Martyn Brown discusses Keir Starmer’s Albania visit
Failed asylum seekers will be deported to the Balkans as part of a major U turn to curb illegal migration.
Overseas “return hubs” will be used to house the migrants once they have exhausted all avenues of appeal in the UK.
Despite deriding and scrapping the Tories Rwanda scheme, Sir Keir Starmer hopes the move will act as a “deterrant” for migrants who want to cross the Channel and reduce the burden on taxpayers.
The Prime Minister kicked off talks in Albania today.
Keir Starmer meets with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer ahead of being shown the procedures carried out by search teams (Image: PA)
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in Albania (Image: Getty Images)
Countries who could host such hubs include Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and North Macedonia. Any deal would require Britain to pay for each failed asylum seeker relocated. The prime minister has put a promise to “smash the gangs” at the heart of his attempts to reduce illegal migration.
It comes as small boat crossings continue to surge with almost 13,000 illegal migrants arriving in the UK this year.
The scheme would be similar to the one where Italy deports migrants to Albania for processing.
The European Union announced in March that it approved of member states pursuing return hubs and Starmer is said to be keen to collaborate with other European countries.
The Netherlands is in negotiations with the Ugandan government about opening a return hub.
Keir Starmer speaks with a drone operator in Albania (Image: Getty Images)
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has endorsed the idea of return hubs and set out how they could meet human rights standards.
UK officials are expected to carry negotiations throughout the summer.
Speaking at the Albanian port of Durres, Sir Keir said: “What now we want to do and are having discussions of, talks of, is return hubs which is where someone has been through the system in the UK, they need to be returned and we have to make sure they’re returned effectively and we’ll do that, if we can, through return hubs.
“So that’s what the talks are about. I would say in this area no single measure is going to be the measure that is, if you like, a silver bullet.
“By putting it all together – arrests, seizures, agreements with other countries, returning people who shouldn’t be here, and return hubs, if we can through these talks to add to our armoury, will allow us to bear down on this vile trade and to make sure that we stop those people crossing the Channel.”
Returns Hubs are different to the Rwanda scheme which involved the outsourcing of our asylum system to another country.
The government insists that asylum removals are now at their highest rate in eight years.
The Prime Minister is in the Albanian capital ahead of a European summit in Tirana tomorrow.
It is the first visit to the state by a British premier.
The visit comes amid a busy week of crossings that has pushed arrivals from France to 12,699 already this year – 30% higher than the same period last year.
Sir Keir and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama will announce measures to clamp down on people-smuggling, including using British drones to monitor criminals sneaking migrants through the region.
Sir Keir and Mr Rama are also set to tackle organised crime, including sharing DNA swabs of Albanian criminals.
There has been a 95 per cent reduction in the number of migrants from Albania crossing the Channel. The number returned to Albania has more than doubled from 2,035 two years ago to 5,294.
