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.
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Honeymoonish
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MO
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MANDOOB
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Company%20profile
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Dubai World Cup Carnival card:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 | 2,410 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
if you go
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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THREE
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Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
