UK's Starmer vows migration cooperation with Meloni ahead of Italy talks

NEWS WIRES

15 September 2024 at 7:15 pm·2-min read

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will stress his commitment to tackling illegal immigration and people smuggling gangs when he meets with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Monday. Starmer has vowed a "new era" in cross-border cooperation, part of his bid to restore relations with his European neighbours in the wake of Brexit.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised "a new era" in cross-border cooperation to tackle people smuggling gangs ahead of talks on Monday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, part of his push to reset Britain's relations with Europe.

Starmer has put renewing ties with European leaders at the top of his diplomatic agenda since winning an election in July, and Monday's visit to Rome follows trips to Berlin, Paris and Dublin in recent weeks.

Heading to Rome to meet Meloni, who had close ties with Starmer's predecessor Rishi Sunak, Starmer will stress his commitment to tackling illegal migration and the need to work with European partners to smash the business model of the illegal networks that fuel it.

Starmer has scrapped the previous government's contentious plan to deport asylum seekers who arrive in small boats to Rwanda, but has not ruled out arrangements that would see asylum claims processed offshore, similar to an agreement Italy has struck with Albania.

Ahead of the talks with Meloni, Starmer said Martin Hewitt, a former chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, would run a new Border Security Command which would be empowered to lead joint investigations with other countries.

(REUTERS)

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