Starmer talks to countries about return hubs for failed asylum seekers

Sir Keir Starmer said he has talked to countries about “return hubs” for failed asylum seekers as part of efforts to crack down on small boats crossing the Channel.

It comes after the Prime Minister announced the Government would begin exploring the possibility of sending failed asylum seekers for processing in third countries prior to deportation.

“I’ve had a number of discussions with all sorts of leaders here today, numerous discussions with numerous leaders, including discussions about return hubs,” Sir Keir told reporters at the European Political Community Summit in Tirana, Albania.

He said such hubs were not “a silver bullet in and of themselves”, but would be “a very important additional tool in our armoury” combined with other measures to tackle smuggling gangs.

There have been reports that the UK could seek agreements with countries in the Western Balkans.

Albania’s prime minister has appeared to rule out being a host to the UK scheme, saying the country was “loyal” to its arrangement with Italy.

Sir Keir met North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski on Friday, but a Downing Street readout did not mention any discussion of return hubs.

The Prime Minister has pledged to crack down on smuggling gangs that bring people into the UK in small boats, including by targeting criminal networks overseas.

But measures to curb migrant Channel crossings are not expected to bring numbers down this year, the PA news agency understands.

Officials are understood to be pessimistic about the prospect of bringing numbers down this year, with measures not expected to start paying off until 2026.

Asked whether he could guarantee crossings would start to fall this year, Sir Keir said: “We need to drive those numbers down and you can see what priorities we put on that.”

More than 12,000 people have already made the journey this year, putting 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings.

The rise is thought to be partly due to an increase in so-called “red days”, when the weather is particularly good for crossings.

So far there have been around double the number of red days in 2025 than there were by the same point in 2024.

Smugglers are also cramming more people into the boats, with sources suggesting migrants, increasingly from the Horn of Africa, are more likely to take risks.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are taking immediate action to drive down small boat numbers – now and in the future.

“This includes working with the French to enable their maritime forces to intervene in shallow waters to deter small boats before they can begin their journeys, new elite officers patrolling the French coast, and new intelligence and investigative units in Dunkirk who have already conducted operations where small boat equipment has been seized and people smugglers arrested.

“We are also introducing new laws which will boost our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.”