UK in talks with 'multiple countries' over asylum seeker 'return hubs', PM Starmer reveals

During his first official visit to Albania on Thursday, the British prime minister said the UK was in talks to set up "return hubs" with "multiple countries."

The UK is looking to send asylum seekers who have had their application rejected to “return hubs” abroad while they await deportation, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Thursday.During his first official visit to Albania, Starmer told the press, "We are in talks with a number of countries about return hubs and I see them as a really important innovation". He stopped short of detailing which countries he was referring to. However, Starmer did rule out the possibility of sending rejected asylum seekers to Albania. The Western Balkan country's recently reelected Prime Minister Edi Rama said his country's similar agreement with Italy was a "one-off".Starmer — who is in Albania to agree on further measures focused on tackling illegal immigration and organised crime — said the plans were "consistent" with prior work done by the UK and Albania to reduce migrant crossings across the English Channel.Starmer's government has hailed the cooperation between the two countries as a success and reported a 95% reduction in Albanian small boat arrivals in the last three years. Although Albania was ruled out as a potential host to British "return hubs," the UK government is considering sending asylum seekers to other countries in the Western Balkans, according to reports from domestic media.This week, Starmer unveiled controversial plans to cut migration to the UK in the government’s Immigration White Paper and denied these plans were a response to the success of the far-right Reform UK party, which has a hardline position on tackling immigration, in recent local elections.Starmer's return hub scheme explicitly targets asylum seekers whose claims have already been rejected. Prior to Labour coming to power in July 2024, the Conservative government drew up and spent significant funds on plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda while their applications were processed.In February 2024, the country's parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights ruled that the repeat Rwanda bid was incompatible with the country's rights obligations.