Latest news with #migrant
The Sun
19 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
Migrant and his dog are rescued from Channel after spending three days adrift in a dinghy after its motor failed
A MIGRANT was rescued with his dog after surviving for three days in a rubber dinghy adrift in The Channel. The Afghan man, who gave his name as Barry, told rescuers he found pet Bella in a French refugee camp while fleeing the Taliban. 2 2 They set sail on the dangerous 21-mile journey earlier this week but the boat's engine failed before they reached Britain. Emergency services spotted a red distress flare fired at sea around 6.30pm on Wednesday off the coast of Brighton, East Sussex. A HM Coastguard helicopter helped bring Barry and Bella to shore an hour later alongside rescue teams and RNLI lifeboats. They were met by Sussex Police officers who transferred them to Border Force. The dog, believed to be a Lancashire Heeler, is the sixth pooch known to have entered the UK by small boat. Others were a mixed breed, Jack Russell, pomeranian, Yorkshire terrier and chihuahua, as previously revealed by The Sun. Due to not having correct documentation, they are quarantined for up to four months to prevent spreading infectious diseases like rabies. A Sussex Police spokesman said: 'Police assisted HM Coastguard following a report of a man in a boat off the coast of Brighton on Wednesday. 'The man and a dog were safely brought to shore and passed to Border Force officials.' A HM Coastguard spokesman added: 'HM Coastguard has responded to reports of a person in the water in waters between Brighton Marina and Pier. 'A man was located safe and well in a vessel that had reportedly experienced engine issues.'
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Migrant who raped girl, 15, after arriving in UK on small boat claims he was not aware of ‘cultural' differences
A MIGRANT who raped a 15-year-old girl after arriving in the UK on a small boat claimed he was not aware of the "cultural" differences. Sadeq Nikzad, 29, pounced on the teen in the street after luring her to the back of a pub. 2 She was found "dazed" by a passer-by following the horror in October 2023 - two years after Nikzad arrived in Britain as an illegal immigrant from Afghanistan. His defence lawyer Janice Green claimed the fiend has not been educated about the significant cultural differences between the UK and his home country where child marriage is common. She also tried to argue the language gap between him and the victim and the fact she did not say "no" meant it was "not a typical stranger rape". The lawyer said: "I'm not suggesting that means that he reasonably believed (the victim) was consenting, but that there's a reason why he could have misunderstood." Nikzad kicked off in court and branded the judge a "liar" after he was jailed for 12 years. He had to be handcuffed by security after he began screaming and gesticulating wildly in the dock. Nikzad will serve nine years in prison followed by three years on licence where he will placed on the sex offenders register. The predator will be deported at the end of his sentence, Livingston High Court heard. Passing sentence, Judge Morris told Nikzad through an interpreter: "I appreciate that you don't accept that you've done anything wrong, but the fact remains that you've been convicted of an extremely serious sexual offence against a child. "I know your counsel has now explained to you that in those circumstances only a substantial custodial sentence is appropriate." The court was told Nikzad entered the UK illegally two years before the attack. On October 16, 2023, the girl was walking through Falkirk town centre when she was approached by the fiend. Nikzad repeatedly requested her telephone number, uttered sexual remarks then led her into a courtyard where he raped her. The girl later said that she froze during the attack and was "quite shocked". A passer-by who found the teen said: "She looked stunned. I knew something had gone wrong. 'She came to me for comfort. She said she kept telling the guy she was only 15." Katrina Parkes, Procurator Fiscal for High Court Sexual Offences, said: 'This was an appalling, opportunistic attack on a young girl who should have been safe going about her daily business. 'The victim should be commended for reporting Sadeq Nikzad to the police, ensuring that he has now been held accountable while also protecting others from harm. 'This type of offending will not be tolerated, and I hope this prosecution sends a clear message to men who commit serious acts of sexual violence against women and children. 'I would urge anyone who has experienced similar crime to report it. You will be listened to and supported as we use every tool available in seeking justice.' 2
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Man and dog rescued near Brighton after three days in dinghy
A man and a dog, believed to have spent three days at sea in an inflatable dinghy, have been rescued off the coast of East Sussex.A lifeboat crew picked up the pair between Brighton Marina and Brighton Palace Pier on man, believed to be a migrant that had attempted to cross the English Channel, was heard telling rescuers he found the dog in a French refugee services launched a rescue operation after a red flare was spotted at about 18:30 BST. The man, who is thought to be from Afghanistan, and the dog were taken ashore about an hour is believed they had been drifting for three days in the dinghy after its engine failed. A HM Coastguard spokesperson said the man was located "safe and well" in a vessel that had reportedly experienced engine issues.A coastguard helicopter, lifeboats from Shoreham and Brighton, and coastguard rescue teams from Shoreham and Newhaven were deployed to the incident, they Police said it had assisted HM Coastguard during the incident and that the man and the dog were passed to Border Force officials.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Twenty-four hours after failing to board a small boat to get to England, a determined migrant on crutches finally succeeded
Less than 24 hours after abandoning his attempt to head for Britain, a desperate migrant on crutches finally succeeded in his bid to cross the channel. The bearded middle-aged man, who could only hobble towards the waves aided by a friend, was featured in today's paper as a graphic illustration of how France is unable to stop the tide of dinghies across the Channel. On Tuesday, despite the firing of tear gas grenades by 50 armed French police equipped with riot shields, your reporter watched as even this disabled migrant was able to slip through the thin blue line of gendarmes on Gravelines beach near Calais. And he reached the water – whereupon he was protected by increasingly controversial rules barring officers from even touching migrants or their dinghies. On that occasion he was not able to join maybe 60-plus fellow travellers on the giant 'taxi boat' dinghy which arrived to pick them up. Scores of others were hauled aboard as police and officials watched, from land and four sea craft, without doing anything. But the dinghy was too full for the disabled migrant to be pulled on, and he limped, sodden, back to shore. The Mail predicted he would surely try again the next day. He did just that, at the exact same spot. Scores of migrants were hauled aboard as police and officials watched, from land and four sea craft, without doing anything With no police even in sight this time, he was first in the queue to be dragged on to yet another 'taxi' dinghy. As the sun rose at 5.30am, his crutch was held aloft like Excalibur as his fellow migrants helped him aboard. Within minutes, as we again watched, the rubber boat was full to bursting, around 20 migrants sitting on each side and more in the middle. It then set off across the Channel towards England, passing over the horizon within a quarter of an hour. Whether it arrived is unclear. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who scrapped the Conservative plan to send small boat arrivals to Rwanda, continues to declare he will be able to 'smash the gangs' and stop the boats with the aid of French police, who we are sending millions to. Yet the migrants continue to exploit the loophole which means once they are in the sea, even up to the ankles, police will touch neither them nor their dinghies, through fear of harming them, meaning they are free to sail to England. And police have told the Mail there are simply too many migrants, and too much shoreline near England, for them ever to be stopped - particularly as they are confident they will be welcomed here. There may have been a reason no police were at dinghy hotspot Gravelines meanwhile. Sixteen police fans and a giant digger later turned up the main migrant camp a few miles inland between a major road and railway line at Grande-Synthe. Gazebos used by migrants as shops selling food, cigarettes and mobile phones, plus holding information on illicit channel crossings, were smashed to bits, and migrants told to keep away. Yet again, the effect was limited. Even with officers and the digger still there, a huge queue of 200 migrants and more soon gathered literally a stone's throw away to receive free food distributed by a charity. They showed no sign of wanting to go anywhere. Except England. A Kurdish Iraqi living in the area, who asked not to be named, said: 'Of course migrants are upset the police have destroyed their shops - and are searching the site for weapons used in feuds between them. 'But they'll just set up again nearby. And be even more determined to get in a dinghy across the Channel.' Latest figures show £3.1 billion was spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels in 2023-24, out of a total asylum support bill of £4.7 billion. More than 30,000 asylum seekers are housed in about 200 hotels across Britain, many of whom arrived illegally in dinghies, and ministers are looking at moving them into derelict tower blocks and student digs. But despite Ms Reeves' pledge to end the use of hotels, the Tories pointed out that the small print of her Spending Review documents revealed that £2.5 billion will still be spent each year on asylum support by the end of the decade.
CNN
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Federal officers arrest mayoral candidate Brad Lander at immigration court
New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was released from federal custody Tuesday afternoon, hours after he was arrested by officers at an immigration court in Manhattan when he tried to escort a migrant whom officers were attempting to arrest.
