UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome to discuss a pressing issue on tackling illegal immigration.
The meeting follows another tragic Channel migrant shipwreck, which claimed eight lives. Starmer, whose Labour Party secured a significant parliamentary majority in July, has pledged to tackle illegal immigration, a longstanding contentious topic in British politics.
Daily News reports that Starmer, whose centre-left Labour Party was elected with a crushing parliamentary majority in July, has vowed to fight illegal immigration, a hot-button topic in British politics for years.
"Here, there's been some quite dramatic reduction (in migrant arrival numbers) so I want to understand how that came about," Starmer said in Rome ahead of his meeting with Meloni.
The Prime Minister was speaking while touring a national immigration coordination centre with Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi.
Starmer was received with a welcome ceremony at 12:00 local time (10:00 GMT) at Rome's Villa Doria Pamphili before his meeting with Meloni.
Following Starmer's election, far-right riots erupted across England and Northern Ireland, marking the UK's most severe unrest since 2011.
Report says Mosques and migrant accommodation centres were frequently attacked, highlighting the tense atmosphere.
Similarly, dangerous journeys undertaken by migrants crossing the Channel from northern France have presented a longstanding and complex challenge for British prime ministers to address
Recall that Eight migrants died on Sunday after their overcrowded boat capsized in the Channel between France and England, bringing to 46 the number of people who have lost their lives this year trying to reach British shores.
The UK interior ministry reported that approximately 800 individuals crossed the Channel on Saturday, marking the second-highest daily total since the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Starmer has dismissed the former Conservative government's proposal to deport all undocumented migrants to Rwanda for asylum processing, opting instead to explore alternative solutions.
Instead, U.K. media say he is interested in the strategy of Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, whose country is on the front line of illegal migration into the European Union.
The report by the media outfit further revealed that Italy and Albania inked a deal in November to establish two migrant processing centers in Albania.
Italy will finance and oversee the facilities, which will provide temporary housing for up to 3,000 undocumented migrants who arrive by sea, pending the outcome of their asylum applications
In addition, Migrants with rejected asylum claims would be sent back to their country of origin, whereas those with accepted applications will be granted entry to Italy
