Latest news with #Eritreans
The Irish Sun
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Forty per cent of Channel boat migrants who were asked lied about their age & often claim to be kids
FORTY per cent of Channel boat migrants who have claimed to be kids were actually found to be adults when challenged. The shock statistic shows the extent some will go to in a bid to cheat the asylum system. Advertisement Among them were 1,305 from Afghanistan caught lying about their age to get special protection here. Many are thought to have destroyed their identity documents before arriving in Britain. Child refugees cannot be deported and must be given the same level of healthcare, education and sustenance as British children in care. Home Office figures obtained by The Sun on Sunday show that from mid-2022 to June 2024, 11,449 age disputes were raised by UK Border Force staff. Advertisement Read More on UK News Some 8,791 were resolved with 3,570 — 40 per cent — having lied about being under 18. Last year, 56 per cent of disputes involved migrants claiming to be kids being identified as adults. Over the two-year period, 1,305 caught lying were from Afghanistan, while Sudan was second with 571. And 355 Iranians, 325 Eritreans and 318 Vietnamese asylum seekers were caught out pretending to be kids. Advertisement Most read in The Sun Breaking Last week, a report by the borders inspector In one case, an Iranian with grey hairs and stubble was accepted as 17. Thick mud TRAPS channel migrants on UK-bound dinghy hours before Macron crunch talks AI age assessment tech is to be rolled out next year. Former Tory minister Sir Alec Shelbrooke blasted: 'These figures show the scale of soft touch Britain.' Advertisement The Home Office was asked to comment. A male migrant suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on a boat which launched from Equihen-Plage in northern France yesterday morning. 1 Forty per cent of Channel boat migrants who have claimed to be kids were actually found to be adults when challenged Credit: PA
The Irish Sun
19-07-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
How British children are MORE at risk from killer diseases than African nations we send £5bn foreign aid to
BRITISH children are more at risk from killer diseases than some poverty-stricken countries receiving taxpayer cash towards vaccine rollouts, The Sun on Sunday can reveal. NHS figures show that uptake here for the MMR jab, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, has hit rock bottom. Advertisement 4 Uptake in Britain for the MMR jab has hit rock bottom Credit: Getty 4 In Hackney, East London, just 67.7 per cent have had their first shot of the measles vaccine by the age of two Credit: Darren Fletcher 4 The East African country of Eritrea boasts a 93 per cent rate for the first jab Credit: Getty In In the worst area, Hackney, East London, just 67.7 per cent have had their first shot by the age of two. Advertisement But official data for the East African country of Eritrea boasts a 93 per cent rate for the first jab. Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: 'The fact very poor African countries have significantly better childhood vaccination rates than the UK should be a wake-up call to the Government. 'To reverse this deadly UK trend, we need to design public health messages with affected communities to convey that measles is dangerous — not benign. Conspiracy theories 'We need catch-up campaigns and tailored outreach in hard-hit areas and under-vaccinated communities. And we need ongoing efforts to debunk misinformation.' Eritrea's measles and rubella jab rollout has been helped by more than £5billion in UK aid to Gavi, the global vaccine fund backed by tech billionaire Bill Gates, since it was founded in 2000. Advertisement In 2023 and 2024 Gavi spent £1million on a vaccination drive in Eritrea, where human rights abuses are such that Eritreans were the most common nationality crossing the Channel in small boats during the first three months of 2025. Rwanda, which received close to £1.5million from Gavi for its measles jabs rollout in 2024, has 93 per cent of children fully protected. And Kenya, which is to receive £9.4million from by 2026, has an 88 per cent rate for first doses. This month, the Foreign Office announced a further £1.25billion commitment to the Geneva-based organisation, which has given vaccines to more than a billion children in developing countries. Ireland's Chief Medical Officer urges MMR vaccine uptake after measles death Our revelations come as a measles epidemic spreads across the country. Last month a child died in Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital after becoming ill with measles and other health problems. Jonathan Grigg, professor of paediatric respiratory and environmental medicine at Queen Mary University, London, says the NHS needs to boost its vaccinations. Advertisement He said: 'It must be up to our health system to ensure all children are vaccinated against measles and to prevent deaths. Something has gone wrong where community vaccination rates are so low.' But experts said that one of the biggest issues is anti-vaccine conspiracy theories spreading across the internet. Professor Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, said: 'There is a sinister, well-funded network of people spreading disinformation that exacerbates hesitancy and plays on insecurities. 'It is vital that we counter these movements with education about the risks of infectious disease.' Measles coverage in the UK is at a ten-year low and health chiefs are scrambling to catch up as cases rise. In 2024 there were 2,911 confirmed cases in Advertisement 4 Mum Kayla and her partner Craig, with one of their children Credit: supplied It led to the UK Health Security Agency declaring a national incident. The lowest vaccination coverage rates of five-year-olds who have had both MMR doses were found in London, with the borough of Hackney the worst at 60.8 per cent. In Manchester, the rate was 74.6 per cent, Birmingham had 74.8 per cent and Newcastle 85.2 per cent. The long-discredited link between the MMR vaccine and autism, first sparked by disgraced physician Andrew Wakefield in 1998, was once to blame for people turning away from the jabs. Then pandemic disruption, a lack of access to services and difficulty booking appointments, along with language and cultural barriers, became the problem. Advertisement Now it is social media. Helen Bedford, professor of child public health at Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said parents want questions answered about the vaccine but don't know who to ask. She said: 'In the absence of an obvious source they look on social media. Although there are some good sources of information, there is a great deal of misinformation, some of which has been put there with the intention of misinforming.' I am not a negligent parent and blaming mums like me for the rise in measles outbreaks is simply stupid scaremongering. Anti-vaxxer Biba Tayna Thousands of TikTok clips and Facebook groups share bogus claims about the MMR vaccine, branding it 'unsafe' and 'ineffective' and saying doctors try to vaccinate children to make money. One viral Instagram video, which racked up more than 70,000 likes, claimed kids should be given vitamin A instead — despite high doses potentially being fatal. Mum-of-six Kayla Goodearl was horrified when two of her children, Esmae and Ronnie, broke out in 'angry red spots'. The 35-year-old from Strood, Kent, said: 'Ronnie was only nine months when he got it so he was too young for the jab. Advertisement 'Esmae, who is 11 months older, was on the waiting list. My older children had been vaccinated and were OK. But Ronnie and Esmae were very poorly. Some nights their temperatures skyrocketed. I was worried they'd have seizures. 'Measles outbreaks are on the rise — and it's down to unvaccinated children and their selfish parents. Unvaccinated kids are a danger to other kids.' But anti-vaxxer Biba Tayna, 44, from Clitheroe, Lancs, has refused the MMR jab for her two youngest children because she says her eldest son, now 20, had a bad reaction. She said: 'I won't let my daughters have the jab. They've had rashes and coughs combined with high temperatures. It likely was measles but I didn't take them to a doctor for diagnosis. 'They have their own natural immunity. I am not a negligent parent and blaming mums like me for the rise in measles outbreaks is simply stupid scaremongering. Advertisement 'My unvaccinated daughters are proof I am correct.' But Health Minister Ashley Dalton said the 'falling vaccination rate' is putting 'extra strain on our NHS' and added: 'It's vital that parents get their children jabbed. 'The NHS app makes it easier for people to understand which vaccines they need and book an appointment for themselves or their children.'
Arab Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
UNHCR and Agility Global partner to support refugee education in Egypt
CAIRO. July 16: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Kuwait, signed an agreement with Agility Global to support refugee education in Egypt. With the agreement, Agility Global's contribution will support UNHCR's initiative to enable more than 2,000 refugee students in Egypt to access education during the academic year 2025-2026 by enabling them to cover the costs of enrollment fees and other educational expenses. This support will ultimately enhance the refugees' personal development, community integration, social cohesion, and future opportunities. 'This partnership with Agility Global represents more than just financial support. It is an act of solidarity at a time when global displacement has reached a staggering 122.1 million forcibly displaced people,' said Nisreen Rubaian, UNHCR's Representative in Kuwait. 'The private sector has a vital role to play in transforming lives. Our strategic partnership with Agility Global's is a solid example of how meaningful partnerships can unlock opportunities for the most vulnerable people, especially through education. Together, we are turning the 'whole-of-society' approach into a powerful reality.' On his part, Agility Global Chairman, Tarek Sultan said: 'Agility Global's contribution aims to address the challenges and support the displaced families impacted by conflict and persecution by facilitating the education of their children. We hope that we can help refugee students build a better future and empower them by gaining the knowledge and the skills needed to thrive and become positive contributors in the society that's hosting them. This will also allow them to contribute to rebuilding their home countries when they return in safety and dignity.' Egypt is a transit and destination country for refugees and asylum-seekers. Since the start of the Sudan conflict in April 2023, a large influx of Sudanese refugees has arrived in Egypt seeking safety (more than 1,200,000 according to the Government of Egypt). As of 4 February 2025, some 905,000 individuals (70% Sudanese; 16% Syrians; 5% South Sudanese, 4% Eritreans) are registered with UNHCR in Egypt – more than triple the number registered at the start of the Sudan crisis. Of them, 572,000 are new arrivals from Sudan (three quarters are women and children). Agility has been a long-standing partner of UNHCR, supporting programs in Lebanon, Jordan, Malaysia, Turkey, Ukraine and Uganda over the past 16 years.
Local Sweden
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Who has been granted Swedish citizenship so far in 2025?
After a freeze on new citizenships earlier this year, Sweden's Migration Agency is again processing cases. So what do the statistics say about which nationalities have received Swedish citizenship in the first half of 2025? Advertisement The top nationalities to be awarded Swedish citizenship between January and June 2025 were Syrians, Afghans, Indians, Eritreans and Polish people, new statistics from the Migration Agency show. In total, 20,974 citizenship applications were approved in the first half of 2025, down from 33,633 in the same period last year. A major reason behind the slowdown is a citizenship freeze earlier this spring, when the Migration Agency was unable to approve any citizenships by naturalisation for almost two months while new security checks ordered by the government were being rolled out. As The Local has already reported, the processing of citizenship cases appears to be picking up pace again, but hasn't yet returned to normal levels. The Migration Agency has also warned that it may not be able to process as many cases as previously estimated due to the security checks. Here's a table of which nationalities have been granted Swedish citizenship so far this year:
Telegraph
13-07-2025
- Telegraph
July set to be busiest ever for Channel migrant arrivals amid ‘summer sale'
July is on track to be the busiest on record for migrant arrivals as people smugglers offer them 'summer deals' to cross the Channel, The Telegraph has found. So far this month, 2,378 asylum seekers have arrived in the UK on small boats. Overall, 22,360 migrants, mostly from the Middle East, Vietnam and East Africa, have successfully made the perilous journey across the Channel so far this year. That is a 57 per cent increase on the same period last year, when 14,164 people arrived in the UK on inflatable dinghies. Analysis of Border Force figures by The Telegraph indicates that this will be the busiest July on record, with 2,378 arrivals in the first 12 days compared to 1,711 in 2023 – the previous busiest 12 days. Extrapolating that daily rate for the rest of the month gives a total monthly figure of 6,143, which would be the highest on record. 'Increasingly professionalised' gangs targeting certain nationalities with discounts of up to 50 per cent and changing their tactics to avoid French patrols are driving the increase. Eritreans and Albanians are being targeted with personalised advertisements on social media, with smugglers offering passage for as little as £2,000. Smugglers have been increasingly launching 'taxi boats' – pre-inflated dinghies – from waterways and canals that lead into the sea, where they can be quickly loaded with people before police have a chance to intervene. The boats crawl along the coastline, picking up passengers who wait in the sea, out of reach of police. This week alone, The Telegraph witnessed two such examples in Gravelines, a seaside commune connected to the River Aa that has become a trafficking hub where as many as 300 migrants may be smuggled in a day, according to its deputy mayor. Dr Peter Walsh, a senior researcher at The Migration Observatory, ascribed the increase this year to discount deals being offered to migrants. In some cases, it was because they were willing to pilot the dinghies themselves. Dr Walsh said: 'The numbers go up and down, and special rates can be offered for individuals who say, 'Well, I have experience directing boats'. Special offers can be given to certain nationalities. 'There was this big increase in Eritreans crossing in small boats, and anecdotal evidence suggested they had offered a lower rate that made it more affordable. About all we can say is the typical cost in the thousands of euros rather than hundreds and the prices are dynamic.' Dr Walsh also pointed to the newer tactics employed by smugglers, such as inflating dinghies on land while concealed in trees or sand dunes and then sending them down inlets and rivers into the sea. 'They are highly adaptable, you know in a certain sense law enforcement is always a step behind and remember, law enforcement has to follow the rules of the law and that is a substantial disadvantage that they are at,' he added. In the early hours of Sunday, French police stopped a group of 40 or so migrants from setting off on a crammed dinghy bound for the UK, by wading into the water and puncturing its hull with box cutters. Police were later seen towing the deflated black rubber dinghy away over Sangatte beach, around five miles west of Calais. The passengers were mostly young men of Vietnamese, East African and Middle Eastern origin. Three or four women were believed to have been on board along with an infant boy no older than 18 months. They were not detained by the police, and were seen wrapped in gold foil blankets and being given hot drinks by aid charities at 5am GMT.
