Britain was talking with several countries to host rejected asylum seekers as they wait to be deported, the UK prime minister said Thursday.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on a visit to Albania that the “return hub” concept was a “really important innovation” that could more effectively tackle irregular migration. He did not name the countries he was in discussions with or offer more details.
Albania already had a five-year agreement with Italy to potentially shelter up to 36,000 migrants annually while their asylum requests were fast-tracked by Italy.
Under the original deal – which differed from what the UK was proposing – Italy would take back any migrants whose requests were rejected and attempt to deport them. But the plan has, so far, failed due to repeated challenges in Italian courts.
In April, Italian authorities changed their migrant disembarkation agreement to a variation of the “return hub” model and transferred 40 people to Albania who lacked Italian residency permits and whose asylum requests had been denied. It was the first time a European Union country sent rejected asylum seekers to a non-EU country that was neither their own nor one they had transited through on their journey.