During his first official visit to Albania on Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed that the UK is in discussions with several countries to establish “return hubs” where asylum seekers with rejected applications can be housed while awaiting deportation.
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.” However, he did not specify which nations are involved.
The prime minister ruled out Albania as a possible location for these hubs. Albania’s recently reelected Prime Minister Edi Rama described the country’s existing agreement with Italy as a “one-off.”
Starmer, visiting Albania to agree on further cooperation on illegal immigration and organized crime, emphasized that the plans build on previous UK-Albania efforts to curb migrant crossings in the English Channel. The UK government has credited this partnership with a 95% drop in Albanian small boat arrivals over the past three years.
While Albania won’t host return hubs, UK media reports suggest the government is considering other countries in the Western Balkans.
Earlier this week, Starmer unveiled controversial proposals to reduce migration in the UK’s Immigration White Paper. He denied that these plans were a response to the right-wing Reform UK party’s recent electoral gains, despite their strong stance on immigration.
