UK begins talks to send failed asylum seekers abroad

'Return hubs' in third countries could be used until deportation can be arranged

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with a drone operator at the ferry port in Tirana, Albania. AP

The UK will begin talks on sending failed asylum seekers to “return hubs” in third countries while they await deportation, Keir Starmer has said.

The Prime Minister was speaking during a visit to Albania aimed at forging closer co-operation on tackling migration.

Mr Starmer said the hubs were for people who have "been through the system in the UK, they need to be returned and we have to make sure they’re returned effectively”. He acknowledged the plan was not a “silver bullet” for Britain’s migration problems, which have led to the rise of the populist Reform party.

“By putting it all together – arrests, seizures, agreements with other countries, returning people who shouldn’t be here, and return hubs, if we can through these talks add to our armoury, it will allow us to bear down on this vile trade and to make sure that we stop those people crossing the Channel,” he said.

However, Albania Prime Minister Edi Rama told Mr Starmer that his country would not be hosting any return hubs, meaning attention turns to neighbouring countries such as Serbia, Bosnia and North Macedonia.

The return hubs would be aimed at failed asylum seekers who are seeking to frustrate efforts to deport them, or who have lost their paperwork. By removing them to another country, the government hopes to reduce their ability to find other reasons to prevent deportation, such as starting a family.

It is also expected to act as a deterrent to further crossings, but differs from the previous government’s Rwanda scheme as it would only apply to failed asylum seekers who have exhausted their avenues for appeal.

Net migration to the UK stood at more than 750,000 in 2024. Data for last year shows refugees from the Middle East and North Africa being rejected at the highest rate in years as the UK battles to clear a backlog of asylum seekers living in hotels.

In the first official visit to Tirana by a British prime minister, Mr Starmer and his Albanian counterpart also discussed how to combat organised crime, which has been driving the small boat crossings to the UK. This week, the number of people to have crossed the Channel in small boats passed 12,000 for the year.

Labour was elected on a manifesto promise to “smash the gangs” smuggling people into the UK in small boats, but 12,699 people have made the journey so far this year, putting 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings. But Downing Street said the number of Albanians making the crossing had fallen by 95 per cent in the past three years, while the number returned to Albania had doubled between 2022 and 2024 following increased co-operation between the two countries.

After a spike in numbers in 2022, the UK and Albania struck a deal to work together to prevent people from making the journey, with both the current Labour government and the previous Conservative one providing Tirana with money and expertise. Last year, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggested Mr Starmer had also been “very interested” in a deal under which Italy has sent migrants to Albania for processing.

The talks are expected to include measures to support efforts to ensure migrants remain in Albania after being returned home rather than attempting to enter the UK again – the “revolving door effect”. The UK will also donate two forgery detection machines to help Albanian police spot people trying to travel to the UK on stolen or fake passports.

An expansion of the Joint Migration Task Force to include North Macedonia and Montenegro is also planned. The task force, which currently includes the UK, Albania and Kosovo, shares intelligence and carries out operations against people smugglers in the western Balkans.

There will also be an increase in co-operation on tackling organised crime, including sharing DNA swabs of Albanian criminals and investing £1 million in upgrading Albania's forensics, biometrics and digital capability.