#migrant reception

[abirdie]

Gael García Bernal in Desierto (2015, dir. Jonás Cuarón)

(these gifs also feature Alondra Hidalgo)

Gifs are all 540px wide so you can click to see larger.

[other gael filmography gifsets]

[thoughtlessarse]

Languages: Deutsch

Police in Rome and Frosinone arrested several people - including a Fratelli d’Italia mayor - and seized assets on Thursday as part of a major investigation into a criminal network accused of illegally securing public contracts for migrant reception services funded by the EU's Recovery and Resilience Plan. Ten people have been placed under house arrest, and three were banned from bidding for public contracts due to the investigation known as "The Good Lobby" led by the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Rome. Among those detained were the mayor of Ceccano, Roberto Caligiore, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia party, and business people and officials from Frosinone and Naples. The suspects are charged with conspiracy and corruption for allegedly rigging public tenders funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Authorities have also frozen more than €500,000 in assets believed to be the proceeds of illegal activities.

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[trendynewsnow]

Spain Explores Emergency Reception Centre for Migrants at Ciudad Real Airport

Spain Considers Emergency Reception Centre for Migrants at Ciudad Real Airport The Spanish government is actively exploring the establishment of an emergency reception centre for migrants at Ciudad Real airport, located in the southern region of Madrid. This initiative comes amidst rising concerns over migration patterns and the need for effective management of incoming arrivals. Pilar Alegria,…

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich:: GOP strategy in its totality

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 18, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Sep 19, 2024

Today, at a White House reception in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, President Joe Biden said: "We don't demonize immigrants. We don't single them out for attacks. We don't believe they're poisoning the blood of the country. We're a nation of immigrants, and that's why we're so damn strong."

Biden’s celebration of the country’s heritage might have doubled as a celebration of the success of his approach to piloting the economy out of the ravages of the pandemic. Today the Fed cut interest rates a half a point, a dramatic cut indicating that it considers inflation to be under control. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has maintained that it would be possible to slow inflation without causing a recession—a so-called soft landing—and she appears to have been vindicated.

Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell said: “The labor market is in solid condition, and our intention with our policy move today is to keep it there. You can say that about the whole economy: The US economy is in good shape. It’s growing at a solid pace, inflation is coming down. The labor market is at a strong pace. We want to keep it there. That’s what we’re doing.”

Powell, whom Trump first appointed to his position, said, “We do our work to serve all Americans. We’re not serving any politician, any political figure, any cause, any issue, nothing. It’s just maximum employment and price stability on behalf of all Americans.”

Powell was anticipating accusations from Trump that his cutting of rates was an attempt to benefit Harris before the election. Indeed, Jeff Stein of the Washington Post reported that Trump advisor Steven Moore called the move “jaw-dropping. There's no reason they couldn't do 25 now and 25 right after the election. Why not wait till then?” Moore added, "I'm not saying [the] reduction isn't justified—it may well be and they have more data than I do. But i just think, 'why now?’” Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville called the cut “shamelessly political.” 

The New Yorker’s Philip Gourevitch noted that “Trump has been begging officials worldwide not to do the right thing for years to help rig the election for him—no deal in Gaza, no defense of Ukraine, no Kremlin hostages release, no border deal, no continuing resolution, no interest rate cuts etc—just sabotage & subterfuge.”

That impulse to focus on regaining power rather than serving the country was at least part of what was behind Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s lie about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. That story has gotten even darker as it turns out Vance and Trump received definitive assurances on September 9 that the rumor was false, but Trump ran with it in the presidential debate of September 10 anyway. Now, although it has been made very clear—including by Republican Ohio governor Mike DeWine—that the Haitian immigrants in Springfield are there legally, Vance told a reporter today that he personally considers the programs under which they came illegal, so he is still “going to call [a Haitian migrant] an illegal alien.”

The lies about those immigrants have so derailed the Springfield community with bomb threats and public safety concerns that when the Trump campaign suggested Trump was planning a visit there, the city’s Republican mayor, Rob Rue, backed by DeWine, threw cold water on the idea. “It would be an extreme strain on our resources. So it’d be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit,” Rue said. Nonetheless, tonight, Trump told a crowd in Long Island, New York, that he will go to Springfield within the next two weeks. 

The false allegation against Haitian immigrants has sparked outrage, but it has accomplished one thing for the campaign, anyway: it has gotten Trump at least to speak about immigration—which was the issue they planned to campaign on—rather than Hannibal Lecter, electric boats, and sharks, although he continues to insist that “everyone is agreeing that I won the Debate with Kamala.” Trump, Vance, and Republican lawmakers are now talking more about policies.

In the presidential debate of September 10, Trump admitted that after nine years of promising he would release a new and better healthcare plan than the Affordable Care Act in just a few weeks, all he really had were “concepts of a plan.” Vance has begun to explain to audiences that he intends to separate people into different insurance pools according to their health conditions and risk levels. That business model meant that insurers could refuse to insure people with pre-existing conditions, and overturning it was a key driver of the ACA.

Senate and House Republicans told Peter Sullivan of Axios that if they regain control of the government, they will work to get rid of the provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that permits the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over drug prices. Negotiations on the first ten drugs, completed in August, will lower the cost of those drugs enough to save taxpayers $6 billion a year, while those enrolled in Medicare will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses. 

Yesterday Trump promised New Yorkers that he would restore the state and local tax deduction (SALT) that he himself capped at $10,000 in his 2017 tax cuts. In part, the cap was designed to punish Democratic states that had high taxes and higher government services, but now he wants to appeal to voters in those same states. On CNBC, host Joe Kernan pointed out that this would blow up the deficit, but House speaker Mike Johnson said that the party would nonetheless consider such a measure because it would continue to stand behind less regulation and lower taxes.

In a conversation with Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former press secretary, Trump delivered another stream of consciousness commentary in which he appeared to suggest that he would lower food prices by cutting imports. Economics professor Justin Wolfers noted: “I'm exhausted even saying it, but blocking supply won't reduce prices, and it's not even close.” Sarah Longwell of The Bulwark added, “Tell me more about why you have to vote for Trump because of his ‘policies.’”

Trump has said he supports in vitro fertilization, or IVF, as have a number of Republican lawmakers, but today, 44 Republican senators once again blocked the Senate from passing a measure protecting it. The procedure is in danger from state laws establishing “fetal personhood,” which give a fertilized egg all the rights of a human being as established by the Fourteenth Amendment. That concept is in the 2024 Republican Party platform.

Trump has also demanded that Republicans in Congress shut down the government unless a continuing resolution to fund the government contains the so-called SAVE Act requiring people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Speaker Johnson continues to suggest that undocumented immigrants vote in elections, but it is illegal for even documented noncitizens to do so, and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the nonprofit American Immigration Council notes that even the right-wing Heritage Foundation has found only 12 cases of such illegal voting in the past 40 years.

Johnson brought the continuing resolution bill with the SAVE Act up for a vote today. It failed by a vote of 202 to 220. If the House and then the Senate don’t pass a funding bill, the government will shut down on October 1.

Republican endorsements of the Harris-Walz ticket continue to pile up. On Monday, six-term representative Bob Inglis (R-SC) told the Charleston City Paper that “Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the republic” and said he would vote for Harris. “If Donald Trump loses, that would be a good thing for the Republican Party,” Inglis said. “Because then we could have a Republican rethink and get a correction.” 

George W. Bush’s attorney general Alberto Gonzales, conservative columnist George Will, more than 230 former officials for presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and 17 former staff members for Ronald Reagan have all recently added their names to the list of those supporting Harris. Today more than 100 Republican former members of Congress and national security officials who served in Republican administrations endorsed Harris, saying they “firmly oppose the election of Donald Trump.” They cited his chaotic governance, his praising of enemies and undermining allies, his politicizing the military and disparaging veterans, his susceptibility to manipulation by Russian president Vladimir Putin, and his attempt to overthrow democracy. They praised Harris for her consistent championing of “the rule of law, democracy, and our constitutional principles.” 

Yesterday, singer-songwriters Billie Eilish, who has 119 million followers on Instagram, and Finneas, who has 4.2 million, asked people to register and to vote for Harris and Walz. “Vote like your life depends on it,” Eilish said, “because it does.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[beardedmrbean]

Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD) is under fire for comments he made about migrants and their contribution to the Belgian economy.

Featuring as a guest on the podcast 'Talks With Charly', Van Tigchelt was asked about his views on whether it was possible to prevent migrants from entering Belgium, to which he replied: "Of course not. Something like that is impossible, unnecessary and undesirable."

He went on to emphasise the economic role migrants play here. "Who takes care of our care? Who will lay my water pipe? Who cleans my windows at home?"

Podcast host Charly Badibanga then took offence to the insinuation that migrants only contribute to Belgium via low-skilled work, and the Justice Minister quickly sought to nuance his comments. "Sorry for expressing myself incorrectly, but take away migration and our economy will come to a standstill."

He added that figures such as directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and former football players Marouane Fellaini and Vincent Kompany are a testament to the "wealth" that migration has brought to Belgium.

'Stereotypical'

Van Tigchelt's comments demonstrated a "stereotypical" view of work performed by migrants but was not off the mark regarding the economic impact of reduced migration, says Eva Van Belle, a migration and labour expert at VUB.

"It is difficult to predict the impact a migration policy change would have on the economy, but what we do know is that the rate of migration we have today is good for growth," she told The Brussels Times. "There is a positive fiscal effect too, as migrants contribute more to public finances than what they cost. If we stopped migration, this positive effect would disappear."

The perception that a high proportion of migrants work in low-skilled positions is due to the fact that Belgium lacks any clear strategy to attract high-skilled individuals. In addition, a cinched domestic labour market coupled with discrimination faced by people from migrant backgrounds pushes many of them to unskilled positions. Nevertheless, migrants make up significant portions of professional sectors too, such as IT, healthcare and consulting.

Migration is an enormous topic for political parties ahead of federal elections on 9 June. Van Tigchelt's liberal party Open VLD wants to increase controls at EU borders and make family reunification conditions much more stringent. The party calls for more humane conditions for asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application despite overseeing a worsening reception crisis since being in government.

[touchlikethesun]

one fun little thing about linguistics is that the stages speakers go through during their lives and the stages internet users go thru when integrating a new online community are actually quite similar.

so like, the first stage, broadly, when talking about language acquisition, a speaker starts with having no competence, but a huge receptiveness to the linguistic data around them. this is why babies learn to speak so fast. in online communities, a new comer won't have all the right vocab, they won't have learned/assimilated to the ways of "speaking"/communicating in the community, and can kinda easily be identified as like, not being from here (think of the way tumblr users can sometimes spot twitter migrants)

after learning the norms, and the basics of communication in a community, the speaker enters an adolescent phase. in irl speech communities, this is when someone's most receptive to new slang or linguistic innovations, but as these speakers grow up, the innovations become the standard. in online communities there's a very very similar adolescent phase (that has nothing to do with age, and just time spent in the community), where someone is fully integrated into the community and is in the centre of linguistic innovation for the community (often means coming up with new vocab, and sometimes can mean changes in other conventions like typing style, punctuation usages, etc.).

after the adolescent phase, in the adult phase, a speaker has a lot of linguistic competence (they can... speak... well... idk how else to describe it), but they are much more resistant to innovation, and hold on to the way that they spoke as a young person as being the objectively correct way to speak, looking down on the younger generation for their slang and their innovations. think of how boomers and gen x make fun of gen z slang. in online communities, i don't see this as being so much of conflictual relationship, but what is similar is that people that have been in online communities for extended periods of time will hold on to the way of communicating that was popular when they were in their adolescent phase, and won't be able to as easily adapt to the new ways of communicating, and this marks them as being an "elder", or long-time member, of the community.

the comparisons aren't always completely spot on, but there are enough parallels that i can have a lot of fun paying attention to this in the online communities that i'm a part of lol

[khalidistan]

Originally published to Twitter on October 11, 2021. Full piece under the cut.

Much of the Squid Game fandom neuters and infantilizes Abdul Ali, the Pakistani migrant worker who participates in the games as Player 199, and this is part of a larger problem where brown men must be emasculated in order to receive any grace or humanity.

“Gendered identities do not exist independently of other factors, and must be viewed as intertwined with, for example, race or ethnicity if we are to understand the hierarchical organization of identities.” —Maryam Khalid

Ali is polite and formal in his interactions with the other Koreans because he has a power differential with all of them. John Lee writes “Ali’s character is an undocumented migrant worker from Pakistan. What that means is that as far as social hierarchies go, Ali is WAY at the bottom of it. It explains why he’s been unpaid by his employer for months” (1). Ali acts subservient because he’ll get beaten if he doesn’t. He’s supposed to express how “grateful” he is for the assistance.

Ali acts subservient because he’ll get beaten if he doesn’t. He’s supposed to express how “grateful” he is for the assistance.

But Ali has demonstrated multiple times that he can fend for himself. He advocates for his fair pay to his Korean boss, even wrestling his paycheck out of his boss’s hands. During the night fight he fights on his own with a metal beam before reuniting with his team. He even has the courage to mock Mi-nyeo after she spews xenophobic statements at him, defending his honor and calling her out on her hypocrisy and doubt of the team’s strategy.

People want to make Ali out to be naïve but fail to recognize that he immigrated to south Korea from Pakistan. He knows nothing of the language and customs. Heather Chen writes that Ali is “an outsider and knows that the odds would always be stacked against him in the unpredictable competition.” Ali cannot be naïve, because Ali is given no reason to doubt Sang-woo’s kindness from earlier: Sang-woo provides bus fare after the first game, offers bread, and shares companionship with Ali all the way until the marble game.

East Asia has a huge racism and colorism problem. Ali is forced to be submissive. He is docile because if he isn’t, he’s immediately labeled a threat. That is the dichotomy people are missing. Why do brown men walk on eggshells when they have to answer to authority or go through security checks? Brown men can either be cunning, savage, sneaky terrorists, or they can be naïve, dumb, effeminate and castrated. There’s never any middle ground or nuance to understanding them.

“The colonized man is simultaneously a boogeyman incapable of redemption, unworthy of saving/advocating for and excluded from occupying a position of vulnerability—that’s reserved for their ‘women & children’ counterparts—while also in-need of (white/colonial) civilizing, fascinating.” —Joshua Briond

Khalid writes that “Orientalist notions of the masculinity of the ‘Eastern’ male as uncivilized also inherently ascribe primitiveness, ineptness and a certain amount of weakness to the barbarized ‘other.’” Those doomed to the mythical Orient are automatically placed lower in masculinity than their white and colonial counterparts.

However, this reduced masculinity co-exists, paradoxically, with the idea that men from the Orient are simultaneously aggressive, belligerent, and violent. Elgin Brunner writes: “Such a framing—the association of the enemy with barbarism, as opposed to the self, which is civilized—includes two, often simultaneous, moves, that is: the ‘hypermasculinization’ of the enemy on the one hand, and his ‘effeminization’ on the other… The very same opponent is, by virtue of being categorized as a cowardly barbarian, rendered effeminate.”

It’s true that Ali is compassionate, looking out for others and not expecting things in return. But the woobification of Ali into a bumbling fool is more than gross misinterpretation—it’s character assassination and fails to recognize how race influences his reception by the community.

Works Cited:

Brunner, E. M. (2008). Consoling display of strength or emotional overstrain? the gendered framing of the early “War on terrorism” in transatlantic comparison. Global Society, 22(2), 217–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600820801887223

Khalid, M. (2011). Gender, orientalism and representations of the ‘other’ in the War on Terror. Global Change, Peace & Security, 23(1), 15–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781158.2011.540092

VICE MEDIA GROUP. (2021, October 6). A shout-out to Ali, a character too pure for the dark humanity in 'squid game'. VICE. Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en/article/5db74b/ali-netflix-squid-game-character-interview-anupam-tripathi

Link to original Twitter thread

[antifainternational]

LEEDS REPORTBACK: Yesterday Leeds AFN joined the newly formed coalition "Yorkshire Against Hate" in opposing a rally organised by "Mick" (English Bulldog) who is a part of the migrant hunter grift. Unfortunately migrant hunters received minimal attention from antifascists while Patriotic Alternative had the spotlight. This allowed them to tap into public opinion and direct anger towards migrants instead of the neoliberal economic policies and degradation of public services that led to people becoming poorer.

Prior to the demo concerns were already arising with Alek Yerbury already expressing concerns that the police weren't alerted and not much prior planning had occurred.

On the day Yorkshire Against Hate took the space early on outside the hotel before the far right could create much of a relevant presence and receptive messages from asylum seekers inside the hotel.

Despite the heavy police presence and fenced off zones, antifascists managed to break the kettle and meet the far right where a few scuffles had unfolded.

The far right crowd had a couple of noticeable figures including a Walter Mitty type and a Proud Boys Britannia member Warren Gilly.

A major barrier to organizing was the SWP that attempted to police the YAH bloc.

Overall the day went well with no arrests on our side and far right being outnumbered.

Yorkshire Against Hate is a newer coalition and did quite well in spite of that.

[foster-the-world]

Aw, man

Last night the district wide school board meeting turned into a debate about Israel. With some claiming the DOE is not doing "enough." Apparently enough means they haven't yet written a email condemning the kidnappings in Israel? With claims they would have already sent a letter if it was black people. I guess the district is waiting on a legal team to approve language. So it should go out today or tmrw. Not good enough for these people. I don't get it. The DOE did send a letter condemning racism and it doesn't do shit to protect my kids. We are still in the most segregated school system in the nation. I am 100% confident the man claiming they "would have already done it if it was black people." made sure his children were in the majority white schools. The anti-racism letter didn't change his desire to segregate his children so why would a anti-semitism letter help jewish students? Writing a letter condemning the kidnappings in Israel is not going to protect my kids one bit nor help the children who were kidnapped. Our district has migrant children pouring in every single week. Let's talk about how we can support them. Letter or no letter I do not care.

I left that meeting to go to our schools PTA meeting. We did spend a good amount of time talking about how we can help the new migrant children who started at our school last week. Apparently 1000 more children entered the district on Friday - set to start next week. My 2nd graders class got three more students last week. Rebel's 1st grade class got two more students. We've been working on our Spanish at home and making sure the girls include them. I'm so glad we are at a school where we teach the kids to welcome their new friends. I have no doubt the uniform, clothing, coat drive will be fully funded - even though we have a school full of low income parents who aren't exactly rolling in the dough.

This morning I'm talking to the Principal about the clothing/Halloween costume drive when she gets a text message and looks horrified. Apparently a lower grade kid told their teacher they can't be around them because they are Jewish and their Mom told them Jewish people are dangerous. So fucked up. Poor baby being taught that hate and poor teacher having to hear it from a student she pours her hard work into.

I'm not really worried about my girls hearing shitty things. As mentioned they are tough and can handle themselves. The toughness does mean they can be jerks but also means they wouldn't hesitate to fight back if someone says shit like that to them. People have said other shitty things to them and they returned with the 6yo version of "go fuck yourself" and were indignant more then hurt. *Obviously they didn't use the f word. They have a solid group of friends in their class who would know to defend them. Although we are going to have a talk about what to say if someone talks negatively about Juduism or if they hear someone say anything racist/prejudice/etc to themselves or any of their friends. We've had the general talk before but probably need to be more specific on the Jewish side of things. Every year my husband and I bring Hanukkah celebration stuff to their class. Everyone is always very receptive. Last year Bee's teacher was Jewish. They've generally had at least one jewish family in their class - although that dwindles in the older grades. We live two doors down from the JCC - so they go to classes there so do get to spend time around Jewish children regardless. This semester they are taking an art class there and we go to the shabbat dinners sometime.

Bee has a Ukrainian girl in her class - well her grandparents are from Ukraine. So Bee came home last year talking about how people are murdering babies "as soon as they come out" in the Ukrainian war. Now this year her little friend is from Israel - so she comes home with more horror stories he hears from home and interprets into six year old language. The world we are giving our children is not okay.

[thoughtlessarse]

Recent developments in Germany and Hungary linked to irregular migration have cast serious doubts over the future of the Schengen Area. Is the Schengen Area, the passport-free zone that binds together 420 million people and represents one of the most tangible and recognisable achievements of European integration, in the throes of death? The question would have appeared radical a decade ago when the European Union was knee-deep in a financial crisis bending over backwards to salvage another of its greatest feats, the eurozone. Back then, Schengen was, if anything, a valued cushion to fall into to keep seamless trade going. But the mass arrival of asylum seekers in 2015 flipped the political agenda upside down and pushed migration to the very fore, opening a volatile, embittered conversation where governments gave priority to short-term measures to placate a furious electorate. Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Sweden and Denmark were among those citing the unprecedented influx of migrants as a reason to re-introduce temporary checks at their borders, shattering the illusion that Schengen was untouchable. The COVID-19 pandemic dealt another blow to Schengen, with countries rushing to shut down borders in an attempt to contain the virus spread. Brussels thought that, once vaccination began and infections plunged, movement across the bloc would return to its normal state of seamlessness. The hope materialised, though not for long. The end of the health crisis prompted a steady rise in migration flows towards the EU, putting the combustive subject firmly back on the table. Asylum applications reached 1.12 million in 2023, the highest figure since 2016, and local authorities, from the Netherlands to Italy, complained reception centres were being overwhelmed. Support for hard- and far-right parties grew at the polls and the once-unthinkable idea of offshoring asylum procedures to faraway destinations went mainstream.

continue reading

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil: Refugee Situation Report - August 2023

From 1 to 4 August, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, Amina J. Mohammed, visited Brazil. During her visit in Brasilia, the Brazilian Government and the UN System in Brazil signed the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2023-2027, which guides the partnership between Brazil and the UN in implementing the 2030 Agenda in the country. R4V partners actively participated in the UNSDCF elaboration process, resulting in the systematic inclusion of the refugee and migrant population in multiple components of the new framework.

According to the Humanitarian-Logistics Taskforce of Operation Welcome, in August, nearly 400 refugees and migrants were sleeping on the streets of Pacaraima every week. There was a slowdown in the operations of the Reception and Documentation Centre, which partially contributed to this situation, as it resulted in a prolonged wait for refugees and migrants to receive health cards and vaccinations. This is a mandatory step before proceeding with their journeys to Boa Vista.

Brazil reached the milestone of over 10,000 indigenous refugees and migrants from Venezuela living in the country, of whom about 66% are of Warao ethnicity. To address the complex challenges faced by this population in accessing goods and services, such as food, education, and healthcare, R4V partners have highlighted the importance of strengthening culturally sensitive response measures. As part of a larger initiative by the Federal Government to strategically expand coverage of social programs by registering people in vulnerable situations in the Unified Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico), more than 4,300 indigenous people were registered as of August. In Roraima, R4V partners played a crucial role in a large-scale effort to boost registrations.

Continue reading.

[kirinda-ondo]

I think one of the many factors in the difference of reception between the Twitter and Reddit refugees is the level of willingness to interact and engage with Tumblr culture

With the Twitter migration there were a LOT of posts basically slamming it into their heads that they need to reblog things or change their icons and titles in order to not be mistaken for bots and not rely on an algorithm (Tumblr DOES have one contrary to popular belief but it sucks and almost everyone has it turned off) and the Twitter users just never really seemed to want to adapt for the longest time there

But the Reddit migrants are jumping right and they are reblogging and tagging and hitting post limit and engaging with the site and its culture and I see a lot less posts about "here's what you need to do to survive on Tumblr" because they're just fucking doing it and it's just such a nice contrast that I think we are generally a lot more welcoming to that

[beardedmrbean]

Swedish border guards will be given the power to search migrants’ smartphones to look for evidence of destroyed passports under a new law backed by the country’s Right-wing coalition government.

The law comes as part of a wider push to speed up deportations of failed asylum seekers to drive down migrant numbers amid fears they are being recruited by Sweden’s organised crime gangs.

Officials believe migrants entering Sweden may have used their phones to take photos or make digital copies of their passports and other documents before destroying them on arrival at airports.

Swedish officials said identifying migrants was vital if the person was to be deported after a failed claim.

‘They might keep a copy’ 

“Next week, we are going to receive a government inquiry on increasing the possibilities for the police to look into iPhones to find the documents that have been scanned there,” Anders Hall, state secretary for the ministry of justice, told The Telegraph.

“When you tear up your passport, you might keep a copy or a photo in your phone because sooner or later you might need it. This will give the legal basis to make it possible to look for them.”

The government expects the law to enter into force in 2025-26 after a consultation period.

Sweden now says there are more emigrants than immigrants for the first time in 50 years after toughening asylum rules since Ulf Kristersson took power as prime minister in 2022.

His conservative coalition is propped up by the hard-Right Sweden Democrats, which was partly founded by Nazi sympathisers and remains formally outside of government despite coming second in a 2022 election dominated by fears over migration and crime.

“We signed up for a very detailed agreement, both in terms of law enforcement and migration,” Mr Hall said.

“The Sweden Democrats have more or less full insight into what we are doing. We are constantly having meetings with them, telling them where we are implementing.”

He pointed out that despite the uproar over the cooperation with the Sweden Democrats, the opposition Social Democrats had not voted against a single migration measure brought forward by the government.

“There was much ado about nothing,” he said before adding that the Sweden Democrats were being encouraged to be more responsible through their brushes with government.

Mr Hall was in London this week to brief UK government officials on Sweden’s crackdown.

Other measures include boosting voluntary repatriation, as well as deportations.

Naturalised citizens and families of migrants could be offered money to leave the country as part of a voluntary return scheme that already offers refugees about £720 and travel costs.

As a rule, asylum seekers should live in reception centres or return centres rather than private housing. 

The government has also introduced rules making it possible to strip serious criminals or terrorists with dual nationalities of their Swedish nationality.

Accepted refugees are also no longer granted permanent residence as a matter of course. Instead, their claim is reviewed every three years.

Sweden is among EU member states calling for tougher rules to make deporting failed asylum seekers easier.

Increasing numbers of claims are being made by migrants arriving in the bloc legally in airports before destroying their papers.

In 2015, 13 per cent of all asylum claims in the EU were made in Sweden but that was down to 2 per cent in 2023. In 2023, Sweden received 12,600 asylum applications, which is lower than in 2020, and is expected to be the lowest since 1997.

[ausetkmt]

New York mayor 'shocked' that migrant children as young as nine months secretly sent to his city

New York's mayor said he was shocked that at least 239 minors arrived incognito after being separated from parents on the Mexican border.

While Donald Trump signed the end of a policy of separation of families at the border that provoked outrage in the United States and abroad, Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio went into a a reception center for migrant children in Harlem, where a television crew had filmed the previous night some girls arriving secretly, apparently separated from their parents at the border.

The segregated minors included a nine-month-old baby and traumatized children, many with lice, bedbugs or contagious diseases.

Mr De Blasio emerged from the reception centre saying he was "shocked to learn" how many children separated from their parents had been sent to New York, explaining that this single center in Harlem had received 239 children without the knowledge of city authorities.

"How is it possible that none of us knew that there (were) 239 kids right here in our city?" he said. "How is the federal government holding back that information from the people of this city and holding back the help that these kids could need?"

"The mental health issues alone, they made clear to us, are very real; very painful," De Blasio stressed.

The Cayuga Center, which has classrooms in a six-story building across the street from an elevated train line, has a federal contract to place unaccompanied immigrant children in short-term foster care. Officials at the center did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Mr De Blasio said the staff there told him it has taken in about 350 children since President Donald Trump's administration implemented its "zero tolerance" policy this spring calling for the criminal prosecution of all adults caught crossing the border illegally.

He is off to join other US mayors Thursday in Texas to visit a childcare center and denounce the migration policy of the Trump administration.