ROME, Sept 16 (Askume) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised on Monday to launch a “new era” of cross-border cooperation to tackle human smuggling gangs during talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni during a visit to Rome, a step towards rebuilding ties with the rest of Europe.
Starmer has put restoring ties with EU leaders high on his diplomatic agenda since winning the general election in July , visiting Berlin, Paris and Dublin before travelling to Rome on Monday.
Ahead of talks with Maloney , who is close to Starmer’s predecessor Rishi Sunak , the UK leader promised to “create a new era of international enforcement to dismantle these networks, protect our shores and bring peace to the asylum system”.
Starmer cancelled the previous government’s controversial plan to deport refugees arriving in Rwanda in small boats , but did not rule out a system of processing asylum claims at sea, as Italy does with Albania.
Home affairs minister Yvette Cooper told ITV: “We are interested in the work being done in Italy and Albania, but it is still at an early stage.”
“We are more interested in targeting organised immigration crime, smuggling, human trafficking gangs because that will have an immediate impact.”
French authorities said on Sunday that eight people had died after a problem with their boats while trying to cross the English Channel to Britain, bringing the number of people who have died trying to cross the Channel since the start of the year to 46.
Starmer’s Labour government says it will increase deportation flights and use savings from the Rwanda planAssist law enforcement agencies with border crossing issues .
In Italy, Starmer visited the National Migration Coordination Centre to discuss Italy’s approach to the problem, which has reduced irregular migration arrivals by sea by 60%, his office said.
“The drop here is quite dramatic, so I want to understand how that happened,” Starmer told the broadcaster, adding that he wanted to know more about work “upstream” and other plans to stop people travelling.
He will also raise defence issues in talks with Maloney, which could include Britain’s participation in the GCAP fighter jet programme with Italy and Japan.
In July, Starmer stressed the importance of the plan, somethingHe dismissed speculation it could be scrapped in a defence review, but refused to guarantee Britain’s continued involvement.
