Government looking at other countries to process asylum seekers in, home secretary says

The government is looking at other countries it could process asylum seekers in, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has told Sky News.

Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Ms Cooper said the government has been talking to Italy about its arrangements with Albania and with the EU Commission about other options.

Ms Cooper said she has been speaking to the Italian interior minister about their deal, which means asylum seekers wanting to settle in Italy will be processed in Albania.

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Asked if she wants the same deal for the UK, following reports the government is looking at a deal with Albania, Ms Cooper said: “We will always look at what works.

“There has to be practical things that will work, not gimmicks.”

She criticised the Conservative government’s Rwanda deal, which was meant to see UK asylum seekers processed in Rwanda. It cost £700m but only saw four volunteers sent there.

Former Labour home secretary Lord Blunkett has suggested the government should create bespoke agreements with designated “safe” countries to deport foreign criminals and illegal immigrants, as this would override any claims through the Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Asked about that, and whether the UK is talking to Albania or any other countries about an “Italian-style deal”, Ms Cooper said: “We’ve talked to the Italian government about the arrangements that they have, and we’ve always said we’ll look at what works.

“We’re also talking to the EU Commission who are interested in different approaches around return hubs, that’s the kind of thing that you’re talking about.

“But our central focus is on the borders, the summit, the organised immigration crime summit and on tackling the criminal gangs.”

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The UK is hosting an “unprecedented” border security summit on Monday with interior ministers and law enforcement from more than 40 countries, Ms Cooper said.

She said the summit was necessary because illegal immigration is a “global problem”.

“The criminal gang networks that end up with people arriving in the UK, stretch back through northern France, through Germany, across Europe, to places like the hills of Kurdistan or the money markets in Kabul,” the home secretary said.

“So you need to tackle this as a global problem.”

Ms Cooper added that the government has got new agreements with France and the French government has changed the rules so its police force will now “take action” in the Channel to prevent migrants crossing to the UK in small boats.

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to “smash the gangs”, which Ms Cooper said can be seen through the 20% increase in migrant returns since Labour was voted in last summer, a 40% increase in illegal working raids and a 40% increase in arrests for illegal working.

The Home Office announced on Sunday that company bosses hiring in the gig economy could face up to five years in prison if they fail to check if their employees can legally work in the UK.

Ms Cooper told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “Frankly, it is too easy at the moment for employers to take people on illegally through those contract mechanisms without those checks in place.”

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