UK PM Starmer praises Italy's Meloni for reducing illegal migration

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni on Monday for her efforts in reducing illegal migration, saying his "government of pragmatism" sought new approaches to the hot-button topic.

On his first visit to Italy since his centre-left Labour Party's landslide victory in July, Starmer expressed interest in the immigration policies of far-right leader Meloni -- including plans to operate Italian-run migrant centres in Albania -- and stressed the importance of cross-border cooperation.

"You've made remarkable progress working with countries along migration routes as equals to address the drivers of migration at the source and to tackle the gangs," Starmer told Meloni during a joint press conference in Rome.

"As a result, irregular arrivals to Italy by sea are down 60 percent since 2022," said Starmer, who has vowed to fight illegal migration at home.

His visit, in which he toured a national immigration coordination centre with Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, came a day after the latest migrant shipwreck in the Channel claimed eight lives.

The latest incident brings to 46 the number of people who have died this year trying to reach British shores.

Starmer has rejected the previous Conservative government's plan to expel all undocumented migrants to Rwanda while their asylum claims are examined.

As a former chief prosecutor, he said, he saw the value of cross-border collaboration on fighting terrorism.

"And I've never accepted... that we can't do the same with smuggling gangs," he said.

"And now of course Italy has shown that we can."

In Britain, the perilous cross-Channel journeys that migrants attempt from northern France have posed a fiendishly difficult problem for successive governments.

On Saturday, about 800 people crossed the Channel -- the second-highest figure since the start of the year, according to the UK interior ministry.

- 'Pragmatism' -

Starmer said he had discussed with his Italian counterpart a deal Rome signed with Albania in November to open two Italian-operated centres to house undocumented migrants while their asylum claims are processed.

Asked directly whether he would consider such a plan for Britain, Starmer noted that the centres were not yet operational and "we don't yet know the outcome".

Lower migrant arrivals to Italy were currently due to Meloni's efforts, said Starmer, referring to Italy's deals with Tunisia and Libya where funding is provided in exchange for help stemming the departure of Italy-bound migrants.

"I've always made the argument that preventing people leaving their country in the first place is far better than trying to deal with those that have arrived in any of our countries," he said.

"Today was a return, if you like, to British pragmatism. We are pragmatists first and foremost, when we see a challenge, we discuss with our friends and allies, the different approaches that are being taken," he said.

Under Italy's migrant plan with Albania, migrants with rejected asylum claims will be sent back to their country of origin, whereas those with accepted applications will be granted entry to Italy.

But under the former UK government's Rwanda scheme, migrants sent to the East African nation could never have settled in Britain irrespective of the outcome of their claim.

The two migration centres in Albania were supposed to have opened in early August, but have been delayed, with Meloni saying Monday it was a matter of "a few weeks".

- Fewer arriving migrants -

Starmer's trip to Italy has already spurred criticism, even within his own party.

Labour MP Kim Johnson told The Guardian it was "disturbing that Starmer is seeking to learn lessons from a neo-fascist government, particularly after the anti-refugee riots and far-right racist terrorism that swept Britain this summer".

Besides the Tunisia deal, Meloni's hard-right government has renewed a controversial deal with the UN-backed Libyan government in Tripoli dating from 2017, in which Rome provides training and funding to the Libyan coastguard for help deterring departures of migrants, or returning those already at sea back to Libya.

Human rights groups say the policy pushes thousands of migrants back to Libya to face torture and abuse under arbitrary detention.

Migrant arrivals to Italy by sea have dropped markedly, according to the interior ministry.

Between January 1 and September 13, 44,675 people arrived in Italy compared to a figure of 125,806 for the same period in 2023.

Across all the EU borders, meanwhile, the number of migrants crossing has dropped by 39 percent, according to border agency Frontex.

But multiple factors are behind these trends, experts say, with many migrants seeking entry into the EU having changed their route.

Crossings are up 13 percent over the Channel this year, Frontex said.