A record number of migrants arrived in Britain in a single day on Monday, with 430 refugees, including women and children, on the mainland. Since the beginning of the year, at least 8452 migrants have crossed the English Channel, ie more people than in the whole of last year. This follows from the data of the PA agency. On the same day, the British Parliament began discussing far-reaching reforms to the asylum system to make illegal migration more difficult.
As elsewhere in the world, refugees are dependent on smugglers. Favorable weather plays into their hands. In addition, they have changed their tactics this year. “We used to focus much more on Calais. We are now witnessing a large dispersion (of migrants) throughout the French coast, “said British Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Migrants reach the French coast from neighboring countries. For them, France is becoming a fast transit country, from which it is closest to the English shores. “More than 60 percent come to France from Belgium. This is a growing trend, “added Patelová.
The wave from Morocco to Spain continues
More than two hundred migrants from sub-Saharan Africa managed to overcome the high fences separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Thursday morning. According to the Spanish authorities, it is one of the largest groups that have managed to cross the border into the European Union in recent years, the AFP agency wrote.
More than three hundred people tried to climb a triple metal fence with barbed wire, and 238 of them managed to reach Spanish soil. Three police officers were slightly injured in the attack. Migrants were transferred to a detention facility due to pandemic measures.
In mid-May, more than 10,000 migrants, most often young or underage Moroccans, arrived in Ceuta, the second Spanish enclave in North Africa. The wave of immigration at the time was made possible by restrictions on controls by Moroccan border guards. Rabat ordered a reduction in controls following a rift with Madrid sparked by a Spanish decision to hospitalize Western Sahara rebel leader Ibrahim Ghali, Morocco’s sworn enemy. Ghali left the hospital in early June for Algeria, but tensions between Spain and Morocco persist.
Italy reports a strong onslaught
The Italian authorities also speak of a strong influx of migrants, according to which almost 25,000 people arrived in the country this year, last year it was just over 10,000 in the same period.
Almost 3,000 people have arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa alone since the beginning of July, and seven ships with 140 refugees on board landed on Thursday, the APA agency reported. The center for migrants on the island with a capacity for 250 people is practically constantly overcrowded, currently housing about eight hundred people.
A hunger strike in Brussels for the legalization of residence
Belgian medics took about 50 of the 450 migrants to a hospital in Brussels on Wednesday for almost two months of protest hunger strike on Wednesday for legalizing their stay. The AFP agency informed about it. “Some of them ended up in the intensive care unit, mainly due to kidney problems,” said Michel Genet, director of the Belgian branch of the humanitarian organization Doctors of the World.
From 23 May, they inhabited the church and the premises of the Flemish and Francophone parts of the Free University of Brussels. They again decided to take in food and fluids following a notification from the Belgian Government, which suggested that it take exceptional circumstances into account when assessing their applications for residence. These include, for example, the length of their stay in Belgium, employment, vulnerability and the need for international protection.
Migrants began protesting in May after four months of unsuccessful negotiations with immigration authorities. Some of them claim that they have lived and worked in Belgium for many years and thus participate in the economic operation of the country. Most of them are originally from Algeria or Morocco and are therefore not entitled to asylum. Belgium considers these countries to be safe.
– .
