British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will on Tuesday agree with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer that schemes such as the UK government's Rwanda plan are needed to tackle illegal migration into Europe.
Mr Sunak will meet Mr Nehammer in Vienna, with the two expected to agree in a joint statement that sending migrants to designated safe third countries plays a part in tackling the Europe-wide issue.
Last week, 15 EU countries, including Austria, signed a letter calling on the European Commission to tighten migration policy and look at third-country schemes.
Mr Sunak said the UK was “leading the charge with partners across the continent to meet the challenges caused by intolerable levels of illegal migration”.
“Our disruption of the cruel trade of criminal gangs, together with our Rwanda scheme, are part of a deterrent to stop illegal migration once and for all," he said.
“It is the British public who should make decisions about who crosses our borders.”
Migrants try to cross the Channel from France - in pictures
The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act was passed into law last month and is aimed at protecting the scheme against legal challenges.
Ministers hope the first flight to the East African nation will be able to take off in early July, with a regular pattern of further flights to follow.
These one-way journeys to Rwanda are aimed at deterring migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats, although critics have contested whether it will work.
The government has also announced an extra £25 million ($32 million) for the National Crime Agency to sustain and increase efforts to disrupt people-smuggling operations.
The extra cash is expected to provide new equipment and specialist teams for the NCA, enhance links between the NCA, Home Office and police, and to do more to disrupt small boat supply chains.
Home Secretary James Cleverly has insisted the government is still determined to “stop the boats”, as migrant Channel crossings near 10,000 for the year so far.
“We as a government are determined to stop the boats, to break the people-smuggling gangs,” Mr Cleverly said during a visit to Essex Police headquarters.
Smugglers have been “adapting their behaviour in response to the pressure we have put on with regards to the supply of small boats, to the supply of engines and illicit finance”, he said.
“Sadly we are seeing more and more migrants forced on to boats, incredibly dangerous, that is why we are determined to break the business model of those people-smuggling gangs.”
Labour’s vow to “take things like Rwanda off the table” if the party gained power after the next general election was “a signal to the people-smuggling gangs to continue doing what they’re doing”, Mr Cleverly said.
“The Rwanda scheme has been delayed because of the delaying tactics of the Labour Party," he said.
“I would have liked to have seen it up and running much earlier, but we are determined to crack down on those people-smuggling gangs.
"We are determined to operationalise Rwanda as part of the measures to protect our borders and make sure facilities like Wethersfield are no longer necessary."
Mr Cleverly said last week that a “concerted effort” to derail the Rwanda plan through the courts will not stop planes taking off.
He also said he wants centres such as the former RAF base Wethersfield – which is in his Braintree constituency and is being used for asylum accommodation – to “no longer to be needed”.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
More on Quran memorisation:
Specs
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UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
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The team
Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
More coverage from the Future Forum
MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
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The%20specs%3A%202024%20Panamera
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Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
