Starmer's bid to copy-paste Meloni's plan backfires

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s attempt to adopt a plan similar to the Italy-Albania asylum deal appears to have backfired.

Under latest plan to manage the illegal immigration crisis, Starmer has planned to send rejected asylum-seekers to ‘return hubs’ in third countries.

Starmer outlined the plan during a visit to Albania but suffered a setback when Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama refused to join hands with the United Kingdom. Prior to the refusal, media reports had said that Albania was one of the preferred partners of Starmer’s government for the plan.

The plan comes a year after Starmer junked the 'Rwanda plan' of the former Conservative government and called it a “gimmick”. Under the Rwanda plan, those illegally arriving in the UK from certain countries would be removed to Rwanda where their asylum claims would be processed by Rwanda under Rwandan laws. Those removed were not permitted to return to the UK.

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Starmer’s plan has attracted ire from Labour MPs, campaigners, and the Opposition. In recent months, the far-right party Reform UK of Nigel Farage has surged in popularity on the back of its anti-immigration stance. Cornered over the illegal immigration crisis and Farage’s milking of the situation, Starmer has arrived at the plan that appears too similar to the Rwanda plan.

Starmer has also faced liberal backlash for saying that the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” if immigration levels are not cut.

Is Starmer’s plan a copy of the ‘Rwanda plan’?

Under Starmer’s plan, asylum-seekers whose legal options in the UK are over or who are frustrating the legal system would be sent to these return hubs where they would await their repatriation to their home country.

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The British Prime Minister’s Office has said that the government is in discussions with a number of countries for such an arrangement.

The PMO said, “We are having formal discussions with partners across Europe on the prospects of collaborating on return hubs. Return hubs are targeted at failed asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal routes to remain in the UK but are currently here, costing millions of taxpayers.”

The PMO further said that asylum-seekers who use “stalling tactics” are also included in the plan.

Stalling tactics refer to claiming that they have lost their papers or starting a family in the UK while their claims under process to avoid deportation.

Under the Rwanda plan, those arriving in the UK illegally from designated ‘safe’ countries would be sent to Rwanda where Rwanda would process their asylum claims under Rwandan law.

Albania rejects UK’s plan over deal with Italy

In what the Opposition has dubbed an embarrassment, Albania refused to join hands for the plan and cited a similar deal with Italy as the reason.

Albanian PM Rama said that he would not consider a deal with the UK because his country already had a similar arrangement with Italy.

“We have been asked by several countries if we were open to it and we said no, because we are loyal to the marriage with Italy and the rest is just love,” said Rama, who reached the deal with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in 2023.

Under the Italy-Albania deal, Italy runs two centres in Albania where asylum applications of those caught trying to enter Italy in the sea are processed by Italian authorities under Italian law.