Britain to ask Kosovo to take UK's small boat migrants as it lines up talks over 'return hubs' in the Balkans after ditching Rwanda plan
Britain wants Kosovo to take migrants who arrive in Britain in small boats under a return hub' deal.
The tiny country of 1.6million people, which only declared independence from Serbia 17 years ago, heads a shortlist of nine countries that ministers want to take failed asylum seekers.
Sir Keir Starmer is currently looking for allies who might take those who cross the Channel as he seeks a way to reduce the numbers making the perilous journey.
He is under mounting pressure after the total number of arrivals by small boats in 2025 hit 13,573, 37 per cent higher than at the same point last year.
One of the PM's first acts after taking power was to ditch the Tories' Rwanda migrant deportation scheme.
Serbia, North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are also on the list, the Times reported, with ministers wanting to make progress by the time the UK hosts a Balkan conference in the autumn.
But Kosovo is at the top after its president, Vjosa Osmani, said earlier this month she was 'open' to talks on the subject, although she had not yet been approached by UK ministers.
More than 3,000 migrants entered the EU through the Western Balkans in the four months of 2025, according to border agency Frontex.
Official figures showed net long-term inflows into the UK were 431,000 in the year to December, compared with 860,000 across 2023.
Numbers had dropped to 739,000 in the year to last June - just before the election - with the peak remaining 906,000 in the 12 months to June 2023.
The Tories said the ONS data demonstrated their curbs were already having an impact - although the level in 2024 was still roughly equivalent to the population of Leeds.
Separate figures from the Home Office showed 32,245 asylum seekers were housed in hotels as of the end of March this year - despite Keir Starmer 's vow to shut them down.
The PM unveiled a crackdown on legal immigration last week, warning that failure to control the system risked turning Britain into an 'island of strangers'.
Downing Street was forced to deny angry comparisons from MPs that it was an echo of Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech.
Director of population statistics at the ONS Mary Gregory said: 'Our provisional estimates show net migration has almost halved compared with the previous year, driven by falling numbers of people coming to work and study, particularly student dependants.
'This follows policy changes brought in restricting visa applications.
'There has also been an increase in emigration over the 12 months to December 2024, especially people leaving who originally came on study visas once pandemic travel restrictions to the UK were eased.'
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