Failed asylum seekers could be sent to the Balkans under plans being considered by the Labour government to tackle the crisis of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Under the proposals, “return hubs” overseas would house those who have had their applications rejected.
That would set it apart from the Conservatives’ failed Rwanda scheme – in which those who arrived on small boats were to be given a one-way ticket to the African nation, whether they were ultimately deemed eligible for asylum in the UK or not.
The UK could approach Albania as well as Serbia, Bosnia and North Macedonia, according to The Times, which first reported the scheme was being considered by ministers.
Last week, the European Union announced that it was proposing to allow member states to set up the so-called return hubs.
The idea has been endorsed by the UN’s International Organisation for Migration, which offered to “advise and assist states in the design and operationalisation of innovative return policy that is both effective and in line with European and international law”.
Any deal could prove expensive, as the UK would have to pay countries for every person who was relocated.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This is Labour admitting they made a catastrophic mistake in cancelling the Rwanda scheme before it even started.
“The tragedy is it will take some time before this can be done and in the meantime tens of thousands of illegal migrants will have poured into the country, costing UK taxpayers billions.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told Sky News the number of people crossing the Channel was “really worrying”.
He said: “I’m actually glad that the government scrapped the Rwanda scheme because it wasn’t working as a deterrent.
“In fact, hardly anybody went, and it was costing huge amounts of money. If they’ve got a better scheme that will work, we’ll look at that.
“But they’ve also got to do quite a few other things. There’s too many hotels that are being used because people aren’t being processed quickly enough, and Liberal Democrats have argued for a long time that if you process people, you give them the right to work so they can actually contribute.
“That’s the way you could save a lot of money, and I think taxpayers would support that.”
