Seeker

Planning permission has been sought for three additional military sites Home Office plans to use three more former military sites to house thousands of asylum seekers have been condemned as “arrogant”, “costly” and “a political fix” by refugee charities and local stakeholders.Planning permission is being sought to build “basic” accommodation at MOD Bicester in Oxfordshire, RAF Barnham in Suffolk and RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, a statement said. These new sites could house 3,750 claimants, the government has claimed. Continue reading...

• The US Supreme Court has issued a ruling that allows the government to block asylum seekers from entering the country at the border. • Liberal justices criticized the decision, arguing that it "circumvents" existing US law by permitting agents to prevent individuals from filing asylum claims. • This ruling significantly alters the legal landscape for border enforcement, granting the administration broader authority to restrict entry.

Decision allows Trump administration to block migrants from entering US soil and the right to claim asylumSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailThe supreme court has given the Trump administration a green light to turn back asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border, in a decision that fundamentally reshapes the US asylum system.The Trump administration has sought for years to block migrants from setting foot on US soil, where federal law guarantees them the right to claim asylum and protection from persecution. The ruling will allow that practice to resume, concluding a battle that has spanned three administrations. Continue reading...

Proposals including use of force on minors will cause ‘significant harm’, says England Children’s CommissionerShabana Mahmood has been told that her crackdown on refused asylum seekers, including the forcible removal of children from the UK, will cause “significant harm”, in an intervention by an independent watchdog.Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said the home secretary’s plan under consultation to push families – including those with children receiving ongoing medical treatment – to leave the UK should not be implemented as proposed. Continue reading...

Advocates say the Safe Third Country Agreement forces immigrants to head to an unsafe country: the United StatesIt was the threat of gang violence in Honduras that pushed Carlos and Antonia to flee their home. In 2021, with their toddler, Alejandro, and a handful of belongings, the married couple ventured north hoping to reach safety in the US.The journey, through Guatemala and Mexico, was filled with danger and uncertainty Continue reading...

Refugee charity says decision to let officers request the devices as part of public order powers is ‘sickening’French riot police deployed in northern France under a £660m deal with the UK are authorised to use water cannon against asylum seekers, the Guardian has been told.Two specialist policing units, including a 50-officer riot squad, have begun working to prevent asylum seekers and people smugglers from launching small boats under the landmark UK-France deal in time for the summer months. Continue reading...

• Caesars Entertainment has opened The Vanderpump Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, marking a strategic expansion into celebrity-branded hospitality. • The new venture aims to attract luxury travelers, food enthusiasts, and entertainment seekers by integrating high-end dining and nightlife experiences. • This move follows a growing global trend of celebrity-branded hotels already seen in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates.

Bell hotel in Epping was scene of violent protests after asylum seeker living there sexually assaulted girl and womanAsylum seekers have been removed from the Epping hotel that became a flashpoint for anti-immigration protests across England last summer as the Home Office terminates its contract with the establishment.The hotel on the outskirts of the Essex town was the scene of increasingly large protests after an asylum seeker who was living there sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman. Continue reading...

Figures suggest common travel area being exploited in both directions, but particularly UK to IrelandUp to 90% of asylum seekers in Ireland may have entered the country via the Northern Ireland land border in the last three years, figures suggest.Irish government data shows the common travel area (CTA) is being exploited in both directions but suggests it may be more popular for those seeking asylum in Ireland than in the UK. Continue reading...

Coalition of more than 100 organisations says move could lead to more children ending up in adult detention facilitiesA coalition of more than a hundred refugee children’s organisations has said controversial plans to use AI to assess the age of young asylum seekers could lead to more children wrongly ending up in adult prisons or detention centres.The warning follows a Home Office announcement on Friday of a contract to roll out AI facial age estimation technology on young asylum seekers whose age is disputed. Continue reading...

Judgment outlawing forcing of survivors of trafficking, torture and other forms of violence to share rooms is blow to Shabana Mahmood’s asylum plansShabana Mahmood’s plan to house more asylum seekers in former army barracks is facing a major hurdle after the high court ruled on Thursday that a policy change forcing torture victims to share rooms was unlawful.According to a judgment seen by the Guardian, the government failed in its duties when it forced survivors of trafficking, torture and other serious forms of violence to share rooms with strangers. Continue reading...

Social services minister ‘concerned’ by some providers meant to help welfare recipients find workGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, was on 7.30 last night defending her decision not to get rid of the controversial for-profit aspects of the jobseeker program. More coming up. Continue reading...

Local authorities deem UK arrivals to be children more than twice as often as border forces, Home Office data showsYoung asylum seekers in the UK are more than twice as likely to be assessed as adults by immigration officers than by social workers, according to home office data.Between July 2025 and March 2026, 4,320 initial age decisions made by immigration officials found just 1,363 new arrivals (32%) to be children. Continue reading...

Welfare advocates say while the reforms are a step in the right direction, the privatised employment services model has failed and should be torn upGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMutual obligations will be different for every welfare recipient, the employment minister, Amanda Rishworth, says, signalling an end to jobseekers being forced to submit “endless” applications for roles they may not be qualified for.But welfare advocates and a key trade union have said Labor’s employment system changes don’t go far enough and fall short of the reform needed to the failure-plagued sector – they have called for an end to the privatised job services mode,l which Rishworth admits is not providing enough help.At the lower level, a digital service with “individualised resources and brief interventions” for people who are work-ready but need help finding the right job fit;a “targeted provider-led” stream to help people build skills and confidence to gain employment;and at the upper end, more intensive services for people with complex requirements, who will be given more time, flexibility and support to build their confidence and capabilities. Continue reading...

Employment minister Amanda Rishworth plans to move system from a ‘one size fits all’ employment services model to three streams of supportGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Albanese government has flagged a major overhaul of Australia’s employment system, with minister Amanda Rishworth on Wednesday expected to outline plans to ease Centrelink’s much-maligned mutual obligations regime.Rishworth is expected to tell the National Press Club that mutual obligation requirements were not helping Australians find work in a system that was “ill-equipped” and wasting the time of people who use welfare. Continue reading...

Eritrean man was due to be forcibly removed to France under ‘one in, one out’ schemeAn Eritrean asylum seeker who was due to be forcibly removed to France today under the “one in, one out” scheme has had his ticket cancelled after making a serious attempt on his life, the Guardian understands.Other detainees said they believed he had made an attempt on his life because he feared he would be in danger in France due to his specific circumstances had he been forcibly returned there. He was discovered yesterday by his cellmate, who raised the alarm. He is now on round-the-clock suicide watch in detention.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

All 46 Council of Europe members sign agreement ‘deplored’ by human rights organisationsThe UK and 45 other European countries have signed an agreement that explicitly endorses plans to send unwanted asylum seekers to third country hubs.A political declaration from the 46 members of the Council of Europe, the body that oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR), said states had an “undeniable sovereign right” to control their borders. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Council of Europe to hold meeting in Moldova on Friday, with human rights body set to declare recognition of countries’ right to control bordersEurope live – latest updatesEuropean ministers will this week discuss plans to send thousands of rejected asylum seekers to third-country hubs, the head of the continent’s human rights body has told the Guardian.Alain Berset, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, said discussions about the removal of people who arrived in Europe by irregular routes would take place “at a multilateral level” at a meeting in Moldova on Friday. Continue reading...

Shabana Mahmood has announced plan to cut leave to remain to 30 months, to concern of UN’s refugee agencyTwo Sudanese asylum seekers are challenging a key element of Labour’s plans to strip refugees of basic rights, rejecting the home secretary’s accusation that they are “asylum shoppers”.Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to halve refugees’ leave to remain in the UK from five years to 30 months, while refugees will have to wait 20 years before being eligible for permanent stay in the UK. Previously, people could apply for permanent settlement after five years. Continue reading...

Kurdish Syrian man, 26, said he fled forced conscription by YPG militia because he ‘didn’t want to kill people’An asylum seeker sent back to France under the controversial “one in, one out” scheme faces being returned to Syria after authorities in Paris ruled it was safe to do so, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.When the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced the “groundbreaking” deal in July 2025 to stop small boats crowded with asylum seekers from crossing the Channel – by forcibly returning one small-boat asylum seeker to France in exchange for bringing one in northern France legally to the UK – they emphasised that France was a safe country for returnees. Continue reading...

Home secretary indicates Whitehall talks about returns programme, a move that would shock humanitarian groupsShabana Mahmood has refused to rule out sending rejected Afghan asylum seekers back to the Taliban-controlled country.The home secretary said she is “monitoring very closely” talks between Kabul and EU countries about a returns programme for refused claimants. She also indicated that “additional conversations” about Afghan returns were happening inside Whitehall. Continue reading...

Removal site in Dunkirk will hold people of 10 nationalities trying to reach UK in small boats under new deal with FrenchUK politics live – latest updatesThe UK will pay for 200 French officers to detain and deport people seeking asylum from some of the world’s most oppressive and war-ravaged regimes under a new UK-France deal to try to reduce Channel crossings.In what is being billed as the first time the French government has agreed to target those heading to the UK in small boats, a removal site in Dunkirk will be used to hold people from 10 countries: Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen. The Home Office said they were the top 10 nationalities who crossed the Channel by small boat last year. Continue reading...

Refugee Council criticises Labour’s decision, saying military sites are unsuitable and ‘more expensive than hotels’Hundreds of asylum seekers have been removed from government-funded hotels while others have been sent to live in army barracks, the Home Office has announced.Eleven “asylum hotels” in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been closed, as first reported by the Guardian, and more will close “in the coming weeks”. About 350 claimants have been moved to the Crowborough military camp in east Sussex, described by a spokesperson as “basic accommodation”. Continue reading...

Inspection reveals use of force after protest by detainees being deported under ‘one in, one out’ schemeAsylum seekers who protested against being forcibly removed to France under the Home Office’s controversial “one in, one out” scheme, were transported out of the UK in waist and leg restraints, an inspection report has revealed.The report by HM chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, inspected a flight to France that took place on 20-21 January this year and on which it found no force was used. Continue reading...

Figures gathered from children’s services and health trusts show 31 deaths were suicides, including six in under-18sMore than 50 young asylum seekers in the UK have died in the past decade, the majority by suicide, according to data compiled for the first time.Of 54 deaths of children and young people who claimed asylum between 2015 and 2024 in the care system, 31 were due to suicide, with seven homicides and eight fatal accidents. Only six deaths were due to health issues with two causes of death unknown, and 44 of the 54 have occurred since 2020. Continue reading...

Watchdog finds complaints against City of Sanctuary UK were ‘misleading and false’ after online attacks over its migrant welcome projectA refugee charity subjected to vicious social media attacks over a migrant welcome project in schools has been cleared after watchdogs found allegations it encouraged pupils to send Valentine’s Day cards to asylum seekers were misleading and false.City of Sanctuary UK came under fire last year after rumours spread online that under its schools programme, children were being “forced” to write heart-shaped welcome cards to adult migrants, including cards addressed to “my fiancé”. Continue reading...

Ahmad Mulakhil filmed himself during the assault in Nuneaton in JulyAn Afghan asylum seeker who abducted a 12-year-old girl and filmed himself as he raped her has been jailed for 15 years.Ahmad Mulakhil was found guilty of rape, child abduction, taking an indecent video and two counts of sexual assault last month. Mulakhil admitted a second count of rape before his trial began. Continue reading...

Exclusive: At least four people have travelled back to the UK by lorry in the last two weeksAsylum seekers who arrived in the UK in small boats and were forcibly returned to France under the controversial “one in, one out” deal have returned to the UK in lorries, the Guardian has learned.When asked about the recent returnees, the Home Office said that people who came back to the UK after removal to France were detained and returned to France at the earliest opportunity. Amnesty International UK has called for “one in, one out” to be scrapped. Continue reading...