International
Police fire on demonstrators trying to storm Kenya parliament, several dead
International
Canadian police prepare for influx of asylum-seekers escaping Trump
This development comes as Canada grapples with record refugee claim numbers and an aim to reduce immigration.
Trump, the former and now future U.S. president, won this week’s election with a platform that includes enacting the largest deportation effort in American history, raising concerns among Canadian authorities about a new wave of border crossings.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have been preparing for months, said RCMP Sergeant Charles Poirier on Thursday.
“We knew a few months ago that we had to start prepping a contingency plan because if he comes into power, which now he will in a few months, it could drive illegal migration and irregular migration into (the province of) Quebec and into Canada,” Poirier told Reuters.
The worst-case scenario, Poirier explained, would be a surge of people crossing into Canada.
“Let’s say we had 100 people per day entering across the border, then it’s going to be hard because our officers will basically have to cover huge distances in order to arrest everyone,” he said.
During Trump’s first term in 2017, thousands of asylum-seekers crossed the Canadian border outside formal checkpoints to file refugee claims, most often at Roxham Road near the Quebec-New York border.
However, Roxham Road is no longer an option for would-be asylum-seekers, following a bilateral agreement between Canada and the U.S. This pact, which now applies to the entire 4,000-mile border, mandates that asylum-seekers trying to cross outside formal checkpoints be turned back unless they qualify for a narrow exemption.
Now, those who attempt to cross into Canada undetected must evade authorities and hide for two weeks before they can safely seek asylum – a high-risk approach, say immigrant advocates.
“When you don’t create legitimate pathways, or when you only create pathways where people have to do the impossible to receive safety, you know, unfortunately, people are going to try to do the impossible,” said Abdulla Daoud, director of The Refugee Centre in Montreal, which provides support services for migrants.
As these pressures mount, Canadian police are on “high alert,” prepared to mobilize additional resources if the need arises, Poirier added. This could mean deploying hundreds of extra officers, increasing patrols with additional cruisers, chartering buses, and even setting up temporary facilities near the border.
“All eyes are on the border right now. … We were on high alert, I can tell you, a few days before the election, and we’ll probably remain on alert for the next coming weeks,” Poirier said, underlining the tense anticipation among Canadian Police amid Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown threat.
International
US election: Kamala Harris concedes defeat, calls Trump
According to Al Jazeera, a senior campaign aide to Harris revealed on Wednesday that she congratulated Trump on his victory and emphasised the importance of a peaceful transition, underscoring the role of a president in uniting the country.
“They discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for everyone in the country,” the aide reported.
Harris is expected to deliver her first public remarks since her projected loss later on Wednesday in Washington, DC.
Initially, she was scheduled to address supporters gathered at Howard University, her alma mater, on election night. However, with results still being finalised, her campaign director informed the emotional crowd that she would delay her speech until further outcomes were confirmed.
Trump achieved a decisive victory, comfortably surpassing the 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure the presidency.
Between now and 20 January 2025, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will collaborate with their transition team to coordinate the handover from President Biden’s administration.
International
We must stop smuggling gangs before they act – Starmer, UK Prime Minister
Sir Keir Starmer, UK Prime Minister, has vowed to use counter-terrorism tactics to stop people-smuggling gangs “before they act”, as he announced an extra £75m to police the UK’s borders.
In a speech, the prime minister said the UK’s new Border Security Command (BSC) would “treat people smugglers like terrorists”, with enhanced powers to trace suspected human traffickers and shut down their bank accounts.
The cash boost, which will be used to hire hundreds of new investigators and intelligence officers, takes the funding for the BSC to a total of £150m.
But former immigration chief Kevin Saunders said the changes would not deter illegal migrants from coming to the UK and stop small boat crossings.
In a speech to the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow, which brings together senior police and ministers from nearly 200 member countries, the prime minister said it was his “personal mission to smash the people-smuggling gangs”.
“We are going to treat people smugglers like terrorists – we are taking our approach to counter terrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs,” he said.
“We have got to combine resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream, working together to shut down the smuggling routes.”
The government has said it will pass new laws to give those tackling smuggling gangs enhanced powers to trace suspects’ movements and freeze their bank accounts.
Meanwhile, the BSC will get additional funding for:
An extra 300 staff to strengthen global partnerships and deliver new legislation
An additional 100 specialist investigators and intelligence officers for the National Crime Agency (NCA), to tackle criminals involved in people smuggling
New NCA technology around advanced data exploitation, to boost collaboration with European partners investigating trafficking networks
Creating a new specialist intelligence unit examining information from key police forces
Boosting the Crown Prosecution Service’s ability to deliver charging decisions more quickly on international organised crime cases
However, speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Saunders, who was chief immigration officer for ports, said “unfortunately what the prime minister is trying to do is not feasible”.
The UK would only be able to prosecute and jail people smugglers “in the UK and the majority of people smugglers are actually based in the Middle East and Turkey”, Mr Saunders said.
Under the UK’s asylum system “you can’t deport failed asylum seekers” who destroy documents, Mr Saunders said.
Without official documents, the UK is often unable to prove the asylum seekers country of origin meaning their home countries will refuse to take them.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “It is a shame that Starmer has not recognised the extent of the crisis in the Channel sooner, as he and the Labour Party voted against numerous measures to stop the gangs while they were in opposition.
“If Starmer continues to ignore the need for a deterrent to stop migrants crossing the Channel, there will be more deaths in the Channel as more and more migrants continue to cross it.”
Sir Keir cancelled the Rwanda deportation scheme, which was the Conservative government’s plan to discourage Channel crossings.
More than 5,400 people crossed the Channel in small boats in October – the highest monthly figure since October 2022.
In total, more than 27,500 people have made the crossing so far this year, more than the same period in 2023.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the high number of crossings in October was linked to unusually fair weather.
However, she told the BBC the government could not just blame weather conditions for spikes in illegal immigration and had to “go after the criminal gangs at the heart of this”.
Pressed over when a drop in small boat crossings could be expected, Cooper would not commit to a specific target.
She added that it would take time to get investigators and new technology in place but the government wanted to make progress “as rapidly as possible”.
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