UK plans to send failed asylum-seekers to Western Balkans

LONDON: Failed asylum-seekers in UK, including those arriving from India, could be sent to migrant centres in Western Balkans and other third countries as part of PM Keir Starmer’s plan to deter small-boat arrivals.

The Starmer-led Labour govt is drawing up plans to open a series of “return hubs” in countries such as Albania, Serbia and Bosnia, where migrants would be sent after they had been rejected for asylum and had exhausted all appeals, govt sources said.

Rejected asylum-seekers from countries deemed safe under UK law, such as India, could be temporarily detained in these hubs while arrangements were made to deport them to their home country. Failed asylum-seekers from countries deemed unsafe under UK law, such as Afghanistan, could also be removed to these hubs.

In 2024, 36,816 people arrived in the UK on small boats. Of these, the 19th highest number, 292, came from India. In 2024 5,312 Indians claimed asylum in the UK, the sixth highest nationality to do so. Starmer has been emboldened after the EU last week announced member states could set up return hubs outside the EU to hold rejected asylum-seekers.

The proposal differs from the Rwanda scheme, initiated under the previous govt of Tories, to send asylum-seekers who arrived illegally in Britain on one-way tickets to Rwanda for their claims to be processed. Labour cancelled this scheme in July 2024.

Chris Philp, Tory MP and shadow home secretary, said: “The fact that Labour (govt) is now looking at offshore processing shows they were wrong to cancel Rwanda (scheme) before it even started and shows their attempts to ‘smash the gangs’ have failed.”

Enver Solomon, chief executive of Refugee Council, told TOI that handcuffing people onto removal flights was “inhumane” and it was better to assist them to return with dignity.