ANARCHY IN UNCONTROLLED MIGRATION TO EUROPE: A FUTURE GLIMPSE OF GLOBAL WARMING MASSIVE REFUGEES

 

 

 

 

'Send gunboats to the Mediterranean': Australian PM warns Europe crisis will not stop until it copies tough stance on people-smugglers Tony Abbott insists tough line on migrants is the only way to stop deaths Said army should be deployed to prevent asylum seekers arriving on land He has ordered Australian military to turn back boats carrying migrants Controversial move has seen near-daily arrivals fall significantly, with no reported deaths at sea off the coast of Australia so far this year Europe has been urged to copy Australia's military-led 'stop the boats' policy to avoid migrant tragedies in the Mediterranean. Australian PM Tony Abbott – who sends naval gunboats to turn back asylum seekers before they reach Australia – said the EU should 'urgently' follow his lead. His hardline policy has proved controversial but Mr Abbott said it was the only way to prevent disasters such as the loss of 900 lives when a fishing boat capsized on Saturday night. +11 Hardline: Tony Abbott, whose conservative government introduced a military-led operation to turn back boats carrying asylum-seekers before they reach Australia, said harsh measures are the only way to stop deaths +11 +11 Haunted: Surviving immigrants who escaped the boat that capsized in the Mediterranean Sea killing up to 900 people appear deep in thought as they arrive in the Sicilian port city of Catania yesterday morning +11 Solemn: A young man, bows his head as he makes the short walk from the rescue boat's deck to the Catania shore where hundreds of people had gathered +11 New life: Members of the Italian Police look on as a migrant who survived the ship sinking off the coast of Libya walks the ramp of an Italian Coast Guard's vessel upon arrival at Catania's port yesterday morning He said: 'The only way you can stop the deaths is to stop the boats. 'That's why it is so urgent that the countries of Europe adopt very strong policies that will end the people-smuggling trade across the Mediterranean.' Conservative Mr Abbott won power in 2013 on a 'stop the boats' pledge, and not a single one has breached his ring of steel in 18 months. Operation Sovereign Borders involves the Australian Navy intercepting boats filled with migrants at sea, and either turning them back or towing them back to where they came from. Mr Abbott has previously said he was sick of being lectured to by the United Nations over Australia's obligations to refugees, saying his policy was the 'most decent, most compassionate' solution. In the Mediterranean, callous people smugglers have been exploiting a willingness by European nations to rescue migrants rather than send them back. Last year, Italy scaled back its rescue operations because it feared they were only encouraging migrants to gamble with their lives. But the horrific loss of life over the past week in a spate of migrant shipwrecks has prompted calls to urgently reinstate the rescue missions. EU leaders including David Cameron are meeting tomorrow in what charities are calling a 'life or death' summit to solve the problem. Save the Children warned that 2,500 youngsters could die in the Mediterranean this year. Chief executive Justin Forsyth said: 'EU leaders hold the lives of thousands of desperate people in their hands when they meet. 'With every day that they prevaricate and delay restarting search and rescue operations, the risk grows that more people will die.' +11 Taken to safety: An unknown survivor of the Mediterranean migrant tragedy is wheeled off an Italian coastguard ship in the Sicilian city of Catania +11 Horror: A man carries the body of a dead child onto the Greek island of Rhodes after a boat carrying dozens of people ran aground, killing at least three in one of a number of tragedies involving migrants in recent days +11 Chaos: Video footage shows a large, wooden double-masted boat with people packed on board, just metres away from the Greek island of Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea Lucky rescue for migrants stranded on rock at sea in Turkey AUSTRALIA'S HARDLINE POLICY Migrant boats approaching Australian waters are turned back by the Navy or sometimes even towed back to where they came from. Any vessels which manage to get close are taken under naval escort to the Pacific islands of Nauru or Papua New Guinea, where they are detained while migrants' asylum claims are processed. Migrants are then matched with a country that will resettle them. Those detained on Nauru are sent to Cambodia, which is paid to take them by the Australian government. A similar arrangement exists with Papua New Guinea for those detained there. Any migrants who actually make it to Australia by sea are automatically blocked from staying – even if they are found to be genuine refugees. The controversial scheme – which began 18 months ago has been attacked by human rights advocates who say it violates Australia's international obligations. However the government says it has greatly reduced the number of illegal immigrants arriving on Australian shores. Yesterday Mr Cameron pledged the UK would 'make a contribution' to search and rescue operations. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said refugees also needed to be persuaded to stay in their home countries in the first place. 'We've got to start in the upstream countries. We've got to deal with the traffickers,' he said, adding he 'absolutely' supported a 'more formidable operation on the sea'. Ed Miliband said the Government's policy of 'leaving people to drown' had been 'wrong'. The Labour leader said: 'Frankly I think it is a stain on Europe to have these things happening. 'We've got to act on search and rescue, and that is about basic humanity and I think that people all around the country will recognise this.' London Mayor Boris Johnson said Britain had a 'moral duty' to do more. 'I think it is an absolute tragedy and obviously we must do whatever we can to help the humanitarian response,' he said. One of the architects of Australia's tough border policies, retired Army Major-General Jim Molan, said European leaders were guilty of 'incompetence'. Mr Molan said the tragedies were 'worsened by Europe's refusal to learn from its own mistakes and from the efforts of others who have handled similar problems'. In the Mediterranean, the tide of human misery has only worsened. Saturday's disaster was the most catastrophic in a series of migrant shipwrecks that have claimed more than 1,700 lives this year – 30 times higher than the same period in 2014. In the past week alone, more than 1,000 have died. Border chiefs have warned that one million migrants are waiting to set sail off the coast of Libya, with the need for drastic action to address the crisis greater than ever before. Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has warned of a 'genocide' and said: 'Europe will be judged harshly for its inaction.' +11 +11 Rescue: A woman is laid to the ground after being rescued by Greek men as she tried to reach Europe aboard a wooden boat which ran aground on the island of Rhodes, killing three people +11 Saved: Three people died after a boat carrying dozens of migrants ran aground on the Greek island of Rhodes Infra-red camera shows rescuers trying to locate survivors UP TO 1,000 FEARED DEAD AFTER WEEKEND OF WORST MARITIME DISASTERS FOR DECADES Sunday morning: Italian coastguard responds to migrant ship after it capsizes off the coast of Libya with 700 passengers unaccounted for Sunday afternoon: Passengers accounts of the ship say as many as 950 people may have been on board with 300 locked in the hull. Another boat is rescued off Sicily carrying 100 Syrian refugees. They are all brought to safety Monday morning: A boat runs aground on the Greek holiday island of Rhodes killing a man, woman and child Monday afternoon: Italian and Milanese coastguards respond to two distress calls off the coast of Libya from boats thought to be carrying up to 400 people. EU heads of state call for urgent action to ease the migrant crisis with an emergency summit called for later in the week Monday at midnight: The surviving passengers of the Libyan boat arrive in Catania, Sicily. Among them is the crew's Tunisian captain and his Syrian crew member. Both were arrested and charged with 'favouring illegal immigration'. The captain was additionally charged with multiple manslaughter.   Australia begins controversial policy of processing asylum seekers AT SEA: New rules mean migrants are dealt with without ever setting foot on land A group of Vietnamese asylum seekers sailing to Australia were rejected before they had even reached land - thanks to a new immigation policy Down Under. But the screening of immigrants while they were at sea was condemned by the United Nations, which said they should be properly assessed on land. Until now, Australia has forced boat migrants to live in detention centres across the Pacific in Nauru and Papua New Guinea while their claims are processed. Scroll down for video +4 The Australian navy ship HMAS Choules transported the Vietnamese immigrants back to Vietnam this month The latest policy of not allowing migrants to disembark anywhere came to light a day after Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott urged Europe to adopt his tough immigration policies. He claimed these would stop the boat-loads of migrants currently making their way across the Mediterranean from Africa. According to the UN's refugee agency UNHCR, the group of 46 Vietnamese migrants set sail to Australia in March. They were detected by the Australian navy earlier this month and assessed at sea. All of them were rejected and transported back to Vietnam on the navy's landing vessel HMAS Choules. The two-week mission by the navy vessel, pictured in Sydney harbour last year, is thought to have cost £1.5m The migrants were offloaded in the port city of Vung Tau, south of Ho Chi Minh City, last Friday, according to Australia's ABC News. The two-week mission by HMAS Choules is said to have cost the navy around £1.5million.  The Australian government today refused to comment on 'operation matters'. But the Opposition accused Mr Abbott's Liberal Party of a 'new low' with regards to the secrecy surrounding what happens to asylum seekers. +4 Boat migrants found and rescued in the Mediterranean yesterday are taken to the Italian port of Salerno by an Italian navy ship (pictured). So far this week the crossing has claimed the lives of 1,700 asylum seekers +4 Rescued migrants picked up by another Italian navy ship yesterday line up after disembarking in Sicily +4 Tough stance: Australia's PM Tony Abbott this week The operation was also criticised by UNHCR. Its spokeswoman Vivian Tan said: 'We're concerned that people may not have had access to proper procedures. 'We are concerned that the group wasn't screened and assessed in a way that's fair and effective, that somehow their lives may be at risk.' And Phil Robertson of the international campaign group Human Rights Watch echoed those concerns, saying: 'I think that probably these people had no access to counsel or [were not] able to prepare their case. 'And certainly they had no access to appeal.' Yesterday Mr Abbott lectured Europe on how to deal with the migrant-boat crisis in the Mediterranean. This week alone, the perilous crossing from Africa has claimed 1,700 lives. The captain of one boat, Mohammed Ali Malek, 27, was charged with multiple manslaughter after his vessel capsized on Monday, claiming the lives of up to 900 people. Yesterday new images were released of Italian navy vessels rescuing more asylum seekers and taking them to Italian ports. Mr Abbott told European leaders on Tuesday: 'The only way you can stop the deaths is to stop the boats.' He won power in 2013 on his pledge to stop immigrants entering Australia by sea. Their vessels are now turned away or towed back - and occupants are sent to the Pacific detention centres. There is also a guarantee that they will never be able to live in Australia. In the last 18 months, not a single boat has breached the country's ring of steel.

'There will be bloodshed': Stark warning from Greek mayor after Kos police use batons and fire extinguishers to break up 1,500 strong refugee protest at football stadium Migrants started pushing and shoving in a queue during a registration procedure at a stadium of Kos town There were only a handful of police officers left to control a crowd of approximately 1,500 jostling migrants Officers used were left trying to impose order on the crowd by hitting the fighting migrants with their batons Yorgos Kyritsis said island was 'out of control' adding: 'There is a real danger of uncontrollable situations' The mayor of Kos has warned of impending 'bloodshed' after chaos broke out among 1,500 refugees who staged a protest at a football stadium, demanding food and shelter. Yorgos Kyritsis issued the warning as the holiday island descended into a battlefield, with police spraying migrants with fire extinguisher foam in an effort to get them to disperse. The incident took place during a registration procedure which was taking place at the stadium of Kos town, on the south east of the island. Mr Kyritsus lambasted the situation as being 'out of control', adding: 'There is a real danger of uncontrollable situations. Blood will be shed.' He claims there are already 7,000 migrants stranded on Kos which has a population of just 30,000 people. A handful of officers were left trying to impose order on the crowd by hitting the jostling migrants with batons and eventually resorted to blasting them with foam, causing hundreds to flee in panic. Scroll down for video +29 Foam: Police officers on Kos were forced to spray crowds with fire extinguishers in a desperate effort to get them to disperse +29 Covered: A handful of police officers resorted to blasting the crowds with foam, causing hundreds of migrants to flee in panic +29 Policemen try to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with fire extinguishers, on the Greek island of Kos yesterday +29 Battle: A handful of undercover police officers were left trying to impose order on the crowd by hitting the jostling migrants with batons Overwhelmed Kos authorities are struggling to contain increasing numbers of people arriving clandestinely on rubber dinghies from the nearby Turkish shore. Hundreds of protesting migrants demanding quick registration began blocking the main coastal road in the island's main town yesterday morning, staging a sit-in. 'We want papers, we want to eat!' they chanted. But some of the migrants, so desperate to find a better future and prepared to risk life and limb to achieve it, appear to have resigned themselves to the futility of the situation. As the ugly confrontation with the police unfolded, one migrant said: ‘What can I say – is this Europe? If this is Europe, we’re going back to Syria.’ Another said: ‘We want only to go from this island because we live in a miserable way. No bathrooms, no hotels, no places to sleep in.’ Many of those on Kos, a popular tourist destination, had been camping in the main town's parks and squares. An attempt to have them relocated to a stadium for registration degenerated, with fights breaking out among some of the roughly 1,500 people gathered in a long, crowded queue in the stadium. Police, who had a force of just a handful of officers to maintain control and carry out the registration, tried to impose order on the crowd by spraying the jostling migrants with fire extinguishers and using batons. Hundreds fled in panic. Migrants turn violent over demand for immigration papers   +29 A policeman confronts a migrant with a truncheon during a registration procedure at the stadium on the Greek island of Kos +29 Threatened: Overwhelmed Kos authorities are struggling to contain increasing numbers of people arriving clandestinely on rubber dinghies from the nearby Turkish shore +29 Hundreds of protesting migrants demanding quick registration began blocking the main coastal road in Kos' main town yesterday +29 A policeman in plain clothes hits a migrant, as another sprays a fire extinguisher in an attempt to disperse hundreds of migrants +29 Running in panic: Policemen try to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with fire extinguishers yesterday morning On Monday an officer on Kos was suspended after being filmed slapping and shoving migrants queueing outside the local police station as they waited to be documented so they could go on to Athens. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last week said the refugee crisis 'surpasses' his crisis-hit nation's resources and called for European Union assistance. The UN refugee agency's division for Europe said last week that 124,000 refugees and migrants have landed in Greece since the beginning of the year. Similar protests and tension have occurred on several of the islands bearing the brunt of the migrant influx in recent weeks, including Lesbos, where the majority of new arrivals land. Greece's coast guard said it had rescued 329 migrants in seven separate search and rescue incidents off the coast of Lesbos and Kos in the 24 hours from Monday morning. Those figures do not include the hundreds more who reach shore themselves in their inflatable dinghies from Turkey, making their own way to the islands' main towns for registration. Greece has been overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving, with at least 124,000 people reaching the eastern islands in the first seven months of this year alone. The figure represents a staggering 750 percent increase over the same period last year, according to figures from the United Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR. In all, Greek police said Monday that 156,726 migrants had been arrested for entering or remaining in the country illegally from January through July 2015, compared to 32,070 for the same months in 2014. +29 Crowds: Hundreds of migrants gather for a registration procedure at the stadium in Kos town on the Greek island +29 Packed: Hundreds of migrants demanding quick registration began blocking the main coastal road in the island's main town +29 Thirst: Hundreds staged a sit-in in Kos town yesterday. 'We want papers, we want to eat!' they chanted +29 Fainting: A migrant woman faints as she waits to register her presence in Kos at a registration procedure at a stadium on the Greek island The news comes as it was revealed that Greece's coast guard rescued more than 1,400 migrants in nearly 60 search and rescue operations near several Greek islands over the past three days as the pace of new arrivals increased. Tens of thousands of people, many of them fleeing war and conflict in Syria and Afghanistan, have been making their way from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies, overwhelming cash-strapped and understaffed authorities on the islands. The vast majority then head to mainland Greece and from there, try to access more prosperous European Union countries by either walking across the Balkans from northern Greece or sneaking onto Italy-bound ferries from the west. Meanwhile, migrants continued their attempts to break into the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais in a bid to reach Britain through the Channel Tunnel. The 1,417 migrants rescued between Friday morning and Monday morning were picked up at sea in 59 separate incidents off the coasts of the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Agathonisi and Kos in the eastern Aegean Sea, the coast guard said. Those figures do not include the hundreds of others who manage to reach the islands' coasts themselves, walking to the main towns to turn themselves in to local authorities and receive registration papers. +29 Despair: Hundreds of migrants gather for a registration procedure at the stadium of Kos town yesterday +29 Pushing: A policeman hits a migrant as police try to disperse hundreds of migrants during a registration procedure in Kos town +29 Shoving: On the island of Kos alone, more than 150 migrants in at least six boats landed on the shore in the early hours of yesterday On the island of Kos alone, more than 150 migrants in at least six boats landed on the shore in the early hours of Monday morning. Some 40 Syrians waved and cheered as their boat arrived at the popular tourist destination. Men jumped into the water to help women and children off the dinghy, with one man so overcome with emotion that he began to sob. Mukhtar, a Somali migrant who arrived further north, on the island of Lesbos, said he had made his way to Greece in an effort to get to Norway where his family lives. 'I haven't seen my family for 20 years,' said Mukhtar, who would only give his first name, in Mytilene, the island's capital. 'I want to see my family.' He is one of some 124,000 migrants who reached the Greek islands by boat in the first seven months of 2015, a staggering 750 per cent increase from the same period last year, according to the UNHCR, the United Nations' refugee agency. In July alone, there were 50,000 arrivals, about 70 per cent from Syria. Boats full of migrants arrive on the Greek island of Kos   +29 Arrival: Greece's coast guard rescued more than 1,400 migrants in nearly 60 search and rescue operations near several Greek islands over the past three days as the pace of new arrivals increased +29 Coming in: Tens of thousands of people, many of them fleeing war and conflict in Syria and Afghanistan, have been making their way from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies +29 Rescue: The vast majority then head to mainland Greece and from there, try to access more prosperous European Union countries by either walking across the Balkans from northern Greece or sneaking onto Italy-bound ferries from the west +29 Background: The 1,417 migrants rescued between Friday morning and Monday morning were picked up at sea in 59 separate incidents off the coasts of the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Agathonisi and Kos (pictured) in the eastern Aegean Sea, the coast guard said +29 Saved: A Syrian refugee family arrives on a dinghy at a beach on the Greek island of Kos yesterday The vast majority land on five islands: Lesbos, Chios, Kos, Samos and Leros, the UNHCR said in a statement released Friday. 'It was very dangerous by the sea. We travelled four times, they caught us three times but the fourth time ... we came here on a safe boat,' Mukhtar said.  The migrants pay large sums to get to Europe. Just the short crossing from Turkey to Lesbos costs 'approximately $500' said Sajid, a migrant from Afghanistan. Arrivals have become so frequent they are now seen as routine by locals. +29 Going for a run: A tourist jogs along a promenade past migrants overlooking a beach at Kos town yesterday evening +29 Sitting down: Tourists ride bicycles behind migrants on a bench at a promenade of Kos town yesterday +29 Families: Migrants make their way through a tourist area of Kos town yesterday evening On Kos, local residents and hotel employees watched unfazed on Sunday as a dozen Pakistani migrants punctured their life raft and gathered their belongings as soon as they landed, and asked for directions to the nearest migrant detention centre. The migrants' trip is fraught with danger and anxiety about getting turned back. Greece, in the throes of its worst ever financial crisis, is straining to accommodate the inflow. The new leftist government closed a large detention centre outside Athens in February, leaving migrants to set up tents in public parks. It is now building a new centre in central Athens where it says migrants will be free to come and go as they please. It expects to start moving people from parks by Tuesday. +29 Taken in: A Turkish coast guard helps a Syrian migrant family disembark in Cesme, near the Turkish port city of Izmir yesterday +29 Lifted: A young Syrian migrant baby arrives in Cesme, near the Aegean port city of Izmir in Turkey +29 A new start: Members of the Turkish coast guard help a Syrian migrant family to disembark on the shore in Cesme, Turkey +29 A large group of migrants from Syria were brought to Cesme by the Turkish coast guard who intercepted them as they were trying to reach a Greek island by boat +29 Ashore: Syrian migrants stand on the shore in Cesme, near the Aegean port city of Izmir in Turkey     Images show how the Calais migrant camp has sprawled to the size of a small town that is now home to some 5,000 refugees (and even has its own farm, mosque and shop) Up to 150 migrants arriving each day at shanty town – dubbed the 'New Jungle' – before trying to sneak into Britain Refugees use camp as springboard to launch dangerous bids to jump on truck and trains, sparking travel mayhem These remarkable aerial photographs show how the Calais migrant camp has ballooned to the size of a small town that is now home to some 5,000 refugees.  Up to 150 migrants are arriving each day at the controversial shanty town – dubbed the 'New Jungle' – before trying to sneak into Britain. The tented community is now so established in the dunes just outside the French port that the migrants even have their own shops, churches, mosques and a farm.  Many use the camp as a springboard for launching dangerous attempts to reach the UK by jumping onto lorries and Eurotunnel trains which have sparked a summer of travel misery for British holidaymakers. Scroll down for video  +12 Sprawling: An aerial view tented migrant camp dubbed the 'New Jungle' which is now understood to be home to some 5,000 migrants +12 Staging post: Up to 150 migrants are arriving each day at the shanty town in the dunes outside Calais before trying to sneak into Britain +12 Making themselves at home: The tented community is now so established the migrants have their own shops, churches, mosques and a farm +12 Many are using the camp as a springboard for launching dangerous attempts to reach the UK by jumping onto lorries and Eurotunnel trains The camp – which is also known as 'Jungle Two' – has been branded an 'intolerable humanitarian scandal' and a 'government-sanctioned slum' by activist groups. The migrants moved to the dunes after they were kicked out of their former camp, called the Jungle. State authorities pushed them away from the city to the wasteland next to the Jules Ferry centre, which was renovated with a £3million EU grant to shelter women migrants. It also now provides food and shower facilities for the thousands of men who have set up camp nearby. +12 The 'town' – estimated population 5,000 – already boasts three shops, selling essentials such as tinned food, fizzy drinks and washing up liquid (and with someone else's supermarket trolleys outside) +12 In response to criticism about the conditions, France has vowed to spend £360,000 improving the camp, which lies near the English Channel +12 Solace: Christians mainly from Eritrea have built this church in the 'New Jungle' migrant camp in Calais after fleeing their native country +12 A mosque which has been built in the Calais migrant camp. The new town, recently described by aid workers as 'the worst in Europe – if not the world', is seen as a 'tolerated zone' by the French authorities +12 The migrant camp is just a few hundred metres from the ferry and Eurotunnel terminals, giving them prime position to try to sneak into Britain Between 50 and 150 migrants are said to be arriving in Calais every day as increasing numbers make their way to Europe across the Mediterranean.  Many living in the New Jungle camp have fled conflicts in Syria, Libya and sub-Saharan Africa, while others have arrived by land, often travelling from places like Afghanistan via the Balkans.  The new town, also recently described by aid workers as 'the worst in Europe – if not the world', is seen as a 'tolerated zone' by the French authorities.    +12 The migrants hope to gain entry to the Britain, just 21 miles away across the English Channel, but in May, French police destroyed their camp and told the migrants to go elsewhere. And so they moved... across the street +12 Slum: The new town, described by aid workers as 'the worst in Europe – if not the world', is seen as a 'tolerated zone' by the French authorities +12 Many living in the camp made the perilous boat crossing across the Mediterranean, having fled conflicts in Syria, Libya and sub-Saharan Africa In response to the criticism about the conditions by the UN and other aid groups, France has vowed to spend €500,000 (£360,000) improving the camp, which lies close to the English Channel. News of the makeover provoked a furious response earlier this year from France's former employment minister Xavier Bertrand, who blamed Britain's 'black jobs market' for attracting thousands of migrants to Calais. He said: 'This means the English – and here is the hypocrisy – have a cheap labour market because illegal immigrants are paid so much less.' 'If Mr Cameron wants to hold a debate about the European Union, he should first stop this hypocrisy. 'It's not an 'a la carte' EU where you can choose only the bits of it you want...We need to say very clearly to people who arrive in Europe that there are no more jobs or welfare benefits here.'