Keir Starmer has confirmed he wants to send failed asylum seekers to foreign countries, in his latest crackdown on illegal immigration.
Speaking during a visit to Albania, the prime minister said he would look to create “return hubs” abroad for those who have no chance of appeal in the UK.
Sir Keir told GB News: “What now 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 have to make sure they’re returned effectively and we’ll do that, if we can, through return hubs.”
But he said there was no “silver bullet” to solve the problem.
The announcement comes amid rising pressure on the government after the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats passed 12,000 for the year, putting 2025 on course to be a record.
The move comes just a year after the Labour government scrapped the Conservatives’ controversial Rwanda scheme, which would have sent asylum seekers on a one-way trip to the African country, even if their claims were later successful, just days after entering office.
Speaking on Thursday, the prime minister said the UK was in talks “with a number of countries” on return hubs, which he said were “a really important innovation”.
His spokesman said they would “would provide an opportunity to cut through the existing red tape and remove some of those barriers to remove people” – which in turn would result in taxpayers spending less money on asylum accommodation, he argued.
But the hubs have so far been announced with very little detail on how it will work in practice, how much money it would save and where people who have been removed would be housed.
The prime minister’s spokesman claimed failed asylum seekers are using “stalling tactics” to prevent deportation, including losing their paperwork and even “starting families”.
“The objective is to remove people who have exhausted all routes to staying in the UK and have no lawful basis to remain here”, he said of the “return hubs”.
“We have seen people in the past arriving from safe countries but then using stalling tactics such as losing their paperwork or starting a family to frustrate that removal”.
The government would not comment on which countries would be involved in the talks, but Sir Keir’s Albanian counterpart Edi Rama ruled out housing a return hub for the UK during a press conference between the two leaders.
Downing Street said the government is having “formal discussions with partners across Europe”.
It has previously been reported that the deal could be struck with countries in the western Balkans – which includes Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Sir Keir admitted return hubs would not in themselves halt the boats but he said that, combined with other measures designed to tackle smuggling gangs and return those with no right to be in the UK, it would “allow us to bear down on this vile trade and make sure that we stop those people crossing the Channel”.
But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the scheme will not work because it is “weaker than the Rwanda plan”.
“Starmer is making an effort, but this will not stop the boats”, she posted to X.
“People will still try their luck knowing they can stay in Britain if granted asylum so it won’t get rid of asylum hotels in the UK. We left Labour a real deterrent. This is weaker than the Rwanda plan and won’t work.”
Italy currently operates a similar programme with Albania, sending failed asylum seekers to the country while they await deportation.
The Italian scheme had been intended to provide offshore processing for migrants, but that plan has been held up by legal action.
The latest developments come just days after the PM used a dramatic early morning press conference on Monday to unveil a new crackdown to curb rising migration numbers, in which he said the UK risks becoming “island of strangers” as a result of migration.
The prime minister faced backlash over the language, which was compared to Enoch Powell’s infamous 1968 “rivers of blood” speech, which whipped up a frenzy of anti-immigration hatred across the UK.
The government has been accused of attempting to pander to Nigel Farage in its harder line stance on immigration after Reform UK took nearly 700 seats at the local elections after a surge in the polls.
Among the measures announced were a ban on the recruitment of care workers from overseas, increased English language requirements for immigrants and the tightening of access to skilled worker visas.
Sir Keir’s language marked an extraordinary turnaround in the last five years from when he was Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow immigration minister promoting open borders and from three years ago when he claimed that those raising immigration as an issue were “racist”.
It follows a steady creep to the right on migration from Labour, with the government using increasingly tough rhetoric and publishing videos of immigration raids targeting illegal workers.
The UK has also agreed a “joint statement of intent” on defence industry co-operation with Albania, Sir Keir said.
The two countries would “work together on the manufacture and sale of military vehicles,” he said.
He added: “this is a moment for European countries to step up and stand firm against Russian aggression on the continent, and later today I will be visiting Albanian and UK troops who are working together to defend our freedoms and citizens, because the battle lines of Ukraine are the front lines of Western values.”
