Sir Keir Starmer is “very interested” in Italy’s strategies to reduce irregular migration, the Prime Minister said as he visits Rome.
The “dramatic reductions” in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Italy is something the Government wants to understand, the Prime Minister said, signalling a desire to look at further “upstream” work to tackle criminal gangs involved in people smuggling.
The Prime Minister is visiting Rome as he continues his attempts to reset relations with the UK’s nearest neighbours, with migration expected to be at the top of the agenda.
Ms Meloni’s approach to border control has witnessed a 60% drop in arrivals by sea over the past year, and includes a processing deal with Albania which has been compared to the Rwanda scheme.
Asked how the UK could replicate Italy’s Albania deal, the Prime Minister told broadcasters in Rome: “I’m here to have discussions, here at this co-ordination centre and with the prime minister (Ms Meloni) about how we deal with unlawful migration.
“Here there’s been some quite dramatic reductions. So I want to understand how that came about.
“It looks as though that’s down to the upstream work that’s been done in some of the countries where people are coming from.”
He added: “I’ve long believed, by the way, that prevention and stopping people travelling in the first place is one of the best ways to deal with this particular issue.
“So I am very interested to know how that upstream work went, looking, of course, at other schemes, looking forward to my bilateral with the prime minister this afternoon, but we’ve already got a shared intent to work together on this trade, this vile trade, of pushing people across borders.”
Yvette Cooper had earlier insisted the Italy-Albania deal was not the same as the Rwanda plan Labour scrapped when it came to power.
“It’s very, very different. So the arrangement that they have in place – and look, it’s not working yet, so we don’t know how it will play out – but it is a very, very different approach,” she told BBC Breakfast.
The Home Secretary added: “First of all, this is Italian processing taking place in Albania. It has UNHCR oversight, so it is being monitored to make sure that it meets international standards.
“It’s being done in cooperation between those two countries, and what they’re actually doing is looking at those people who arrive in Italy, who have come from predominantly safe countries, and they’re using it as a way to try and fast-track decisions and returns.”
She also told the BBC there were four areas the Italians had pursued which interested the UK Government.
Alongside the Albania programme, she listed the Meloni government’s work tackling “organised immigration crime”, as well as work “upstream” in North African nations to prevent migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea, and a “major returns” scheme.
Ms Cooper said: “They’re speeding up returns for those who don’t have a right to be there. We’ve been doing that through the summer as well, so we’ve had a substantial increase in returns for people who don’t have a right to be in the UK, because the rules need to be respected and enforced.”
Responding to criticism of Italy’s migration policy, the Home Secretary added: “We’ve always had a history of working with governments that have different political parties that are not aligned.
“That is a sensible thing for any government to do. We have to work with democratically elected governments, particularly those who are our nearest neighbours, and particularly those where we have shared challenges that we have to face.”
Downing Street meanwhile said the Government needs to take “an international approach to an international challenge” on migration, when asked if the UK was concerned about the treatment of migrants in countries like Tunisia.
Amid reports some migrants have been abandoned in the North African nation, a Number 10 spokeswoman said: “Obviously we take that incredibly seriously and want to be working more closely with countries upstream.
“The principles that we’ll be following in everything that we do is that it is workable, affordable and in line with international humanitarian law.
“But it is vital that we stop people from starting these journeys, we’ve seen far too many deaths in the Mediterranean as well as the Channel.”
No 10 also said there were no plans to introduce further safe and legal asylum routes to the UK.
Sir Keir announced he was axing the previous Tory administration’s Rwanda deportation policy as one of his first moves in office, and declared ahead of his visit to Italy there would be “no more gimmicks” to curb migration.
He and Ms Cooper recently held a summit to tackle the gangs facilitating English Channel small boat crossings, as they refocus migration policy on organised crime.
