Latest news with #borderprotection
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Report: Putin accused of wielding migrants to flood UK borders
Russia is aggravating Britain's migrant crisis to overwhelm border defences and sow division in the nation, security sources have claimed. Vladimir Putin's government is believed to be providing fake documents, transport and even military escorts to smuggling gangs ferrying migrants across the Channel. The threat overwhelming migration poses to national security is so fierce that this week Nato recognised it by allowing its members to count border protection to spending targets for the first time. A security source told The Sun : 'Hostile states and malign actors are using illegal migration to test borders, cause disruption and destabilise countries like Britain. That's exactly why Nato is now treating border protection as a core part of collective defence — because the lines between traditional military threats and national security are more blurred than ever.' So far this year, over 18,000 people have arrived in small boats. This is far higher than 2018, when just 299 people crossed the Channel. The highest year for arrivals was 2022, which saw nearly 46,000 people arrive. On top of the threat to British national security, Russia's alleged actions are also harming those crossing the Channel, who are often desperate and vulnerable. Earlier this month, a man on crutches was seen hobbling over to a small boat on French soil and making his way over to England, less than 24 hours after failing in his mission. The man was spotted holding his crutch aloft like Excalibur as his fellow migrants helped him aboard. Within minutes, the rubber boat was full to bursting, around 20 migrants sitting on each side and more in the middle. It then set off across the Channel towards England, passing over the horizon within a quarter of an hour. Whether it arrived is unclear. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who scrapped the Conservative plan to send small boat arrivals to Rwanda, continues to declare he will be able to 'smash the gangs' and stop the boats with the aid of French police, who we are sending millions to. Yet the migrants continue to exploit the loophole which means once they are in the sea, even up to the ankles, police will touch neither them nor their dinghies, through fear of harming them, meaning they are free to sail to England. And police have told the Mail there are simply too many migrants, and too much shoreline near England, for them ever to be stopped - particularly as they are confident they will be welcomed here. Latest figures show £3.1 billion was spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels in 2023-24, out of a total asylum support bill of £4.7 billion. More than 30,000 asylum seekers are housed in about 200 hotels across Britain, many of whom arrived illegally in dinghies, and ministers are looking at moving them into derelict tower blocks and student digs.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Putin 'is pushing migrants to Britain' in an attempt to overwhelm borders, insiders claim
Russia is aggravating Britain's migrant crisis to overwhelm border defences and sow division in the nation, security sources have reportedly claimed. Vladimir Putin 's government is believed to be providing fake documents, transport and even military escorts to smuggling gangs ferrying migrants across the Channel. The threat overwhelming migration poses to national security is so fierce that this week NATO recognised it by allowing its members to count border protection to spending targets for the first time. A security source told the Sun: 'Hostile states and malign actors are using illegal migration to test borders, cause disruption and destabilise countries like Britain. 'That's exactly why NATO is now treating border protection as a core part of collective defence — because the lines between traditional military threats and national security are more blurred than ever.' So far this year, over 18,000 people have arrived in small boats. This is far higher than 2018, when just 299 people crossed the Channel. The highest year for arrivals was 2022, which saw nearly 46,000 people arrive. On top of the threat to British national security, Russia's alleged actions are also harming those crossing the Channel, who are often desperate and vulnerable. Earlier this month, a man on crutches was seen hobbling over to a small boat on French soil and making his way over to England, less than 24 hours after failing in his mission. The man was seem holding his crutch aloft like Excalibur as his fellow migrants helped him aboard. Within minutes, the rubber boat was full to bursting, around 20 migrants sitting on each side and more in the middle. It then set off across the Channel towards England, passing over the horizon within a quarter of an hour. Whether it arrived is unclear. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who scrapped the Conservative plan to send small boat arrivals to Rwanda, continues to declare he will be able to 'smash the gangs' and stop the boats with the aid of French police, who we are sending millions to. Yet the migrants continue to exploit the loophole which means once they are in the sea, even up to the ankles, police will touch neither them nor their dinghies, through fear of harming them, meaning they are free to sail to England. And police have told the Mail there are simply too many migrants, and too much shoreline near England, for them ever to be stopped - particularly as they are confident they will be welcomed here. A bearded middle-aged man, who could only hobble towards the waves aided by a friend Latest figures show £3.1 billion was spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels in 2023-24, out of a total asylum support bill of £4.7 billion. More than 30,000 asylum seekers are housed in about 200 hotels across Britain, many of whom arrived illegally in dinghies, and ministers are looking at moving them into derelict tower blocks and student digs. But despite Ms Reeves' pledge to end the use of hotels, the Tories pointed out that the small print of her Spending Review documents revealed that £2.5 billion will still be spent each year on asylum support by the end of the decade.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Britain's migrant crisis being fuelled by Putin's Russia and other hostile states in secret plot to destabilise UK
RUSSIA is pushing migrants to the UK to overwhelm border defences and sow division, security sources warn. Vladimir Putin's tactics include providing fake documents, transport and even military escorts to smuggling gangs. 6 6 More than 18,000 have arrived in dinghies so far this year — and opposition MPs said the crossings should now be declared a 'national security crisis'. Senior security sources warned The Sun that foreign powers are backing or exploiting smuggling gangs in a bid to destabilise Britain. This week, Nato recognised illegal migration as a key threat to national security — by ruling that border protection can count towards every member's defence spending targets for the first time. Just 299 migrants crossed the Channel in 2018. The highest year for arrivals was 2022 at 45,774. Thousands of asylum seekers are being housed in hotels, increasing tensions in towns and cities. Some have since been charged with national security offences, as well as crimes such as rape. A top security source told The Sun: 'Hostile states and malign actors are using illegal migration to test borders, cause disruption and destabilise countries like Britain. 'That's exactly why Nato is now treating border protection as a core part of collective defence — because the lines between traditional military threats and national security are more blurred than ever.' Opposition MPs said our broken borders are being tested by hostile states while ministers sit on their hands. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'This is a national security crisis. A public safety crisis and border security crisis. 'The news that hostile states are weaponising illegal migration shows that the Government has been negligent in failing to tackle the boat crisis. 'The way to stop it is to immediately remove illegal immigrants to a location outside Europe. 'But Labour scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it even started and now record numbers are coming in.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage added: 'I first warned this would happen in my European Parliament speeches over ten years ago. 'The crossings are a national security emergency.' Britain spends billions on border forces, coastal patrols and surveillance in the Channel. These can all now be logged as part of our Nato commitment. Senior officials say the move reflects how lines between military threats and criminal activity are being blurred by hostile regimes. Home Office insiders insist the UK is not blind to the growing risk from foreign interference in the Channel crisis. Countries such as Russia and Iran have long used underhand tactics to mess with the West — from cyber attacks and disinformation to stirring up migration. Security sources say Russia and its puppet-state Belarus have been accused of orchestrating migrant surges on Europe's eastern borders by providing fake documents, transport, and military escorts to the gangs. And only last month, three Iranian men charged with spying offences, including plotting violence on UK soil, were found to have reached Britain by 'irregular means' — including small boats and a lorry — before claiming asylum. In March Polish PM Donald Tusk suspended asylum rights for those arriving from Belarus — warning the crisis is part of a deliberate hybrid warfare strategy backed by hostile states. And Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto has accused the Kremlin-linked Wagner group of helping drive immigration from North Africa to Europe, calling it a 'clear strategy of hybrid warfare'. 6 Yesterday PM Sir Keir Starmer was at the Nato summit in The Hague in the Netherlands, where member states' leaders confirmed plans for all allies to spend five per cent of GDP on defence and security by 2035. The pledge covers 3.5 per cent for hard defence, like troops and weapons, and 1.5 per cent on wider security, which includes infrastructure, energy security and border protection. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: 'National security is the first duty of any government — and that means securing our borders. 'We are improving our ability to monitor and anticipate illegal migration flows at both national and international levels, including investing in new state-of-the-art surveillance technology. 'Our Border Security Command is drawing together security operations around our border. 'This means working in close co-operation with Europol, Frontex and individual EU member states to combat organised immigration crime. 'New counter terrorism-style powers will tackle organised immigration crime groups, and existing capabilities carry out identity and criminal record checks on those applying for a visa, clandestine entries and those who arrive by small boat, so that potential threats are immediately addressed.' The Sun understands the Home Secretary has also ordered officials to review border security capabilities to ensure they are robust enough to deal with state threats, as well as terrorism -related risks. And after Sir Keir Starmer's meeting with Mr Tusk in January, the UK is stepping up co-operation with Warsaw to tackle the weaponisation of migration. THREE ASYLUM SEEKERS CONVICTED OF CRIMES IN UK Flasher 6 AYSLUM seeker Snur Hamakarim exposed himself to two young girls in an underpass. The sisters, aged 12 and 15, witnessed the 40-year-old drop his jeans as they walked home from school in Stevenage, Herts, in January. The Iraqi -born migrant had been in the UK for a matter of months. He was later seen on CCTV leaving the underpass 'with his trousers round his ankles'. Prosecutor Micha O'Neill told the town's magistrates' court the girls 'saw the defendant pulling his jeans down and exposing his penis'. Hamakarim was convicted of indecent exposure, fined £50 and given a community order with 200 hours' unpaid work. Trespasser 6 SYRIAN Mieser Oglo climbed into a security area near the Palace of Westminster so he could get a better view of the New Year fireworks on the Thames. The 18-year-old asylum seeker, below, scaled a 4ft-high gate on Canon Row, but claimed he had not realised what he was doing was illegal because the 'No Climbing' sign was in English and he could not read it. Oglo, who arrived in the UK last year and lives in asylum housing at the former RAF Weathersfield, appeared at City of London magistrates' court on Monday, aided by an Arabic interpreter. He told the court: 'Back home, it is normal to climb over fences.' He was convicted of trespass and fined £100. Arsonist 6 MIGRANT Zaidan Hossan Taha did not like the conditions of the home he was placed in — so set it alight. The 24-year-old, from Kurdish Iraq, was moved into a Leeds bedsit but was unhappy his food was being stolen. In April he was arrested after threatening to start a blaze there but was released. A month later, he set fire to a blanket in the kitchen and threw it on a sofa before leaving the property. It failed to take hold, but caused smoke damage. Taha was arrested and later spat in an officer's face. He admitted arson and assault and told Leeds crown court he came to the UK 'for a better life'. He was jailed for 26 months and told he would probably be deported after prison.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
CBP releases drug seizures total in May
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection from the San Diego Field Office seized over $17 million worth of narcotics last month. In 115 separate incidents, CBP officers captured 6,298 pounds of methamphetamine, 1,267 pounds of cocaine, 256 pounds of fentanyl and 33 pounds of heroin. One of the major seizures occurred on May 29 at the Calexico East Cargo Facility, where a tractor-trailer was found to have a total of 100 packages of cocaine from inside the air tanks weighing 245.28 pounds. Carlsbad police seize drugs, cash and car in major narcotics operation 'Targeting techniques are critical to our success,' said San Diego Director of Field Operations Sidney K. Aki. 'This seizure demonstrates the power of precision targeting and how intelligence driven enforcement is essential in the fight against organized crime.' The San Diego Field Office advises the public to report suspicious activity to ensure safer communities. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
South China Morning Post
06-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Carrying a burner phone and 7 other precautions to take when you enter Trump's America
When entering the United States through an airport or seaport, your electronic devices – laptops, phones, tablets – can be subject to search by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Advertisement A basic search involves an officer manually reviewing the device's contents without using any external tools. An advanced search uses specialised equipment to access, copy and analyse the data on your device. This more invasive search requires reasonable suspicion of a law being broken or a national security threat, and must be approved by a senior Customs or Border Protection official. But border agents do not need a warrant to conduct either one of these searches. An electronic device subject to search is any 'that may contain information in an electronic or digital form, such as computers, tablets, disks, drives, tapes, mobile phones and other communication devices, cameras, music and other media players', according to Customs and Border Protection. We say everyone should have a plan before travel Sophia Cope, senior lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation The issue has made headlines in recent weeks after a lawyer was detained in early April at the Detroit airport by customs officials, who told him they would confiscate his phone unless he gave it to them to look through his contacts.
