Rwanda asylum plan

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed support for plans to negotiate with countries such as Vietnam, Turkey, and Iraq to help manage the flow of illegal migrants into the UK. Although Starmer refrained from providing specifics, he acknowledged the possibility of such talks, emphasizing that international cooperation is essential in addressing the issue of illegal migration.

The number of migrants arriving in Britain by crossing the Channel in small boats has topped 25,000 since the start of the year, provisional figures showed on Monday.

The figures come as the new Labour government, like the last Conservative administration, struggles to reduce the cross-Channel arrivals.

The U.K. government on Wednesday announced new measures to curb the arrival of migrants on boats from France and to step up the removal of failed asylum seekers.

It said 100 new "specialist intelligence and investigation officers" would be recruited to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to help dismantle smuggling gangs that run the dangerous Channel crossings.

The U.N. called Tuesday on Britain to reconsider plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, warning it threatened the rule of law and set "a perilous precedent globally".

The U.K. government's controversial Rwanda scheme has been beset by legal challenges since 2022, but was passed by parliament late on Monday after a marathon tussle between the upper and lower chambers.

The move is part of a Plan B if the Supreme Court rules against plans to deport migrants who enter the UK illegally to Rwanda to claim asylum there

Britain vowed Wednesday it would pursue its controversial policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda after a first flight was cancelled following a legal ruling, in an embarrassing blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government.