U.K. Expected To Ask Kosovo For Deal On Migration Deportation Hubs

Forbes

26-05-2025

The United Kingdom government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly considering asking Kosovo to enter into an agreement for a so-called migration 'return hub' scheme, wherein failed asylum seekers would be deported from the former, to a reception center in the latter. Kosovo is understood to be on a list of nine countries, several of which are in the Balkans, the U.K. is considering for such a scheme, after Albania definitively ruled it out.
According to the U.K.'s Times newspaper, the U.K. is due to ask Kosovo, a small landlocked country which is currently a potential candidate for EU member status, to enter discussions over a return hubs arrangement. This news will take nobody who has been watching developments in the U.K. by surprise. Since coming to power in mid-2024, the government under Starmer and his Labour party have pursued various strategies to try to reduce overall migration to the United Kingdom, including ramped-up policing powers in the English channel, and a concerted effort to increase deportations.
In late 2024, Starmer visited Italy to discuss migration with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni. While there, he praised Italy's controversial 'offshoring' arrangement with Albania, which has been beset by legal challenge since it began operations. In May 2025, Starmer also visited Albania itself, where he reaffirmed his intention to open up a similar scheme, though Albania has said it will not consider a deal with the U.K.
Despite their efforts to 'crack down' on irregular migration to the country, Starmer and his Labour party remain in a difficult position over the issue, as more stridently anti-immigration parties such as Reform UK make considerable electoral gains. The Labour party has done its best to win back voters from Reform, or stop them leaving, by presenting a 'tough' stance on migration and thereby being seen to address the concerns of voters. This strategy has come in for considerable criticism, both from NGOs and civil society groups, who have decried what they say is anti-immigrant rhetoric from the government, as well as from those same right-wing parties such as Reform and the Conservatives, who say the government is not doing enough on the issue.
The 'return hubs' idea is by no means unique in Europe. Alongside Italy, with its existing scheme, several other European nations are known to be exploring their own arrangements, with some German lawmakers from the now-ruling CDU bloc particularly vocal about it. The European Union's executive arm has introduced measures to lay the groundwork for such schemes, and also introduced measures to strip protections for people under deportation orders.
Return hubs such as the one the U.K. is pursuing are attractive to lawmakers for several reasons. There is the blunt effect of forcibly removing people from their territories, thereby giving politicians a concrete metric for showing they are acting on the matter. At the same time, such schemes are also argued to have a 'deterrence' effect, meaning that it's hoped people might be dissuaded from attempting the perilous journey to the U.K., for instance, if they think they will just mean they get sent elsewhere again.
Critics of such schemes argue that they are both inhumane and impractical. Migration commentators in the U.K. point out there is little empirical evidence for a deterrence effect, and that with the current state of the country's asylum system, it is very likely people will be deported who otherwise would have been granted shelter, with very little chance of redress once physically removed from U.K. jurisdiction.