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Albania currently has two empty migrant detention centers after Italian plans to use them as asylum processing centers failed...
Albania is on the list of countries being considered by the United Kingdom to house migrants who have been refused asylum on the island and are expected to be deported by the authorities. The plan by Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party has received the approval of the United Nations. This plan envisages the infiltration of asylum seekers who have been refused applications into the Balkans and locking them up in 'detention centres'.
Last month, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper discussed with the head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees the sending of asylum seekers to 'return centres' in Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and North Macedonia.
Under the proposals, the government would pay countries to accept migrants who have been refused asylum in the UK and have exhausted all avenues of appeal.
The plans, described as a 'safe and legal pathway to resettlement', were drawn up by the government as part of Sir Keir Starmer's approach to stopping arrivals by small boats.
A total of 9,099 migrants in 162 boats have arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in the first 4 months of 2025 - 81 per cent more than in the same period in 2023.
On the other hand, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has given its proposals on how return centers should function.
British government sources have said that the organisation's support for the radical plans was 'vital' given UNHCR's opposition to the Rwanda scheme.
The UN body previously intervened in the Conservative government's plan to tackle illegal migration, leading to it being declared illegal by the High Court.
Albania currently has two empty migrant detention centers after Italian plans to use them as asylum processing centers failed.
A source told The Times that "it could be a game changer because it will help give us the necessary legal cover against any legal challenges and it will also help us politically with our left-wing MPs who may have reservations."
Another added: "Along with other countries, we are looking at how return centres can form part of our commitment to rebuilding trust in the immigration and asylum system that was left in complete chaos by the Tories."
"We are in contact with UNHCR and welcome their work in this area," the source added.
The UNHCR document stressed the need for an "effective return system" and stated that it would provide support to countries wishing to establish return centers.
However, these countries would have to meet their own legal standards and the centres would be continuously monitored to ensure that human rights standards were 'credibly met'.
The Netherlands is also in discussions with the Ugandan government about the possibility of a return center for migrants.
Labour has faced criticism for its decision to scrap the Conservatives' deal for asylum-seeker processing centres in Rwanda, which was designed to deter migrants from risking their lives in the Channel.
Their scheme would contrast with the plans of the Rwandan Conservatives, because they would only deport asylum seekers after their case is rejected.
Rwanda's plan aimed to send illegal migrants to the East African country before hearing their case.
Despite more offenders being deported since Labour came to power, the number waiting to leave the UK is rising.
Factors are understood to include the early release of prisoners due to prison overcrowding, instability and diplomatic problems in some countries, and a large number of legal cases appealing deportation.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the decision to publish the nationalities of foreign criminals showed Labour had "bowed" to pressure from the Conservatives to reveal the data.
The latest government statistics show that 10,355 foreign nationals were held in custody in England and Wales at the end of 2024, representing 12% of the prison population.
The most common nationalities after British citizens were Albanian (11%), Polish (8%), Romanian (7%), which also represented the top three nationalities deported from the UK in 2024, according to Home Office figures.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is understood to have ordered officials to publish the details by the end of the year, according to The Daily Telegraph. /Adapted from Pamphlet/
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