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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meeting with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Starmer asks Meloni for a lesson on curbing illegal migration
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday to learn how her hard-line tactics against irregular migration could help him deliver on his election promise to “smash the gangs” driving such migration to the UK. The meetings came after eight migrants died crossing the English Channel on Sunday and on the heels of disinformation-fueled anti-immigrant riots in August.
Starmer is interested in how Meloni cut irregular sea crossings to Italy by 60% over the past year, and in the so-called “Rome Process” she adopted last year when she forged deals with North African countries like Tunisia and Libya to tackle people-smuggling gangs, intercept departing boats, and return migrants. Starmer pledged £4 million to support the Rome Process. He also said he was open to following Italy’s lead on processing asylum claims offshore — a project Meloni is struggling to get off the ground in Albania but one that has generated the interest of leaders across Europe, including in Brussels.
The meeting shows how Starmer has changed his tune on immigration since campaigning against Rishi Sunak’s plan to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda. It also signals how Europe's shift to the right on immigration has positioned Meloni’s tactics – once considered fringe – in the mainstream.
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Tory revolt threatens Rishi’s signature immigration bill
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is leading a group of 60 Tory rebels who threaten to vote against the bill on Wednesday unless it includes an amendment prohibiting asylum-seekers from filing legal appeals against their deportation. Johnson’s group argues it is trying to strengthen the bill. Two Conservative MPs, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, resigned as deputy chairs of the Conservative Party on Tuesday after joining the revolt against Rishi’s legislation.
But Conservative moderates fear the bill may already violate international refugee law and have signaled that they would oppose stronger language.
Sunak also worries that Rwanda will not accept the deal if the amendment is made. The Labour Party will vote against the legislation on principle, so the bill’s only hope for passage is an end to the Tory revolt and Conservatives voting as a united front.
Sunak has made stopping the arrival of “small boats” carrying refugees a central aim of his government. A defeat of such a central plank of his legislation would be disastrous at a time when his party is already expected to be wiped out by Labour in the next general election later this year.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, meet at 10 Downing Street, London.
UK-Rwanda immigration deal on ice
The UK Court of Appeals in London declared on Thursday that a government plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda while their claims are being processed in the UK is unlawful, ruling that Rwanda could not be deemed as a safe third country.
What’s the so-called Rwanda agreement again? Last spring, former PM Boris Johnson announced a migration deal with Rwanda, whereby Kigali would take in tens of thousands of refugees while their asylum claims are being processed in exchange for wads of cash from the British government. This was Johnson’s response to an increase in migrants crossing the English Channel from France.
London has already paid 140 million pounds (US$170 million) to Rwanda even though the plan has so far been halted by legal proceedings, but more is on the way if the deal goes through. PM Rishi Sunak, for his part, has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Rwanda, which is relying on development cash, hit back, saying that it is “one of the safest countries in the world.” But that flies in the face of the country’s dismal human rights record (it’s not a fun place to be a journalist or an opposition figure challenging President Paul Kagame).
Indeed, this was a big blow to Sunak, who has made this policy one of his top five priorities. What’s more, with the Tories already hemorrhaging support ahead of next year’s general election, the Labour Party and Lib Dems are using the opportunity to draw attention to the hefty cost of relocating migrants under the deal amid a cost-of-living crisis.