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UK Bans Overseas Recruitment for Social Care in Sweeping Immigration Reform
UK Bans Overseas Recruitment for Social Care in Sweeping Immigration Reform
The UK government has announced an immediate ban on international recruitment for social care roles, part of a sweeping crackdown on what it calls “low-skilled migration.” In a firm declaration, the government stated that “skilled must mean skilled.”
The new measures, outlined in an 82-page Immigration White Paper released Monday, represent the most significant overhaul of Britain’s immigration system in decades.
“We will close social care visas to new overseas applications,” the Home Office announced.
“This route has been exploited and overused in ways that damage public confidence and do not support long-term workforce sustainability.”
According to a statement published on the UK Home Office website, the changes are aimed at overhauling the current system and restoring public trust.
Titled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, the paper sets out a strategy to reduce net migration, which the government says has quadrupled between 2019 and 2023.
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Immediate End to Care Worker Visas
The ban on new overseas care worker visa applications is effective immediately. Current visa holders already in the UK will be allowed to extend or switch their visas until 2028, during which time the government plans to implement a new domestic workforce strategy.
“The health and social care sector must move away from reliance on low-wage overseas recruitment,” the document stated.
“We will instead support long-term workforce planning and training within the UK.”
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Redefining ‘Skilled Work’
Central to the reform is a stricter interpretation of what constitutes skilled employment under the points-based immigration system. The government will increase requirements for salary, qualifications, and English proficiency, and eliminate what it describes as “loopholes for low-skilled migration under a skilled label.”
“We are tightening the definition of skilled work — skilled must mean skilled,” the White Paper said. “Work that does not meet the bar will not be eligible for a visa, no matter the sector.”
The paper also confirms the abolition of the Immigration Salary List, which previously allowed employers to recruit below the standard salary threshold.
“We will remove the Immigration Salary List to prevent undercutting of UK wages and to ensure that migration supports, rather than suppresses, the labour market,” it added.
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Employers Expected to Prioritize UK Workers
Employers will now be required to prove they have attempted to hire domestically before seeking foreign workers—particularly in industries that have historically depended on overseas labour.
“No employer should be allowed to default to migration. We are rebalancing the system to reward training, not reliance,” the Home Office said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the measures as “a bold, necessary reset.”
“We are acting to bring numbers down and restore control. We must rebuild public trust and end the perception that immigration is a substitute for skills planning,” Cooper said.
The White Paper closes with an unequivocal message: “We will not allow temporary migration routes to become permanent. Our reforms will restore integrity and ensure immigration works for Britain — not the other way round.”
CARICOM Calls for Nominations for 2025 Women, Youth Energy Awards
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has announced the opening of nominations for the 2025 editions of the Women in Sustainable Energy Awards (WISE) and the Sustainable Energy Youth Awards (SEYA), aimed at celebrating excellence, innovation, and inclusivity in the energy sector.
In a statement, the CARICOM Secretariat said nominations will remain open until 31 August 2025, urging citizens and residents across the region to either apply or nominate deserving peers, mentors or mentees.
The awards, organised in partnership with the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), are designed to spotlight the roles of women and youth as professionals, entrepreneurs, policy advocates and community champions driving the clean energy transition.
According to CARICOM, WISE seeks to honour women who have made outstanding contributions at community, national, regional, or international levels. Submissions will be assessed in four categories: Business/Entrepreneurship; Social Impact, Community and Advocacy; Policy and Regulations; and Utilities and Industry.
On the other hand, SEYA focuses on individuals between 16 and 35 years old, recognising young innovators and advocates whose work reflects creativity, leadership, and commitment to the sustainable energy movement across public, private, and civil society sectors.
Both awards will be presented at the 9th Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum (CSEF IX) scheduled to hold in Grenada from 28 to 30 October 2025.
The Secretariat noted that the initiative also seeks to promote gender diversity and intergenerational leadership as critical elements for the success of the region’s energy transition agenda.
Nigeria Deports 50 Chinese, Dozens of Others in Crackdown on Cybercrime Syndicate
Nigeria has deported dozens of foreigners, including 50 Chinese nationals, in a sweeping crackdown on what authorities described as one of the country’s “largest foreign-led cybercrime syndicates.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which coordinated the operation, said the deportations followed convictions for offences bordering on cyberterrorism and internet fraud.
“This brings the total number of repatriated convicted foreign nationals to 102 in the ongoing exercise,” the Commission announced in a statement.
The deportees were part of 192 suspects arrested in Lagos last Friday during a sting operation code-named Eagle Flush.
According to the EFCC, actionable intelligence had linked the suspects to a sprawling cybercrime ring operating across Nigerian cities.
Of those arrested, 148 were Chinese nationals, while the others included citizens of the Philippines and several West African countries.
Photos released on Thursday by the EFCC showed the foreigners lined up at an airport, wearing facemasks and clutching their luggage, moments before boarding flights back to their home countries. The agency added that “further deportations are scheduled in the coming days.”
This marks the second major clampdown on foreign cybercriminals in less than a year. In December last year, nearly 800 suspects — including 148 Chinese and 40 Filipinos — were arrested in connection with organised online romance scams and fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes.
Nigeria has long battled the scourge of cybercrime, popularly associated with so-called Yahoo Boys.
While local syndicates remain widespread, the involvement of foreign nationals has added a new layer to the country’s cyber-fraud landscape.
The EFCC links the rising wave of internet crime to youth unemployment, a weak regulatory environment and the lure of quick wealth.
Experts have also warned that the growing sophistication of these schemes poses a major risk to Nigeria’s digital economy.
Global tech giants have also waded into the fight. Last year, Meta — owners of Instagram and Facebook — removed thousands of Nigerian-linked accounts and more than 5,700 Facebook groups tied to sextortion and online scam networks.
Despite sustained enforcement, the Commission maintains that international collaboration remains key to breaking up transnational cybercrime networks.
Grief, Fear and Silence as Rebels Kill 140 in Eastern DR Congo
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused M23 rebels of killing at least 140 people, including women and children, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last month, describing it as one of the worst atrocities since the group resurfaced in late 2021.
The rights group, in a report released Wednesday, said the killings took place between July 10 and 30 in at least 14 villages near the Virunga National Park in Rutshuru territory.
Witnesses alleged that Rwanda-backed fighters used machetes and gunfire to attack residents, largely from the Hutu ethnic group, during an offensive against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Accounts from survivors detailed harrowing scenes. One man said he lost five members of his family on July 11 in Katanga area.
A woman recounted how rebels killed her husband with a machete before forcing about 70 women and children to sit along a riverbank, where they were shot at.
Another survivor told HRW he watched helplessly as his wife and four young children were murdered.
Victims’ families were reportedly ordered to bury corpses in nearby fields or leave them exposed, while several bodies were dumped into the Rutshuru River.
While HRW estimates at least 140 people were killed, it warned the death toll may exceed 300, citing corroborating findings by the United Nations earlier this month.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had reported that the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) backed the M23 in killings of at least 319 civilians across four villages in Rutshuru between July 9 and 21.
M23 has denied the allegations, accusing HRW of falsifying evidence and serving as “an instrument of propaganda” for the Congolese government. Its political allies in the AFC opposition bloc also dismissed the report as “hearsay” and “deceptively interpreted imagery.”
Rwanda, for its part, rejected the UN and HRW reports, insisting that it has no control over the rebels.
“The M23 is not Rwanda-controlled, and these questions should be raised with them,” Kigali said in a statement, warning that “sensational allegations” risk undermining peace efforts.
Fighting in eastern DRC escalated in January after M23 captured swathes of territory, including areas around Goma, the provincial capital.
The conflict has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes and left thousands dead, despite peace initiatives led by the United States and Qatar.
Last month, Kinshasa and the M23 signed a ceasefire agreement in Doha. But the truce faltered after the rebels pulled out of talks, accusing the government of reneging on its commitments. The Congolese army has also accused the M23 of fresh violations.
HRW has urged the UN Security Council, the European Union and partner governments to condemn the atrocities, impose sanctions, and ensure the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
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