July 22, 2024
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged £84m for projects in Africa and the Middle East to stop illegal migration “at source”.
The government said the new funding for education, employment opportunities and humanitarian support would help address the factors driving people to leave their homes.
Speaking at the fourth summit of the European Political Community (EPC), which the UK hosted at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Sir Keir agreed with French President Emmanuel Macron that there was “no easy silver bullet” to stop small boats crossing the English Channel.
The EPC, which includes the 27 members of the European Union as well as 20 non-members like the UK, is a more informal forum for cooperation.
The summit has focused on the challenge of illegal migration, as well as support for Ukraine.
Speaking at a news conference, Sir Keir said he wanted to reset the UK’s approach to illegal migration and deepen cooperation with Europe on defence and border security.
The PM said illegal migration needed to be tackled “upstream” and there was a “consensus” at the summit that the focus needed to be on taking down smuggling gangs.
The UK has agreed new initiatives with Slovenia and Slovakia to tackle organised crime.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said £84m of funding would be rolled out over the next three years to address the factors driving people into small boats.
Projects set to get funding include programmes helping Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon to access education and jobs, as well as migrants in North and East Africa to fill local skills gaps, and humanitarian aid for displaced people in war-torn Sudan.
Stopping people crossing the Channel in small boats is one of the major challenges facing the new government.
Sir Keir has scrapped the Conservative plan to send some people who arrive in the UK illegally to Rwanda, describing it as an “expensive gimmick”.
The plan was stalled by legal challenges and no migrants were sent to the east African country under the scheme before the general election.
Instead the PM has promised to set up a new Border Security Command, bringing together Border Force officials, police and intelligence agencies, and to use counter-terror powers to combat people-smuggling gangs.
Sir Keir accused the previous government of a “dereliction of duty” on migration and wasting time on the Rwanda scheme.
Stopping people crossing the Channel in small boats is one of the major challenges facing the new government.
Sir Keir has scrapped the Conservative plan to send some people who arrive in the UK illegally to Rwanda, describing it as an “expensive gimmick”.
The plan was stalled by legal challenges and no migrants were sent to the east African country under the scheme before the general election.
Instead the PM has promised to set up a new Border Security Command, bringing together Border Force officials, police and intelligence agencies, and to use counter-terror powers to combat people-smuggling gangs.
Sir Keir accused the previous government of a “dereliction of duty” on migration and wasting time on the Rwanda scheme.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir discussed “innovative solutions” to migration with the Albanian PM, including Italy’s plan to send migrants to Albania for processing.
Asked if he could rule out the UK pursuing offshore processing, Sir Keir said this was not “central” to discussions at the summit as the focus was on “taking the [smuggling] gangs down in the first place”.
However, he added: “I’m a pragmatist and I’ve always said we’ll look at what works.
“And where cases can be processed closer to origin, then that is something which of course ought to be looked at.”
