Child refugee who made Channel crossing in dinghy questions Sir Keir Starmer on Labour’s asylum plans
Sir Keir Starmer has told an 11-year-old refugee from Iran who made the hazardous Channel crossing in a dinghy there should be safe routes for asylum seekers to come to the UK.
The Labour leader was quizzed over his party’s migration plans by Arvin, who said his family had “no choice” but to make the perilous journey from Calais by small boat.
He said his family had been forced to leave their home in Iran for their safety.
Small boat crossings dominate Sunak-Macron summit – Politics latest
More than 3,000 people have already made the dangerous sea journey this year. File pic
Arvin asked Sir Keir, if he became prime minister, whether he would work with the French to “provide a safe route to the UK for genuine refugees like me”.
Speaking on the Sky News children’s current affairs show FYI, to be broadcast this weekend, the opposition politician agreed there should be secure passages to stop both desperate people putting themselves in danger and the criminal smuggling gangs making money from their “misery”.
His comments come as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks in Paris with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron aimed at bolstering efforts to tackle the small boats crisis.
The UK will help fund a detention centre in France, along with extra patrols, to reduce the number of crossings, it was announced on Friday.
More than 3,000 people have already made the dangerous sea journey this year, with almost 46,000 arriving by unofficial routes in 2022.
Earlier in the week, the Tory government unveiled controversial plans to curb Channel crossings which would see refugees arriving by boats detained, removed and banned for life from claiming asylum in the UK.
In response, Sir Keir accused the Conservative administration of offering “the same old gimmicks and empty promises”.
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While the government has schemes in place for a limited number of Afghans, Ukrainians and people from Hong Kong, critics point out there is no legal route for asylum seekers from many other dangerous parts of the world.
Arvin asked Sir Keir if a future Labour government would seek to establish further safe passage for refugees.
He said: “Hi, I’m Arvin. I’m from Iran and I’m a refugee in the UK.
“We ended up in Calais in France and then we had no choice but to cross the English Channel in a dinghy towards England like so many families before us.
“Mr Starmer, the government says that they want to work with the French authorities to stop people reaching the UK on a boat like my family did.
“But what about working with the French to provide a safe route to the UK for genuine refugees like me. Would you do that?”
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Responding, the Labour leader said: “In this country, we’ve always been very welcoming of refugees for many, many years with different conflicts and things going on in the world.
“We should have safe passages, in answer to the question, for people to get here.
“Going across the Channel in a boat is not a safe route and behind that there are criminal gangs who are running those routes.
“And so they are making money out of the misery of people who are in a desperate, desperate situation.
“So we need safe routes so we don’t have unsafe routes like the Channel crossings and we don’t allow those gangs to exploit people, put them in that awfully dangerous situation.”
:: Watch FYI on Sky News at 10.30am, 2.30pm and 4.30pm on Saturday and 10.30am and 2.30pm on Sunday.
Israel will call up 60,000 reservists as it prepares to launch an expanded military operation in Gaza City.
The military said the country’s defence minister Israel Katz has approved plans to begin a new phase of operations in some of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces will operate in areas of Gaza City where they have not yet operated and where it believes Hamas is still active, a military official said.
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The city is the main military and governing stronghold of Hamas and Israeli troops will target the group’s vast underground network, the official added.
Although Israel has targeted and killed much of Hamas’ senior leadership, parts of the group are actively regrouping and carrying out attacks, including launching rockets towards Israel, the official said.
It remains unclear when the operation will begin, but it could be a matter of days.
Palestinians at the site of a house struck by Israel in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
The official said 60,000 reservists will be called up in the coming month and the service of an additional 20,000 reservists currently serving will be lengthened.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objectives of the war are to secure the release of the remaining hostages and destroy Hamas.
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Gaza hospitals ‘overwhelmed with malnutrition cases’
International criticism of Israel increased after the planned offensive was announced earlier this month amid fears of another mass displacement of Palestinians.
The families of the hostages and former army and intelligence chiefs oppose an expanded operation in Gaza City, with most of the families of hostages wanting an immediate ceasefire.
They worry an expanded assault could threaten prospects of bringing the 50 remaining hostages home. Israel believes 20 of those are still alive.
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Parachutes drop aid supplies in Gaza. Pic: AP
Palestinians rush to collect airdropped humanitarian aid packages. Pic: AP
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251.
Many of the hostages have been released in ceasefires and other deals, with Hamas saying it will only free the remainder in exchange of a lasting ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal.
More than 62,000 people have been killed during Israel’s 22-month counteroffensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up around half of those killed.
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Earlier this week, the ministry said 154 adults had died of malnutrition-related causes since the ministry began counting such deaths in late June, and 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began.
Thousands have fled parts of Gaza City in recent days amid airstrikes and advancing Israeli troops, new satellite imagery shows.
Israel’s advance comes as it prepares to mount a full-scale invasion of the city, where the UN says around one million Palestinians are sheltering.
Satellite imagery shows that entire tent camps in southeast Gaza City were emptied between 9 and 17 August as families fled the renewed attacks.
The video below shows the moment of an airstrike in southeastern Gaza City on 13 August. Sky News geolocated the footage to a building less than 200 metres from a major tent camp.
Another video, taken on 15 August, shows a strike on a building right next to the camp.
By the following day, almost all the camp’s residents had fled, along with people sheltering at 30 other locations in the area.
Fresh vehicle tracks in the area indicate extensive troop movements on the ground.
The satellite image below, taken on 17 August, shows at least nine military vehicles in the streets surrounding one former tent camp.
Sky News counted 58 military vehicles in the area on 17 August, including 17 bulldozers.
The image below shows four IDF vehicles, including a bulldozer, parked next to the remains of one tent camp. Several nearby buildings had been levelled in the days beforehand.
Between 9 and 17 August, at least 132 buildings were destroyed in less than one square kilometre of the city.
It’s unclear how much of the destruction was carried out by IDF bulldozers and how much was a result of airstrikes.
On Monday, eyewitnesses reported that Israeli tanks had made further advances into eastern Gaza City.
The advances came as Hamas said it had approved a ceasefire deal presented by mediators Egypt and Qatar. Israel has yet to respond to the proposal.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his country’s military to prepare for a full-scale invasion and occupation of the city in order to “free Gaza from Hamas”.
The UN has said that the invasion risks “catastrophic consequences” for the estimated one million Palestinians sheltering in the city, while UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the plan would “only bring more bloodshed”.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
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