Analysis on Sky News: Was Starmer really embarrassed in Tirana about the refugee camps?

Tamara Cohen - Sky News

Sir Keir Starmer used his first visit to Albania to announce that the UK is ready to set up “return centres” to deport migrants. He said that formal discussions are taking place with various countries. We don’t know which ones these are, but we do know which ones are not ready, among them, surprisingly, Albania.

Their prime minister, Edi Rama, said he was “faithful” to their “marriage” with Italy – relations with other countries are “simply love”. Conservatives say the trip is therefore an embarrassment to Sir Keir. His team say this was never on the agenda of the trip, which is about joint policing and intelligence sharing.

First of all, what are return centers?

Essentially, return centres are processing centres for people who have exhausted all their options for staying in the UK – including asylum applications, appeals and attempts to apply for certain work or study visas. They will be returned to their country of origin and, while this happens, they may be held in these return centres – to prevent them from absconding.

Officials said this would also prevent them from starting a family and using this as part of their application to stay in the UK.

Italy has one, but it has not been used.

Georgia Meloni's government has long been interested in these projects and has built two camps in Albania – in the port of Shëngjin and in the village of Gjadër – enough for 36,000 people per year.

But both, which Sky News visited last year, are currently empty. The courts in Rome say they cannot be used until the European Court of Justice declares them safe. A ruling is expected next month.

However, in a nod to the UK government's plans, the UN refugee agency has backed the principle of return centres, if they meet human rights standards.

Is this like the Rwanda plan?

Spending millions on housing for migrants that then remains empty may sound familiar – but this is different from the Rwanda plan. Agreed by the Conservatives, Rwanda was dropped by Sir Keir when Labour won office – he said it was “unethical, unworkable and extortionate”.

The main difference is that under the Rwandan plan, asylum seekers would not be able to claim to stay in the UK – they would be deported and could only apply to stay in Rwanda. This was ruled unlawful by the High Court.

Why did Albania say no?

The UK has not always had sympathy for Albania, with former Home Secretary Suella Braverman's comments about an "invasion" of "Albanian criminals" causing outrage there.

David Cameron cut a long-awaited visit as foreign secretary to just 89 minutes when the 2024 general election was announced – sparking outrage. And Mr Rama spoke out against the “stigmatisation” of Albanians living legally in the UK.

Andi Hoxhaj, a Balkans expert at Kings' College London, told me: “The UK has simply not made any effort. It is the first visit by a UK prime minister 103 years after diplomatic relations were established. Starmer and Yvette Cooper understand this and want a warmer relationship. But it was a pipe dream to agree a return centre.”

So, who else might have one?

The government has focused its efforts on “crush gangs” in the Western Balkans. Joint law enforcement in Albania, according to the National Crime Agency, has been a model that other countries can follow.

There are likely to be discussions at the European Political Community summit on Friday with countries like Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro to expand their interest, and the UK is hosting a Western Balkans summit in London in the autumn of 2025. So all is not lost – but there are major legal and logistical hurdles to overcome.