Ms HammondItaly's PM Giorgia Meloni seems to have taken an approach to illegal immigration that Yvette Cooper our Foreign Secretary is showing some interest in.1) Organised crimeHome Secretary Yvette Cooper said Meloni's government's approach to tackling organised immigration crime is something Starmer is looking at."That’s the work that we are substantially gearing up," she said."We will be doing a huge technology upgrade as well, and where we want to work with Italy, with Germany, with other European countries, with France as well."2) Collaboration with countries "upstream"Since becoming prime minister in 2022, Meloni has signed deals with individual African countries to try to block departures of immigrants.Referencing Italy's work with Tunisia, Yvette Cooper said: "We think we should be part of those international co-operations as well."Asked about the scheme in Rome, Starmer credited Italy's success with driving down illegal migration to this so-called "upstream work".“I’ve long believed, by the way, that prevention and stopping people traveling in the first place is one of the best ways to deal with this particular issue," he said.3) Returns The Albania programmeA further part of Italy's immigration policy highlighted by the home secretary is a deal made with Albania.Meloni's government has a third-country processing agreement with the Balkan nation.Rather than being taken to Italy, the scheme will see some adult male migrants rescued at sea while trying to reach Italy taken instead to Albania while their asylum claims are processed.The deal has been compared to the Conservatives' doomed Rwanda plan - but Yvette Cooper has insisted the two are not the same.The third part of Italy's immigration policy is their approach to returning asylum seekers who have claims denied to their countries of origin."They’re speeding up returns for those who don’t have a right to be there," Cooper said."We’ve been doing that through the summer as well, so we’ve had a substantial increase in returns for people who don’t have a right to be in the UK, because the rules need to be respected and enforced."Difference is that Italy seems to have taken on the problem with enthusiam and determination.The Labour Government will of course go at it feebly, concerning itself with 'humanitarian issues' and 'human rights' rather that putting the security of our borders first.
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