Unlike the Rwanda scheme, the Mirror understands the scheme would only deport people after their asylum claims had been rejected – in cases where the UK would otherwise struggle to remove them
Failed asylum seekers could be sent to “migrant hubs” overseas as part of plans being discussed to tackle illegal arrivals.
It comes after Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Italian government built two facilities in Albania to hold migrants while processing their asylum requests.
But the Mirror understands the scheme would only deport people after their asylum claims had been rejected – in cases where the UK would otherwise struggle to remove them.
The idea is in the early stages of discussion – but is one of the options under consideration.
According to the Times the government is planning to approach countries in the western Balkans, including Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and North Macedonia.
The plan, if it goes forward, would be dramatically different from the Tory government’s failed Rwanda plan.
Under plans pushed forward by Rishi Sunak – and scrapped by Labour – anyone arriving in the UK illegally would have been sent to Rwanda, regardless of whether their asylum claim was successful.
More than 5,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel so far this year, according to the latest figures.
Some 341 people made the journey in six boats on Thursday, bringing the provisional total for the year so far to 5,025.
This is the earliest point in the year that crossings have reached the 5,000 mark since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.
Last year, 5,000 arrivals was passed on March 31.
The cumulative number of arrivals so far in 2025 – 5,025 – is 24% higher than at this stage in 2024, when the figure stood at 4,043, and 36% higher than at this point in 2023 (3,683).
The highest number arriving in one day this year so far stands at 592 people, crossing the Channel in 11 boats on March 2.
The latest figures come after the French coastguard confirmed two migrants died in two days trying to cross the Channel on Wednesday and Thursday.
One person died after being pulled from the water while the other person died after trying to cross in an overloaded boat, despite rescue efforts to save them.
The UK signed a “road-map” agreement with France earlier this month aimed at bolstering co-operation to tackle people smuggling across the Channel.
The Government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill also continues through Parliament with plans to introduce new criminal offences and hand counter terror-style powers to police and enforcement agencies to crack down on people smuggling gangs.
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A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”
A Number 10 spokesman said on Friday: “We’ve acknowledged that there is a flow of migrants into this country by illegal means on small boats and we’ve seen a number of incidents in this week in French waters.
“That’s why this Government has put forward a serious credible plan to finally restore order to the chaos we inherited in our asylum system.”
