Keir Starmer is facing a Channel migrant challenge from his own MPs as he holds talks with his counterpart in Italy.
The Prime Minister is in Rome to meet Giorgia Meloni and the talks will focus on her tough approach to tackling small boats crossing the Mediterranean. Sir Keir was joined by former police chief Martin Hewitt, who was last night appointed as the UK’s new “border security commander.”
Downing Street said the Prime Minister wants to learn from the experience of Italy, which has cut the number of arrivals across the Mediterranean from 118,000 to 44,500 – a 62 per cent drop in the past year.
The two leaders will discuss a radical new scheme under which thousands of illegal migrants arriving in Italy would be sent to Albania to have their asylum claims processed. The issue has become even more urgent following the deaths of eight migrants trying to cross the Channel at the weekend.
Ms. Meloni believes the delayed scheme will act as a deterrent to those seeking a new life in Europe. However, unlike Britain’s earlier Rwanda scheme, those with valid asylum claims will eventually be allowed to settle in Italy.
Labour MP Kim Johnson told the Guardian:
“Meloni’s approach to Albanian migration has been described as a “model of mismanagement and a blueprint for abuse” by Human Rights Watch. It is disturbing that Starmer is seeking to learn lessons from a neo-fascist government – particularly after the anti-refugee riots and far-right racist terrorism that swept Britain this summer. Have we learned nothing from the Tories’ failures? Higher security and draconian deportation measures fail to dissuade desperate people from seeking asylum, and risk significant human rights violations. Instead, we should be focusing our efforts on the serious failures in our current asylum system – reduce the backlog of claims, end no recourse to public funds and restrictions on work, and strive to implement a just and humane system for asylum seekers and migrants.”
But Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told BBC Breakfast:
“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.”
Illegal migration breaks records again
On Saturday, a near-record 801 migrants crossed the Channel in just 14 small boats, and today tragedy struck, claiming the lives of eight more people.
Speaking about possible human rights abuses of migrants in Italy, Ms. Cooper said:
“I don’t think it’s immoral to go after the criminal gangs. Quite the opposite. I think it’s actually a moral imperative to make sure that we are pursuing the criminal gangs who are putting lives at risk.”
Sir Keir cancelled the Rwanda scheme in his first week in office, calling it an “expensive ploy.” But, speaking at the weekend, he showed interest in the Italian approach known as offshoring.
Asked about the Albanian scheme, he told reporters:
“Let’s see. It’s in early days, I’m interested in how that works, I think everybody else is.”
Italy and Tunisia co-operation
The Prime Minister will also discuss Italy’s deals with Tunisia and Libya, which have helped reduce the number of people travelling from the North African coast.
Almost £100 million has been paid to Tunisia to strengthen border security and improve the coastguard. Italy has also supplied patrol ships to help pick up migrants in Tunisian waters. In a separate deal aimed at strengthening diplomatic relations, Italy paid Tunisia £85 million to fund local education and economic programmes.
A No 10 spokesman said:
“The PM wants to discuss Meloni’s success in tackling illegal migration. Different countries will have different approaches and they will be discussing her country’s approach to tackling migration.”
Ministers are exploring similar diplomatic and financial deals with countries such as Vietnam, Turkey and Iraq, whose nationals make up thousands of migrants arriving in the UK each year.
Ms. Meloni has had a close relationship with Rishi Sunak and has been described by some Labour MPs as “far-right.” Sir Keir acknowledged the Italian prime minister had “strong views” on immigration but said he was interested in working more closely with her on the issue.
The Prime Minister and Mr. Hewitt will also visit a coastguard coordination centre in Italy today to learn from the experiences of a country at the forefront of the EU migrant crisis.
