The Labour government’s proposals for “return hubs” turned to farce during Keir Starmer’s official visit to Albania, when Albanian PM Edi Rama made clear he would not accept asylum seekers rejected by the UK.
Britain’s ‘return hubs’ announcement on Thursday, May 15th proposed to send migrants to unnamed ‘Balkan countries,’ in a bid to cut expenditure on hotels, deter future ‘small boat’ Channel crossings and, for Labour, see off the electoral challenge of Reform UK. Rama wanted no part of it, stating:
I have been very clear since day one when we started this process with Italy that this was a one-off with Italy because of our very close relation but also because of the geographical situation, which makes a lot of sense.
The Albanian response is embarrassing for Starmer, as it came at a key moment in a joint press conference featuring the two PMs, where it became clear that Britain would not be eligible for the type of deal struck between Georgia Meloni and the Balkan state.
If this looks like a missed opportunity for the UK, it’s worth noting that there is already a return agreement in place for deporting Albanians in British prisons that is seldom acted on. Meanwhile, hapless Starmer’s search for a migrant ‘offshoring’ partner continues. Has he thought of asking Rwanda?
