Macron, Sunak to hold first meeting at COP27
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The French and British leaders will meet at the UN climate summit for the first time, and they are expected to address the ongoing migrant crisis.
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The COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet Monday on the sidelines of the 27th UN climate change conference, known as COP27, which will mark the first meeting between the two since the UK premiere assumed his post, the French President's office said.
Dozens of world leaders will be meeting in Egypt for COP 27 held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The two European leaders spoke over the phone in October, with London underlining that they had agreed to expand their cooperation on shutting down the Channel in the face of migrants.
Sunak stressed the "importance for both nations to make the Channel route completely unviable for people traffickers."
This year, a record 37,570 people have crossed the Channel to England in small boats.
The migrant crisis has been a major cause for concern in the United Kingdom, which vowed to implement tighter border control after it left the European Union.
It also gave rise to tensions between London and Paris, with the former accusing France of not doing enough to cut the flow of migrants.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the migrant coming into the United Kingdom were part of an "invasion: of the UK, which prompted outrage.
The newly appointed UN rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday called out Braverman over her controversial remark that the UK was facing an "invasion" of asylum seekers as "horrible".
"I'm glad that there is a strong reaction in Britain to that use of the word."
Recalling the times when he worked as the second in command at the UN refugee agency during the 2015-2016 migration crisis in Europe, Turk said, "It absolutely is the problem that we often see."
As the UK supposedly welcomes Ukrainian refugees with open arms, it has different plans for other immigrants, as the Home Office plans to reopen two immigration centers enough to house 1,000 asylum seekers.
Currently, the UK government runs seven immigration detention facilities, as well as a few short-term holding facilities throughout the nation, which can house 3,000 people at once.
On August 28, The Guardian reported that 50,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK could be made homeless next year, the UK government has been warned, but ministers are refusing to offer a fresh package of support to offset the impending crisis.
On October 26, The Washington Post reported that the EU is lagging on its commitments to provide Ukrainian refugees with appropriate accommodation, jobs, and schooling for their children.
Ever since the EU adopted the Temporary Protection Directive in March, Ukrainians were promised that they would be provided homes, jobs, and healthcare and have their children sent to school in whichever country of the 27 EU states they choose to settle in for up to three years.
Though it is clear that the extent of support is unprecedented, especially when compared to the Syrian migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016, many have expressed frustration over the constant moving and the difficulty of securing a job, with over 3 million Ukrainians who reportedly returned to Ukraine, either because it seemed safe enough or because life as a refugee was just too much to bear.
