Starmer to Sign Deals With Balkan States to Target Illegal Immigrant Smuggling Gangs

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will sign new agreements on intercepting criminal people smuggling gangs with Western Balkan nations in a bid to tackle illegal immigration. Starmer will sign deals with North Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo which will increase intelligence-sharing and cooperation, leading to the interception and arrest of criminal gangs who smuggle illegal immigrants through these countries. The government sees cooperation with these nations as key, as almost 100,000 illegal immigrants moved through the Western Balkans last year on their way to the EU and UK. The measures form part of the new Labour administration’s strategy to break the gangs’ business models “at source.”...