Ever since British and European negotiators resumed talks to negotiate the UK's imminent transition out of the EU, everything from Belgian fishing trawlers to heated disagreements over tariffs have threatened to derail them.
But it is not only fishing rights and trade deals that hang in the balance. It is also the fate of Britain’s recently arrived asylum-seekers, who are being deported in record numbers ahead of the looming Brexit deadline.
Over the past year, more than 8,000 people took to the choppy waters of the English Channel in rubber dinghies. It is more than three times the number of people who undertook a similar journey last year, and 40 times the number of those who did it the year before that. It is, in part, a sign that many are becoming increasingly fed up with conditions in Europe, where it is getting harder for refugees to be granted asylum or reunite with family members.
Many trudge across Europe and pay smugglers thousands of dollars to reach Britain only to be arrested, detained and forced onto chartered deportation flights. The process leading up these flights has been criticised on many occasions by rights groups for failing to secure detainees’ access to lawyers and unnecessarily using waist and leg restraints. While the Home Office, Britain’s interior ministry, claims that such procedures are only used to punish serious criminals, there are plenty of documented cases showing otherwise.
A demonstrator in Berlin wipes his face during a protest last week against deportations to Syria. AFP
Perhaps most concerning is data obtained from recent Freedom of Information requests, which show that, in recent months, more and more of these flights have been used to deport asylum-seekers back to Europe under an agreement known as the Dublin Regulation. The agreement underpins an EU policy that grants member states the right to send asylum-seekers back to the country in which they were first fingerprinted.
To be clear, while the Dublin Regulation gives member states the right to return asylum-seekers to the European country in which they first arrived, it does not take away the rights of refugees to attempt to reach and claim asylum in another country. Refugees will always have the right under international law to attempt to go somewhere they believe to be safe and ask for asylum. In practice, however, Dublin is a tactic to pressure refugees to stay put in southern Europe. It has also been criticised for overloading southern European states, which are geographically closer to refugees' countries of origin, with a disproportionate number of applications for asylum.
As Brexit approaches, deportation flights from the UK to mainland Europe have tripled in frequency – and the timing is no coincidence. Britain has mere days remaining in which to enjoy the privileges of being an EU member state, and with that the right to deport asylum-seekers back to the continent under the Dublin rules. The clock is ticking, as the UK may no longer be able to take advantage of the Dublin Agreement once its EU membership expires.
The fundamental irony, of course, for those who recall the months leading up to Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, is that Britain’s leaders are keen to leave the EU partly in order to curb the flow of migrants, but are now taking advantage of EU policy to put as many asylum-seekers on planes as possible.
Over the past year, more than 8,000 people took to the choppy waters of the English Channel in rubber dinghies
While Brexit’s supporters have used everything from the economy to agriculture to copyright law to argue the case for leaving the EU, it was largely due to right-wing personalities such as Nigel Farage weaponising Europe’s “refugee crisis” to dig into popular anxiety about immigration that Brexit became mainstream. Four years later, Britain is depending on its final days of EU co-operation to enforce a “hostile environment” policy towards migrants.
It may seem natural that the greater influx of asylum-seekers from Europe to the UK this year would result in a higher rate of deportations. But that logic belies the increased haste with which the process has started to move. Lawyers and medical charities have noted that due process that used to take several months has rapidly accelerated, with refugees who arrived in August being deported by October. In many cases, this has hindered their ability to meet with immigration lawyers, who are now in much higher demand. The UK has increased the number of flights, at great taxpayer expense, to the point where some have had only one asylum-seeker aboard. It is clear that this is a race to take advantage of Dublin.
On the surface, it might also look as if the end of the UK’s Dublin privileges after the Brexit transition might make life easier for hopeful asylum-seekers. But UK authorities are already planning changes to take advantage of the post-EU legal order to apply more restrictive asylum rules. Last week, Whitehall announced that anyone caught crossing the channel will be denied the right to asylum automatically, and immediately deported, either back to Europe or to any third country that might agree to take them. It remains unclear whether the new policies will be in breach of international law, which compels countries to hear asylum claims.
Still, these policies are unlikely to deter migrants and refugees from coming to Britain. If current efforts to enforce migration routes across the Mediterranean are any indication, they are likely only to make crossings more dangerous and deadly.
The UK government has waxed lyrical about the need to crack down on smuggling networks, and various media outlets continue to use dramatic images of boat crossings to depict the English Channel as a migration free-for-all. While it may be legal – at least, until the end of the month – for the UK to deport anyone who has been fingerprinted previously in another EU country, it is worth remembering that the stories of migrants and refugees who hope to seek asylum in the UK are rarely as cut-and-dry as the laws that shape them. Many refugees have family members who are already living in Britain, and risk the dangerous – and expensive – journey across the Channel in the hope of reuniting with them after years apart. Others have tried to start new lives in other countries in southern Europe, only to find life as an asylum-seeker there almost as unliveable as the lives from which they fled back home.
Policymakers trying to turn migrants and refugees into political pawns, or those seeking to cynically exploit the pitfalls of international agreements on asylum-seekers, must remember that many of the people affected have powerful, meaningful reasons for risking everything to get to the UK. Brexit will not stop anyone from coming. But it will shape what happens to them next. And that will determine the kind of society Britain wants to make for itself going forward.
Anna Lekas Miller is a London-based journalist specialising in refugees and migration. She is currently working on her first book, Love in Times of Borders
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
How it works
Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.
As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.
A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.
Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.
The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
Submit their request
What are the regulations?
Fly it within visual line of sight
Never over populated areas
Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
Should have a live feed of the drone flight
Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Cricket World Cup League Two: Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
