kids have fewer opportunities than you had, then what's the point of the Government? If the Starmer regime plunges Britain into recession within its first 18 months in power then it is hard to see how Labour recovers. Which brings me to the third R — rebellions. Labour MPs won by a landslide a year ago, but they have already got a taste for mutiny. The recent welfare rebellion forced No10 into yet another humiliating U-turn and left a £5billion hole in the Budget. Last week Starmer hit back — suspending four rebel MPs for what one insider called 'persistent knobheadery'. I've seen the past four PMs torn down by bitter party feuding. Voters handed Labour a giant majority for a reason: They want change. If the Government fails to deliver it, voters will flock elsewhere. And Nigel Farage's Reform UK party is lurking on the horizon. But Keir Starmer CAN turn things around — it is not too late to turn those Fs into As. First he must stand by Rachel Reeves as Chancellor. Yes, she has made big mistakes, but she knows the importance of providing certainty and stability for the market. Another Labour Chancellor might bring in a wealth tax and go on an even bigger spending splurge. That would be a terrible mistake. Next, he must stop punishing businesses. No more big tax hikes. No more suffocating red tape. Having a wobble Restrictive licensing laws should be torn up. Incentives to take over empty shops should be brought in. Third, he must take on the rebels. No PM can be a hostage to his backbenchers. He must be free to lead. But, to do this, Keir must be braver and make the big arguments. He must stop trying to sneak in piecemeal reform by the back door. On welfare, he should come back with a package of measures that ends the scandal of teenagers and young adults being signed off work for anxiety, depression and bad nerves. It is killing their life chances with misplaced kindness. It is not too late for the Government to turn things around. As any parent of a spotty teenager will tell Keir, lots of people have a wobble in their first year. But the PM must pull his socks up, hit the books this summer and come back next term with bigger and better ideas. Otherwise, as one of my old teachers once told me, he risks slipping into obscurity. And he will have failed Britain. THERE is a long hot summer ahead of us and that can only mean one thing – more crime. Shoplifting, phone snatching, stabbings. Brits are sick to the back teeth with it all. A shocking poll in yesterday's Sun on Sunday revealed that half of voters think the country is becoming lawless. That is a stat to keep politicians and police chiefs awake at night. Nigel Farage and Reform UK will spend the summer shining a light on our crime-blighted streets and promising to restore law and order. Keir Starmer should be worried. People want their neighbourhoods cleaned up. If Labour can't do it, they will vote for a party that can.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Inside quiet rural Spanish town that's become flashpoint for anger at pro-immigration policy after OAP's savage beating
SPRIGHTLY Domingo Tomas Martinez was taking his usual dawn stroll when he was battered so brutally that his eye wept blood. The beating, allegedly at the hands of a North African youth as two others looked on, sparked race riots that have rocked Spain. 9 9 'I didn't say anything to provoke them,' the 68-year-old retired farm worker from the southeastern town of Torre-Pacheco insisted. 'I had my watch and house keys with me, and that young man didn't even take the watch. He just hit me to hurt me. He hit me for fun.' If local gossip is to be believed, the blows rained down on Domingo were for social media likes. It left local hotheads — egged on by the far right — thirsting for revenge. Once sleepy Torre-Pacheco, which lies amid the so-called 'vegetable garden of Europe', descended into three nights of inter-ethnic mob violence. The race riots — the worst in Spain for decades — have left many questioning its socialist government's pro- immigration stance. Policies have included making it easier for undocumented immigrants to become legal citizens. Torre-Pacheco's population has doubled to 40,000 over the last 30 years as workers have come from abroad to toil in the fields. Now, about a third of residents are foreign-born, many from Morocco. Professor Juan Antonio Soto, from the University of Navarra, told me: 'Torre-Pacheco isn't a fringe case. It's the frontline of Spain's migration model — and its failure to integrate newcomers.' Shock moment cops DRIVE INTO protester while under siege from yobs as chaos erupts over small boat migrant 'sex assault' Bloodied and scarred Britain, which saw eight police officers injured in clashes outside an Essex migrant hotel after an asylum seeker was accused of sexual assault this week has watched on uneasily as events unfolded in Spain. While some locals here in Torre-Pacheco tell me the explosion of violence has been brewing for decades, it was Domingo's beating which lit the blue touch paper. On July 9, the pensioner left his villa near the centre of Torre-Pacheco at around 5.30am for his daily stroll. Exercising before the stultifying daytime temperatures soared, he walked briskly towards the cemetery on his regular two-and-a-half-mile route. Then, he noticed three North African men, one of whom, armed with a stick, allegedly knocked him down and beat him. The pensioner believes the other two were recording what happened on their phones. Images of his bloodied and scarred face were broadcast across Spain, sparking pity and anger. Domingo would later offer a motive for the beating he allegedly received, saying: 'In town, they say the young kids are doing a dare, hitting someone to see who hits harder. 'And I think that's why they did it — to film everything.' Three men have been arrested, including a 19-year-old from Barcelona who was held trying to make his way to France. Then, on July 11, Torre-Pacheco's mayor rashly called for a rally in the Town Hall Square under the slogan, 'free from violence, free from crime'. Hundreds of residents, including those from an immigrant background, attended the demonstration, which was initially peaceful. Later, violence flared and locals and extremists from other parts of Spain began goading North Africans with shouts of, 'Moors, sons of bitches' and, 'Go back to your country'. Social media did its foul work. A fake video purportedly showing Domingo's beating did the rounds, while a Telegram group named Deport Them Now called for a migrant 'hunt'. Feral-looking youths seemed to take them at their word. For three nights, masked mobs swarmed the streets as darkness fell and the 35C temperatures abated. When the rabble reached the Moroccan district of San Antonio in the town, hooded youths looking just as menacing were waiting for them. Among the arsenal of weapons employed by both mobs were baseball bats, clubs and bottles. Riot cops fired rubber bullets to quell the unrest. On July 13, Hassan, the Moroccan owner of Don Kebabs, was forced to flee his takeaway when a 50-strong, balaclava-clad mob yelled at him: 'Shut up shop, moro (an insulting word for North Africans), today you're not going to work.' They then smashed the place up as Hassan and one of his staff fled through a back door. Santiago Abascal — leader of the far right Vox Party — looked to capitalise on the violence. 9 9 9 He released a video saying of migration: 'It has stolen our borders, it has stolen our peace and it has stolen our prosperity.' With his party sitting third in the polls, Abascal blamed the ruling Socialists and the conservative Popular Party for 'all the violence' and demanded 'immediate deportations'. 'Clash of cultures' Vox was the most popular party in Torre-Pacheco in the last town hall elections in 2019, capturing over 38 per cent of the vote. The mayhem left Britons with plush villas at the Mar Menor Resort on the outskirts of Torre-Pacheco wary of leaving the secure complex. One retiree there told me: 'There's a Spar supermarket and a poolside bar, so we luckily don't need to leave.' Enjoying the evening sun in San Antonio this week, motorcycle mechanic Mohammed, 30, told me: 'We don't want problems, we're not aggressive people, but we're not frightened of the racists.' He and his farm labourer friend Mustafa Kawder, 24, insisted they weren't involved in the violence. The immigrants who come here want to bring their culture and Sharia law with them. Javier Rubio, Protestor Mustafa, a £6.20-an-hour melon picker, added: 'There was a lot of racism here before all this happened. I was born in Morocco, but won't leave because of this. Spain is my home now.' In the centre of the town, I met Javier Rubio, 40, who has travelled down from Alicante to speak out against Muslim immigration because he believes 'there is a clash of cultures'. He says he has not been involved in the violence. Nevertheless, the sausage hanging from his waist — 'because Muslims don't like pork' — reveals the mark of the man. Previously working as a waiter in London for nine years, he said: 'The first week I was in England, I found work. I didn't claim benefits. I paid taxes and didn't commit any crime. 'And I didn't ask for running bulls through the streets of England. Go to Spain if you want that. "The immigrants who come here want to bring their culture and Sharia law with them.' At times, security forces were overwhelmed by the violence in Torre-Pacheco in the past week. They only got a grip on the gang warfare by sealing off entrances to the town from outside provocateurs. There have been at least five injuries and 14 arrests. Once a sleepy farming village, irrigation in the late 1970s turned its dustbowl fields into a fertile plain of lush olive and lemon groves. Soon, polytunnels were used to protect lettuce and artichoke crops while fields of ripening melons now ring the town. Thousands of labourers were needed to plant and harvest the crops and Spain looked abroad to fill shortages. Now the sprawling town is home to around 6,500 Moroccan-born workers as well as migrant communities hailing from Mali, Senegal, Romania and Ecuador. Professor Soto said: 'Many migrants arrived legally, but there's also been irregular migration, with thousands working in the informal economy or living in precarious housing.' Brought up in regional capital Murcia, the professor says some of Torre-Pacheco's schools have over 60 per cent of pupils from migrant backgrounds. Meanwhile, some migrants live in ramshackle properties that lack electricity or sanitation and, according to Professor Soto, have 'little meaningful integration' with Spanish society. In September 2021, a suspected suicide terror attack was unleashed in nearby Roldan. Moroccan-born Abdelllah Gmara stabbed himself then accelerated a VW Golf at over 60mph into the terrace of Honey's Bar, a popular venue with British expats. One diner was killed and others were injured. The driver, who reportedly left notes suggesting a jihadist motive, also died. Yet, outwardly at least, most in the town seemed to rub along. Professor Soto added: 'On the surface, things remained calm — but many locals felt ignored, especially as services became overwhelmed.' 'They have no identity' At the same time, many second and third-generation descendants of Moroccan immigrants are struggling for identity in a town where they face racist abuse from some. 'The problem is they have no identity,' said local sociologist Paulino Ros. 'They want to be Spanish and feel Spanish. 'But the people in the street's common insult is, 'Moorish s**t, go back to your country'.' The 57-year-old dad of two, who produces the Islam In Murcia blog, added: 'They were born in Spain and don't know Morocco, so they are foreigners at home. 'They have this conflict of identity and this is a problem. When you are a teenager, your mind is crazy.' Now, uneasy tension shrouds the town. At the Cafeteria Estambul in the heart of San Antonio, boss Salah El Hilali, 56, told me: 'I get worried after 8pm when the attacks were coming. But we trust the police who are defending us.' Above the counter, a picture of the Spanish football team is proudly displayed. Enjoying a coffee, Moroccan-born Ayyad Houssin, 35, said: 'I'm worried for the future. So many people support Vox now.' Sociologist Paulino is equally downbeat. 'Soon the police and the journalists will leave,' he added. 'And we will be in deep s**t.' 9 9 9
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ice chief says he will continue to allow agents to wear masks during arrest raids
The head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) said on Sunday that he will continue allowing the controversial practice of his officers wearing masks over their faces during their arrest raids. As Donald Trump has ramped up his unprecedented effort to deport immigrants around the country, Ice officers have become notorious for wearing masks to approach and detain people, often with force. Legal advocates and attorneys general have argued that it poses accountability issues and contributes to a climate of fear. On Sunday, Todd Lyons, the agency's acting director, was asked on CBS Face the Nation about imposters exploiting the practice by posing as immigration officers. 'That's one of our biggest concerns. And I've said it publicly before, I'm not a proponent of the masks,' Lyons said. 'However, if that's a tool that the men and women of Ice to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it.' Lyons has previously defended the practice of mask-wearing, telling Fox News last week that 'while I'm not a fan of the masks, I think we could do better, but we need to protect our agents and officers', claiming concerns about doxxing (the public revealing of personal information such as home addresses), and declaring that assaults of immigration officers have increased by 830%. While data from January 2024 to June 2024 does show 10 reported assaults on Ice officers compared to 79 during the same period last year, those six months have also seen Ice agents descend in record numbers on streets, businesses, farms and public spaces, rounding up and detaining mostly Latino people as part of a massive Trump administration push to rid the US of as many as 1 million immigrants every year. Videos have flooded social media showing Ice agents wearing masks over their faces, detaining people without immediately identifying themselves, refusing to answer questions or explaining why people are being detained, and pushing them into unmarked cars with tinted windows. 'I do kind of push back on the criticism that they don't identify themselves,' Lyons said. 'Men and women of Ice, and our DoJ partners, and local law enforcement partners who do help us are identified on their vest.' The interview was described as the first major network sit-down at Ice headquarters in Washington. As well as the tens of thousands of arrests, there have been several reported cases of masked criminals posing as Ice officers, such as a man in Raleigh, North Carolina accused in January of kidnapping and raping a woman, threatening to deport her if she didn't comply, or a man in Brooklyn attempting in February to rape a 51-year-old woman. In April 2025, a Florida woman posed as an immigration officer to briefly kidnap her ex-boyfriend's wife from her job. Ice agents have also been reported to overstate assaults, such as in New York City mayor candidate Brad Lander's arrest by immigration officers, where Lander was accused of assaulting officers despite charges being dropped later that day. Critics say using a mask allows Ice agents to obscure accountability and avoid transparency for their actions. 'The use of masks is one among a panoply of legal issues presented by the administration's recent actions against immigrants and visitors (and some citizens) but a significant one that can – and should – be immediately addressed and remedied,' said the New York City Bar Association in a statement on the practice. A coalition of 21 state attorneys general, including New York's Letitia James, wrote to Congress last week urging it pass legislation prohibiting 'federal immigration agents from wearing masks that conceal their identity and require them to show their identification and agency-identifying insignia'. In California, state legislators last month proposed the No Vigilantes Act, which would require federal agents to provide identification, including their last name and badge or ID number. 'We have a Los Angeles Police Department that has to deal with crime in this city every single day – and they're not masked, and they stay here,' said the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, in a Sunday interview with ABC News. 'I don't think you have a right to have a mask and snatch people off the street.'
