British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the UK is in talks with other countries to set up “return hubs”;; aimed at deporting failed asylum seekers more efficiently.
Speaking during an official visit to Albania on Thursday, Starmer told GB News that the initiative would allow the UK to return persons whose asylum claims have been rejected.
“What we want to do and are having discussions of... is return hubs, which is where someone has been through the system in the UK, they need to be returned... and we’ll do that, if we can, through return hubs,”;; Starmer said.
The move comes as the Labour government faces increasing pressure to tackle the rising number of irregular migrants arriving in the UK, particularly those making dangerous Channel crossings in small boats.
The issue has gained political urgency amid a surge in support for the anti-immigrant, hard-right Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage.
Starmer’s visit to Albania – a key country of origin for many of the migrants – is largely focused on migration cooperation and border enforcement. Cracking down on illegal migration has been a cornerstone of his administration’s recent policy push.
Last July, Labour scrapped the controversial Conservative-era plan to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda.
However, the Starmer government has since introduced a series of tough new immigration measures. These include curbing the number of overseas care workers, doubling the time migrants must stay in the UK before being eligible for settlement, and granting broader powers to deport foreign criminals.
The policy announcements are widely seen as part of Labour’s effort to reassure voters concerned about immigration, particularly after Reform UK made significant gains in this month’s local elections.
Labour had pledged in its general election manifesto to significantly reduce net migration, which stood at 728,000 in the 12 months leading up to June 2024. That figure followed a peak of 906,000 in 2023, far above the average of 200,000 seen throughout most of the 2010s.
Alongside high legal migration, the UK continues to face record numbers of irregular arrivals. More than 12,500 migrants have crossed the English Channel so far this year, according to data from the UK’s Home Office.
No specific partner countries for the proposed “return hubs”;; have been confirmed, but Starmer indicated that discussions are ongoing and that further details would be announced in due course.
