The leaders of Britain and Italy have vowed to work together to tackle illegal immigration and other common challenges, as they hailed the “very strong” relations between their two countries.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni to Downing Street on Thursday, who is on a two-day visit to the UK.
They will sign a memorandum of understanding which Sunak said will strengthen co-operation on illegal immigration, defence, and the response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ahead of their private talks, Sunak said: “I think the values between our two countries are very aligned, which is why we can work so well together on shared challenges, whether it’s responding to Putin’s illegal invasion in Ukraine, where again I pay tribute to your leadership, but also tackling illegal migration, which is something that is common to both of us.”
Meloni hailed a “new beginning” for bilateral co-operation.
She said the two countries have had “a strong partnership” for decades and “there is much more that we can do on many topics on which we are on the same side—defence, Ukraine.”
She commended the UK government’s effort to curb illegal immigration.
“Tackling traffickers and illegal migration is something that your government is doing very well,” she said.
Common Challenge
Illegal immigration is an issue that has plagued both Britain and Italy.According to Home Office figures, 45,755 illegal immigrants arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in 2022.
Out of the 43,794 who had their nationality recorded, 28 percent were Albanian nationals and 20 percent were Afghan.
More than 5,500 illegals have already arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel this year.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” one of his five priorities and has said he is “determined to deliver” on his promise.
The government is trying to get its Illegal Migration Bill—aimed at clamping down on illegal small boat crossings—through Parliament.
The bill aims to ban anyone who arrives in the UK illegally from claiming asylum. If it becomes law, illegal entrants will be swiftly removed from the UK to their home country or a safe third country like Rwanda and will be banned from reentry.
The bill would also enable powers to be granted to detain immigrants for 28 days without recourse for bail or judicial review, and then indefinitely for as long as there is a “reasonable prospect” of removal.
State of Emergency
Italy has also seen a recent surge in arrivals by boat migrants, with 34,715 people reaching the country between Jan. 1 and April 19—more than four times the number for the same period last year, which was 8,669.Meloni, who took office in 2022 promising to reduce illegal immigration, has led a crackdown on people smugglers and on rescue ships operated by charities, which she says are encouraging a growing number of illegal immigrants to risk dangerous voyages from North Africa across the Mediterranean.
On April 11, her government declared a six-month national state of emergency to help it cope with the surge in illegal immigration.
The government said the state of emergency was necessary “to carry out with urgency extraordinary measures to reduce congestion” at an overwhelmed migrant shelter on Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island in the Mediterranean.
Also needed are “new structures, suitable both for sheltering as well as the processing and repatriation of migrants who don’t have the requisites to stay” in Italy, the government statement said.
Fighter Jets
Also on the agenda of Sunak’s talks with Meloni is the agreement between the UK, Italy, and Japan to develop next-generation fighter jets.Announcing the pact, Sunak said the partnership deal underlined Britain’s view “that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions are indivisible.”
The Tempest is designed to replace the Typhoon, which was built by the Eurofighter consortium—which was made up of Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK—and it is understood that other countries could be invited to join.
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