Starmer forges ties with Rome: Lessons on Migration

Sir Keir Starmer plans to hold talks on Monday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to learn from her strict stance on irregular migration. Accompanying this initiative is the appointment of senior police officer Martin Hewitt as head of the UK's new Border Security Command. Hewitt is to have the legal and coordinating powers needed to combat criminal networks that smuggle migrants across the English Channel. This measure sends a strong signal regarding Starmer's rigorous approach to migration policy. According to Downing Street, Starmer wants to learn from Meloni how she managed to reduce the number of irregular crossings to Italy by 60 percent within a year. This year, only 44,675 irregular migrants arrived in Italy by boat so far, a significant decrease compared to the 125,800 in the same period the previous year. Even compared to the 65,500 in the first eight months of 2022, when Mario Draghi was still in office, there is a significant decline. Starmer is open to the idea of processing asylum applications abroad—a concept Meloni is pursuing in collaboration with Albania. A British spokesperson emphasized, "We will do what works." However, Starmer is particularly interested in the success of the so-called "Rome Process," introduced by Meloni last year. This process facilitates deals with North African countries like Tunisia to combat human smuggling and return migrants. Hewitt, an experienced police chief and national security expert, will travel to Rome to accompany Starmer's talks with Meloni. Hewitt will also work with European partners to dismantle smuggling rings. Starmer stressed, "No more games. This government will fight the smuggling gangs that trade the lives of men, women, and children across borders." In Rome, Starmer and Hewitt will visit Italy's National Coordination Center for Migration and hold talks with Italian business leaders to advance preparations for a British investment summit. Meloni's success in reducing irregular migration also draws interest in Brussels, where other European leaders are contemplating how to keep migrants outside their own borders and process their asylum applications.