The Royal Navy's 'HMS Blazer' arrives in Dover, Kent, from migrant patrol duties on April 14. PA
The Royal Navy's 'HMS Blazer' arrives in Dover, Kent, from migrant patrol duties on April 14. PA
The Royal Navy's 'HMS Blazer' arrives in Dover, Kent, from migrant patrol duties on April 14. PA
The Royal Navy's 'HMS Blazer' arrives in Dover, Kent, from migrant patrol duties on April 14. PA

Royal Navy to end migrant patrols in English Channel


Soraya Ebrahimi
  • English
  • Arabic

The Royal Navy is firming up plans to end its role in trying to prevent migrants crossing the English Channel, the British Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday .

Four months ago, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the first navy ships would patrol the busy waterway and help to ensure that “no boat makes it to the UK undetected”.

Since then, the number of migrants reaching the UK's southern coast has risen to more than 20,000 and the government has announced the Rwanda deportation plan, in part to act as a deterrent for migrants using the dangerous Channel route.

Policing the English Channel has turned the hard-pressed navy into a “super taxi service” for migrants at a time when its ships are needed for other key military duties, MPs said.

The new prime minister, either Foreign Secretary Liz Truss or former chancellor Rishi Sunak, will have to decide whether to overrule military advisers.

Both Conservative leadership contenders have said the Channel migrant crisis would be a top priority if they secured the keys to Downing Street.

Despite the navy policing the Channel, the number of migrant crossings has already doubled this year.

However, Home Office officials are said to be concerned a sudden end to the navy’s role could send the wrong message to people smugglers.

“As planned, defence support to the Home Office will continue until January 2023, at which point the operational and wider arrangements will be reviewed," an MoD spokesperson told The National.

“We are working across government to ensure the conditions are set for defence to hand the task back to the Home Office following the review, this includes supporting training and capability development."

The MoD said the original idea had been for a January 31 end to the operation but it was also possible the plan could be reviewed.

Migrant crossings in the English Channel surge during heatwave – in pictures

Last week it was announced that the ministry had sunk plans for an asylum camp at a base in North Yorkshire, a centrepiece of Home Secretary Priti Patel’s plans to reduce the £3 million ($3.6m) daily cost of housing migrants in hotels.

A day earlier, Mr Sunak, a local MP in North Yorkshire, had declared his opposition to it.

Nearly 700 migrants cross English Channel beating 2022 record - in pictures

The government gave the ministry £50m in April to take charge of the Channel migrant crisis.

An 80-metre offshore patrol vessel was to support Border Force interceptions, along with six fast training boats, three rigid-hulled inflatables and a Wildcat helicopter.

The vessels were first used in Operation Isotope as Mr Johnson unveiled plans to deport Channel migrants to Rwanda to claim asylum in the central African state and break the people-smugglers’ business.

The navy would continue with the operation “until the deterrent effect is achieved and the cross-Channel route for small boats collapses”, James Heappey, the Armed Forces Minister, told MPs in January.

The navy’s main role has been to co-ordinate Border Force and coastguard vessels at sea to rescue migrants and take them ashore, with sailors quayside to shepherd people to migrant-processing centres.

But senior MPs and Border Force officials say that the operation failed to stem the flow of migrants and distracted navy resources from other duties at a time of heightened tension with Russia.

Afghan migrant documents dangerous journey across Channel - video

Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the House of Commons defence committee, told the Telegraph it was a “folly project” by Downing Street to distract from the issue that attempts to stem the flow of migrants across the Channel had failed.

John Spellar, a former Labour armed forces minister, said: “There was never any clear rationale as to what role they would do.

"They ended up providing a super taxi service that they had to do under centuries-old laws of the sea to save lives. It was an utterly flawed intervention."

UK minister says Britain will push ahead with migrant deportations to Rwanda - video

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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.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

While you're here
Schedule:

Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)

Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)

Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)

Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)

Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four

Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai) 

Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)

Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)

Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 28: Final (Dubai)

Who is Tim-Berners Lee?

Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.

The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry

Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm

Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km

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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

Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc. 
  3. Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway. 
  4. Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
  5. Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six

Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto

Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km

Price: from Dh547,600

On sale: now 

Updated: August 16, 2022, 10:12 AM`