More than 200,000 people living legally in the UK are on the 10-year route to settled status, which requires legal migrants to renew 30-month visas four times at a cost of 3,908.50 including healthcare costs per renewal before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR). Under proposals by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, if people have used public funds, even in work, the wait would double to 20 years.
Hundreds of Afghans previously promised sanctuary in Germany have been told they are no longer welcome, in a stark U-turn by the conservative chancellor, Friedrich Merz. The 640 people in Pakistan awaiting resettlement many of whom worked for the German military during the US invasion and occupation of Afghanistan will no longer be taken in, as Merz's government axes two programmes introduced by its centre-left-led predecessor.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
International talks to revolutionise how the European Court of Human Rights handles migration cases will begin on Wednesday. The British government is urging partners to modernise the way states tackle the continent-wide illegal migration crisis. The talks are the most significant sign yet that international human rights law could be reinterpreted to make it easier for states to target people smuggling and set up 'returns hubs' to hold people with no right to be in Europe.
"Third World" is often the first term that pops into Westerners' minds when they try to characterize less well-off, troubled countries. Everyone knows what they mean countries that are low in resources, where many people live in poverty, where health care and education systems are weak, where democracy may not be exactly flourishing. Where did this term come from? How is it regarded in the 21st century? And are there any better alternatives?
Speaking at a summit in Rome alongside Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Meloni said her right-wing government was determined to forge ahead with its scheme of sending migrants and asylum seekers outside the EU while their claims are processed. Certainly, the protocol will work when the new [EU] migration and asylum pact comes into effect, Meloni said on Thursday, citing a legal framework slated for 2026. When the migration and asylum pact comes into effect, the centres will operate exactly as they should have from the beginning.
On a visit to Potsdam last week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz talked about how his government was toughening up its migration policy. The primary aim, he said, was to continue to combat what he called illegal immigration. Then he added another sentence, which has since caused a furor: "But we still have this problem in the cityscape, of course, and that's why the federal interior minister is facilitating and carrying out large-scale deportations."
The ongoing political focus on migration in Germany could have spillover effects. Decades of progress in making the country more inclusive of Black people could be rolled back, Tahir Della, of the rights organization Initiative of Black People in Germany, told DW. "We already notice that, especially when there are debates related to migration, the presence of Black people and people of African descent in Germany is called into question," Della said.
Japan's foreign aid agency has scrapped a cultural exchange initiative with African countries after an online misinformation campaign led to a torrent of complaints and fear of increased immigration. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced on Thursday that it will cancel the Africa Hometown scheme, after an episode that experts say illustrates the potential impact of fake news and populist narratives to shape migration policy.
A backpack is forgotten on the train. It seems a simple enough problem to resolve, especially in Germany, oft famed for its orderliness and efficiency. But when you're living as a refugee or in exile, the documents the bag contained are not mere pieces of paper to be reissued. They very well may be irreplaceable a displaced person's only means of existing within a coldly bureaucratic society. To lose them can be devastating, turning borders into walls.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
