A group of migrants are escorted to a processing centre in Dover, Kent, after arriving on small boats last week. The number of arrivals since the start of the year is nearly three times the total recorded for 2020. PA
A group of migrants are escorted to a processing centre in Dover, Kent, after arriving on small boats last week. The number of arrivals since the start of the year is nearly three times the total recorded for 2020. PA
A group of migrants are escorted to a processing centre in Dover, Kent, after arriving on small boats last week. The number of arrivals since the start of the year is nearly three times the total reco
One in four migrants who arrive in Britain on small boats come from Iran, new data shows.
Figures released by the UK Home Office showed that about 70 per cent of the 12,195 men, women and children who arrived over a 16-month period were either Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, Sudanese or Vietnamese.
The numbers obtained by the Refugee Council through a Freedom of Information request showed 98 per cent of people arriving in small boats claim asylum.
The charity said the statistics fly in the face of claims made by Priti Patel, the UK Home Secretary, who has said that seven in 10 people crossing the English Channel in dinghies are economic migrants rather than genuine asylum seekers.
Last month Ms Patel said the government was concentrating its efforts on “creating safe passage for genuine refugees”.
Between January 2020 and May 2021, 91 per cent of migrants registered at UK ports came from 10 countries.
Iran topped the list and was followed by Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Vietnam, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Yemen and Ethiopia.
The Refugee Council, which offers support to refugees and asylum seekers, said the “majority of people crossing the Channel are likely to be recognised as being in need of protection” at the initial decision stage.
On Tuesday at least 500 people were recorded, having arrived on the Kent coast before the UK’s Border Force agency, which is responsible for immigration and customs, or the Royal National Lifeboat Institution were able to intercept them.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel during a visit to Dover in Kent to meet Border Force agents who pick up migrants from small boats. She has said the majority of those arriving are economic migrants, not genuine asylum seekers. PA
Speaking to the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee in October, Ms Patel said 70 per cent of people who had migrated to the UK illegally over the past year were “single men, who are effectively economic migrants” and “not genuine asylum seekers”.
“They are able to pay the smugglers … these are the ones who are elbowing out the women and children, who are at risk and fleeing persecution,” she said.
But Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said people who risk their safety to reach British soil fear for their lives.
“The reality is that people who come to the UK by taking terrifying journeys in small boats across the Channel do so because they are desperately seeking safety having fled persecution, terror and oppression,” he said.
“This government should show compassion by welcoming those who need refugee protection rather than seeking to cruelly push them back across the Channel or punish them with imprisonment. At the same time there needs to be an ambitious expansion of safe routes so people don’t have to take dangerous journeys to reach safety.”
The charity has called on the government to rethink its Nationality and Borders Bill, which is making its way through Parliament.
If passed, the bill would make it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK without permission.
This means that, for the first time, how someone enters the UK – legally or illegally – will have an effect on how their asylum claim progresses and on their status in the UK if that claim is successful.
Since the start of the year the migrant tally has surpassed 24,000 – nearly three times the number recorded last year when 8,420 people arrived on UK shores.
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammed Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Saeed Ahmed, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Muhammed Jumah, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
