Migrant crisis: Tough new laws are planned, but the problems start far beyond the UK’s borders
This week Sky News has been identifying the gaps in Britain’s border defences.
As the number of small boats crossing the Channel breaks new records and European countries brace for a new wave of people fleeing Afghanistan, the issue is rising up the public consciousness once more.
Ministers are meant to be able now to deliver on their promise to take back control post Brexit. So why does it not yet feel like that to some?
The government response to this issue is being led by Home Secretary Priti Patel. Nobody would doubt her right-wing credentials, and interestingly she has had plaudits from across the political spectrum for her handling of the migration aspects of the Afghanistan crisis.
Home Secretary Priti Patel talking to a refugee from Afghanistan who arrived on a evacuation flight at Heathrow Pic: AP
Her answer to the questions around Britain’s borders is the Nationality and Borders Bill currently in committee stage in the House of Commons. But does it answer the problems, many of which are caused beyond Britain’s borders?
One area of concern is the Mediterranean where people flee from countries like Tunisia, often aided by people smugglers. Sky News’ Adam Parsons talked to people smugglers acting with impunity, little worried about the consequences.
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Italian island is migrant gateway to EU
Tom Tugendhat, Tory chair of the foreign affairs select committee told Sky News the answer is to send more
Royal Navy vessels to help in the Med.
“Our great strength we have with NATO allies around is that our border doesn’t start at Dover, it starts at the southern tip of Italy and Greece – working together and making sure these borders are defended and reinforced is exactly what we should be doing… but need to do more.
“Not about being kind to Italians. Its about defending ourselves further out.”
The Nationality and Borders Bill tightens the penalties for people smugglers in an attempt to tackle the problem.
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Tracking migrants with French Border Police
Another issue comes when migrants who have made it to the EU then try and cross the Channel to Britain. Sky News’ Michelle Clifford found that while French authorities would stop anyone still on land who looked like they would be attempting to cross the Channel, they would not stop boats once they were in the water, even when it was under French control.
They blame international law, thought many in Britain including MPs on the home affairs select committee claim the French are wrongly interpreting this.
Tim Loughton, Tory member of the home affairs select committee, said the French interpretation was “completely wrong”.
He added “We have evidence from maritime international lawyers – they made it clear that French authorities have power to intercept and repatriate passengers on boats, but actually have an obligation under international law – people on boats guilty of trying to enter UK illegally and paying organised crime to facilitate that journey, that would give grounds to French authorities to apprehend people, that is only what is going to stop that horrendous trade – people paying money to people smugglers, highly likely with them being taking back…that could stop that miserable trade stone dead.”
Asked why the British government hasn’t succeeded in convincing French they’re wrong, he said: “It’s all excuses, we made it clear – French claiming it’s a different interpretation, that’s wrong – also internal politics going on, a big row with those who run Calais and the federal government. They’re each trying to make it each other’s problem.”
The Nationality and Borders Bill will mark a serious attempt to block illegal immigration, alongside the new post Brexit points based entry system.
It will make it easier to return some illegal asylum seekers more quickly, make some asylum seekers apply before they reach UK shores and give border officials powers to turn back boats in UK waters.
But this does not – and cannot – stop Britain being an attractive country for economic migrants and asylum seekers.
Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch said that Britain would remain a country many aspire to live in so more had to be done to turn back illegal arrivals.
“Britain is an attractive country, so is France, US – most people wanted to got to the US first, we are part of wider picture of prosperous civilised fun countries.
“A lot of those coming are young man who want a better life – we are part of the story, in a way we have create the opportunity for a lot of Afghans to want to come here.”
But he added that once here, many were treated generously with little chance of being sent back.
“One of the principle reasons why the traffickers are able to sell Britain as the destination of choice is that having arrived here there’s very little chance of being sent back – very few people who apply for asylum and fail actually are sent back.
“That is a huge factor, while they’re here, we look after – hotels, detention centres that have been used – even these are not bad accommodations, there is a bit of money given for people to spend.
“Once you’re in the system you’re looked after – people see messages coming across, it is all made to be very attractive.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its annual report detailing complaints and losses due to scams and fraud involving cryptocurrency in 2024.
According to the report released on April 23, the IC3 received more than 140,000 complaints referencing cryptocurrency in 2024, resulting in roughly $9.3 billion in losses. The bureau reported that individuals over the age of 60 had been the most affected by crypto-related fraud, with roughly 33,000 complaints and $2.8 billion in losses.
“Last year saw a new record for losses reported to IC3, totaling a staggering $16.6 billion,” said the report. “Fraud represented the bulk of reported losses in 2024, and ransomware was again the most pervasive threat to critical infrastructure, with complaints rising 9% from 2023,” notes the report, adding that, as a group, those over the age of 60 suffered the most losses and submitted the most complaints.
The report added that the resultant losses had increased roughly 66% since 2023, from roughly $5.6 billion to $9.3 billion. The most significant percentage of losses occurred due to crypto investment schemes, while the largest number of complaints related to “sextortion” schemes, in which fraudsters manipulated photos and videos to create explicit content. Other scams included schemes involving the use of crypto ATMs or kiosks.
Related: Crypto scam uses trade war fears to lure victims, Canadian watchdogs warn
In February, the FBI reported its “Operation Level Up” had saved potential victims of crypto fraud roughly $285 million between January 2024 and January 2025. However, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis speculated that 2025 could see the largest number of scams to date, given that generative AI is making the practice “more scalable and affordable for bad actors to conduct.”
Globally, Chainalysis estimated that there had been roughly $41 billion in illicit crypto volume in 2024, with roughly 25% of the funds involved with “hacking, extortion, trafficking, or scams.” Some of the most high-profile crimes included the $1.4 billion in crypto stolen from the Bybit exchange in March and North Korean hackers taking more than $1.3 billion.
Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently called for “Bretton Woods institutions,” such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to reorient themselves, a signal that the global monetary order could be shifting.
Speaking at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) on April 23, Bessent called on the IMF and the World Bank to correct trade imbalances and protect the value of fiat currencies against exchange rate risk.
“The Bretton Woods institutions must step back from their sprawling and unfocused agendas,” Bessent said. He added:
“The IMF’s mission is to promote international monetary cooperation, facilitate the balanced growth of international trade, encourage economic growth, and discourage harmful policies like competitive exchange rate depreciation.”
Bessent’s call for the IMF to correct trade imbalances between countries, specifically the US and China, coincides with a decline in the US dollar to three-year lows, $36 trillion in US government debt, and stiff economic competition from China.
Investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio argues that the world is experiencing a global macroeconomic shift that will upend the post-WWII financial order and eventually replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency, potentially with a digital form of money.
Related: Trump tariffs reignite idea that Bitcoin could outlast US dollar
The Bretton Woods Agreement
The Bretton Woods Agreement was signed in 1944 and pegged the currencies of 44 countries to the value of the US dollar, which, at that point, was pegged to the value of gold at $35 per ounce.
Eliminating complex foreign exchange risks between freely floating currencies to make global trade more efficient was the primary goal of the agreement.
In August 1971, US President Richard Nixon announced the end of the dollar’s convertibility to gold — formally ending the Bretton Woods agreement in a move that was supposed to be temporary.
“Your dollar will be worth just as much tomorrow as it does today,” Nixon incorrectly told Americans during his now-infamous address.
The IMF and the World Bank, which were spawned from the Bretton Woods agreement, continue operating in an attempt to curb the effects of free-floating fiat currencies on the foreign exchange market.
Bessent eyes stablecoins to protect the US dollar, BTC advocates have another idea
Speaking at the White House Digital Asset Summit on March 7, Bessent said stablecoins could drive international demand for US dollars and US government debt instruments.
Bessent added that the Trump administration will use stablecoins to protect the US dollar and its status as the global reserve currency.
Bitcoin maximalist Max Keiser argued against this plan, predicting that gold-backed stablecoins would outcompete dollar-pegged tokens due to the desire for low-volatility, inflation-resistant money.
In March this year, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink wrote that the $36 trillion US national debt could drive investors to Bitcoin (BTC) as market participants start to see BTC as a better store of value than the US dollar.
Bitwise executive Jeff Park voiced a similar prediction in February, focused on the effects of US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
The analyst wrote that the tumult from the ongoing trade war would cause worldwide inflation, which would cause individuals to seek alternative stores of value like Bitcoin, driving its price much higher in the long term.
Magazine: Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins
The Alabama Securities Commission, a financial regulator for the US state, dropped its lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase, which accused the company of violating securities laws by offering staking services to clients.
The regulator cited the ongoing work between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the crypto industry to develop clear crypto regulations as the primary reason for dropping the litigation, according to the April 23 legal filing shared by Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal.
The filing read:
“The SEC has announced the formation of a new task force to, among other things, provide guidance for the promulgation of rules regarding the regulation of cryptocurrency products and services.”
“Due to the foregoing, the Commission believes it would be apt to allow policymakers time to consider regulatory constructs,” the filing continued.
The Alabama Securities Commission filed its lawsuit against Coinbase in June 2023, alongside state regulators from California, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The Commission’s dropped lawsuit reflects the positive regulatory shift toward cryptocurrencies in the United States as reform at the federal level matriculates into state-level regulatory policy.
Related: Oregon targets Coinbase after SEC drops its federal lawsuit
US states drop Coinbase lawsuit but half still holding out
Five of the 10 states that filed the litigation against Coinbase for its staking services have dropped their lawsuits.
On March 13, Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation became the first of the 10 state regulators to drop the staking lawsuit against Coinbase.
South Carolina’s securities watchdog was the next to drop the 2023 litigation against Coinbase, dismissing the lawsuit on March 28.
Grewal announced that Kentucky’s Department of Financial Institutions followed Vermont and South Carolina’s lead on April 1 by also dismissing its Coinbase lawsuit.
Despite the domino effect of states rescinding litigation against the crypto exchange, the Coinbase chief legal officer said that more work needs to be done.
“Five holdouts are still electing to waste taxpayer resources on lawsuits, and four of those have banned staking with Coinbase, depriving consumers of the right to earn on their platform of choice,” Grewal wrote in an April 23 X post.
Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
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