British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in Rome on Saturday that he and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni were ready to “break the consensus” to tackle illegal immigration.
Published on: December 16, 2023 – 11:20 p.m
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Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke at a political rally organized by the Italian leader's far-right party, Fratelli d'Italia. The two leaders vowed to tackle the problem posed by the large number of arrivals on their country's shores and signed a joint letter in October calling on European Union leaders to take tougher measures against to take action against “illegal immigration”.
Rishi Sunak called for increased efforts to combat smugglers, but also to deter potential migrants. “For this deterrence to be credible, we must act differently and break with the consensus. Giorgia and I are ready for this,” he said. “If we don’t address the problem, the number of people will only increase and our countries and our capacity to help those who need it most will be overwhelmed,” he said.
Giorgia Meloni and Rishi Sunak On Saturday they met with the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and agreed to “further intensify cooperation against smugglers,” said the Italian Prime Minister's office.
Agreement with Albania
Both Italy and the United Kingdom have signed agreements with Albania to restrict the illegal entry of migrants from that country. Almost a third of people who arrived illegally by boat on British shores in 2022 were of Albanian nationality, making up almost 13,000 migrants out of a total of 45,000. London and Tirana therefore agreed that Albanians arriving in the United Kingdom by boat could be deported directly back to their country of origin.
According to Mr Sunak, who has made the fight against illegal immigration a priority of his mandate, this agreement made it possible to reduce illegal arrivals of Albanians by 90%. The British prime minister is also trying to persuade MPs to vote for a controversial law to deport illegally arrived migrants to Rwanda.
Last month, Giorgia Meloni and Edi Rama also signed an agreement to build two centers in Albania to accommodate migrants trying to reach Italy. However, this agreement still needs to overcome many legislative and legal obstacles in Albania before it can be implemented.
(With AFP)