Mediterranean countries on major migrant routes into Europe expect over 150,000 arrivals this year as food shortages caused by the invasion of Ukraine threaten a new migration wave from Africa and the Middle East.

“This year the frontline member states are expected, as we have discussed between us, to receive more than 150,000 migrants,” Cyprus Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said on Saturday after a meeting with fellow ministers of the so-called MED5 group in Venice.

Some 36,400 asylum seekers and migrants have already landed in Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Malta this year, after 123,318 arrivals in 2021, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Overall numbers, however, remain significantly below those of 2015, when over 1 million migrants reached the five countries to flee poverty and conflict across Africa and the Middle East.

A shortage of wheat and other grains could affect 1.4 billion people, United Nations crisis coordinator Amin Awad said on Friday, adding more negotiations were needed to unblock the ports in Ukraine to avoid famine and mass migration around the world.

Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key fertilizer exporter and Ukraine a major supplier of corn and sunflower oil.

“If wheat remains blocked in the Black Sea ports, we must expect a greater (migrant) flow,” Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese told SkyTG24 on Friday. “We are concerned, as are all frontline countries.”

Source: https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/mediterranean-countries-expect-over-150000-migrants-2022

The post Europe: Mediterranean countries expect over 150,000 migrant arrivals this year first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

More than 1,500 asylum seekers in the UK have been left in limbo after being told they are being considered for removal to “safe third countries” as part of a plan that has been widely condemned by immigration advocates.

Earlier this year, British Home Secretary Priti Patel announced plans for the UK to reject asylum seekers who arrive in the country by transiting through other nations where they could have safely claimed asylum.

It is not uncommon for asylum seekers to transit through other countries, often European Union-member countries, before reaching the UK.

However, under the new rule, which was introduced as part of the UK’s post-Brexit New Plan for Immigration, those who traveled through a “safe” third country before reaching Britain would be returned to make their asylum claim there instead.

Despite UK having yet to announce agreements with other countries to safely facilitate the returns, new data published by the British government shows that at least 1,503 people have been told their asylum claims are not being considered as Britain’s Home Office determines whether they can be removed.

‘Reckless and impractical’

Responding to the findings, Amnesty International branded the Home Office’s plans “reckless and impractical”.

“New statistics published today by the Home Office show that immigration rules introduced by the Home Secretary last December have led to more than 1,500 people who have sought asylum in the UK being warned the Home Office is looking to send them to other countries,” the organization said in a statement published on Thursday.

“There are no agreements in place for those countries to accept responsibility for their asylum claims. To date, none of these people have been removed from the UK,” Amnesty said.

“Today’s data shows that so far nobody refused admission to the UK’s asylum system under the new rules has been accepted by a third country,” the organization continued.

Ultimately, Amnesty said, if an asylum seeker is not accepted by another country, the UK will have to eventually consider their claim.

By delaying that process, Amnesty asserted, “these new rules risk doing no more than adding to Home Office delays and backlogs”.

In a statement on Thursday, Steve Valdez-Symonds, refugee and migrant rights director at Amnesty International UK said the Home Office’s new asylum rules are “reckless and impractical – and are not in keeping with the spirit and purpose of international refugee law”.

“With these rules, the Home Secretary has merely introduced more uncertainty and delay which causes immense anxiety to people seeking asylum while adding to the mountain of existing backlogs,” Valdez-Symonds said.

“We don’t need these oppressive new laws and rules – we need the Home Secretary to focus on making the UK asylum system more accessible, reducing not adding to delays and improving the quality of decision-making so women, men and child refugees receive the protection of this country to which they are entitled,” he said.

Home Office defends plans

In a statement sent to Euronews, a Home Office spokesperson said: “People should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, rather than making dangerous journeys to the UK.”

“These dangerous and criminally facilitated journeys are completely unnecessary as France and other EU nations are manifestly safe countries with fully functioning asylum systems,” they said.

“All countries have a moral responsibility to tackle the issue of illegal migration and we are in negotiations with our international partners,” the spokesperson asserted, adding: “Our reforms in the New Plan for Immigration will overhaul our asylum system and speed up the removal of failed asylum seekers.”

Asylum claim processing delays already on the rise

Already, the British government’s data shows that despite fewer asylum applications being made over the last year – a drop of 24% – tens of thousands of people have been waiting for longer than six months for a decision on their applications, representing an increase of 71% over the past year.

In a statement shared with Euronews, Mike Adamson, chief executive at British Red Cross, said: “Today’s statistics show exactly why urgent action is needed to create a fair, effective and humane asylum system.”

“These delays leave people in unsafe accommodation, with little or no financial support and unable to move on with their lives for months and even years – adding to the traumas they’ve already been through and to the costs of the asylum system,” he said.

“Unfortunately, dealing with these delays is largely absent from the Government’s Plan for Immigration. It’s a missed opportunity for much-needed progress,” Adamson said.

The post Hundreds of asylum seekers in UK told they could be removed to European countries first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.