UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the country is planning to set up “return hubs” in other nations. These hubs will be used to send back failed asylum seekers who are not allowed to stay in the UK. Starmer said this during his visit to Albania, where he is holding official talks.
Starmer explained that once an asylum seeker has gone through the UK system and is told to leave, the government wants to return them through these hubs. Talks are already ongoing with other countries to make this plan possible.
The UK government is under pressure to reduce the number of irregular migrants arriving, especially those crossing the Channel in small boats. Many people are now supporting the hard-right Reform UK party, which wants stricter immigration rules.
In July, the Labour government dropped the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda. This earlier scheme was highly criticized and never fully carried out. Now, Starmer is offering a new approach to deal with migration issues.
During his visit to Albania, Starmer shared more details of his immigration policy. These include cutting the number of care workers coming from overseas and making it harder for migrants to stay in the UK long term. He also wants faster deportation of foreign criminals.
These new rules are part of Labour’s plan to reduce the number of people coming into the UK. Starmer is also trying to stop the growing support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which did well in recent local elections by focusing on immigration.
Last year, Labour promised in its election campaign to lower net migration. The number stood at 728,000 up to June 2023, and it had gone as high as 906,000 earlier. This is a big jump compared to the 200,000 yearly average in the 2010s.
Along with legal migration, the UK is also seeing a record number of irregular migrants. So far this year, over 12,500 people have crossed the Channel to reach the UK, according to official numbers.