British and French governments warn of global migration crisis News
British and French governments warn of global migration crisis

[JURIST] The British and French governments have warned in a joint article by British Home Secretary Theresa May [official profile] and French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve [official profile] that the world is facing a “global migration crisis.” The two government officials stressed that countries must make dealing with the increasing number of migrants a top priority. Britain and France have recently seen the desperate measures that immigrants will take to reach their destination. Those attempting to cross the 20-mile wide area of the English Channel between Calais, France and Dover, UK have been taking more dangerous risks [Telegraph report] to cross fences and other border security measures. They note that many of these migrants have originated further south in countries such as Italy and Greece, and they called on the countries to address the problem at its root. May also announced that the British government will be cutting weekly cash allowances that support failed asylum seekers in the country, hoping to curb interest in migrating to Britain.

Migration, as May and Cazeneuve wrote, continues to be a serious global problem. Last month Judge Dolly Gee of the District Court for the Central District of California ruled [JURIST report] that the current Department of Justice (DOJ) method of detaining children with their mothers violates a 1997 court settlement. Also in July the Migration Policy Institute released a report [JURIST report] finding that the Obama administration’s new policies that will protect up to 87 percent of undocumented immigrants in the United States from facing deportation. In June Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina announced [JURIST report] that the country had certified the citizenship of thousands whose status had been in question for almost a decade. Their citizenship was in question based on their Haitan-immigrant-parents illegal entry into the country. Also in June European Union leaders announced [JURIST report] that a final quota compromise had been reached regarding the large number of illegal immigrants arriving in Italy and Greece after crossing the Mediterranean sea.