Overview
- Dozens of recent arrivals from Iran have reached the Loon-Plage camp near Dunkirk after transiting via Turkey, with migrants at the site saying more people are on the way.
- UK officials recorded the year's busiest day on 26 February with 605 small-boat arrivals, bringing the tally to 2,688 by early March.
- Border Force conducted an interception on 5 March, with the vessel Hurricane bringing people ashore at Ramsgate in Kent.
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out reforms that would shorten refugee permission to 30 months, replace the duty to provide asylum support with a discretionary power, tighten visa and language rules, and expand incentives and enforcement for returns.
- More than 100 Labour MPs have publicly opposed the package, warning of social and legal risks, as context shows Iranians accounted for about 11% of last year’s Channel crossings and have been the most common nationality among UK asylum seekers over the past decade.