SIR Keir Starmer today confirmed he is seeking to deport failed asylum seekers to third countries despite scrapping the Rwanda scheme.
Speaking in Albania, the PM said he is in “talks” over setting up “Return Hubs” to house those who have exhausted their attempts to stay in Britain but refuse to return to their country of origin.
PASir Keir Starmer on a trip to Albania to try to tackle illegal migration[/caption]
AFPThe PM inspects some of the tactics being used in Tirana to stop illegal migration[/caption]
Source says the scheme is designed to act as “a deterrent to those wasting time to remain in the UK.”
Officials say it incentivise people to return to their own country rather than attempt to stay in Britain for as long as possible.
The PM said: “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.”
It’s understood a number of Balkans states are being considered including Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia with talks in early stages.
Speaking to GB News the PM added: “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.”
Around 100,000 asylum seekers are currently believed to be in the UK, with just 3 per cent of small boat arrivals returned home since the crisis erupted in 2018.
Even failed asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal options to stay in Britain sometimes cannot be deported because their home countries will not take them.
Migrants from hostile states like Taliban-run Afghanistan or the Mullah-led Iran – who have made up many small boat arrivals – are especially difficult to return and take time.
Others try to find eleventh-hour avenues to stay in the UK such as getting married or having kids, or even destroying their passports so it is impossible to know where they are from.
Under the PM’s plans these migrants would be sent to a third country like Albania while return to their home country is arranged so they cannot exploit loopholes to remain in Britain.
Ministers hope this will dramatically slash the ballooning costs of asylum hotels that is set to sting taxpayers for around £15.3billion over a 10-year period.
They also believe being sent to a less attractive country in Eastern Europe will incentivise migrants to make their own way home.
Sir Keir insists this is different from the Tories’ Rwanda plan that he axed on his first day in the job.
That scheme would have seen all illegal migrants sent to Kigali to begin a new life even if their asylum claim was later accepted.
The PM is struggling to get a grip on illegal migration as 12,000 small boat arrivals have already crossed from France this year – a record number.
Labour was thrashed in the local elections by Nigel Farage’s Reform, whose hardline stance has seen them open up a hefty poll lead.
GettyMore illegal migrants being brought ashore in Dover yesterday[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
