Asylum seekers arriving in Britain could be deported to North Macedonia under a new deal aimed at tackling rising Channel crossings. Britain is reportedly in formal talks with the Balkan nation to establish a migrant “return hub” on its soil, a deal the government is also negotiating with a handful of other countries in a bid to slash small boat arrivals.
North Macedonia would receive payment for each migrant it accepts from the UK, and Sir Keir Starmer would also agree to boost investment and offer security guarantees amid mounting threats from Russia under the deal, The Times reports.
Asylum seekers transported to the Balkans wouldn’t be detained or restricted upon arrival, meaning they could leave the country if they chose. However, they would be encouraged to seek asylum or apply for work visas in sectors experiencing shortages, including construction. The Prime Minister’s plans to tackle the small boats crisis via “return hubs” comes after he admitted that Britain currently has “no effective deterrent”.
The scheme has already faced setbacks, with Albania’s Prime Minister outright refusing involvement and the leader of Kosovo also warning that his country only has “limited capacity”.
Another Balkans country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, also ruled the idea out, suggesting that accepting illegal migrants from Britain would be “incompatible with our national interests”.
Labour has reportedly pinned its hopes on the plans as a way of removing migrants from dangerous countries including Eritrea and Afghanistan, who make up the bulk of illegal arrivals and otherwise might not be returned home.
It comes after UK asylum claims reached a new high according to data released last month, with a total of 110,051 people applying for asylum in the year to September 2025, the largest number on record.
The year-on-year spike of 13% also came as the backlog of cases waiting a decision dropped by more than a third, from 133,409 people at the end of September 2024 to 80,841 this autumn.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We’re not going to give a running commentary on any return hubs.
“Clearly you’ve seen, through the major reforms that the Government is carrying out, whether that is to make it less attractive to illegal migrants to come to the UK, to make it easier to remove illegal migrants who have no right to be here and spearheading a renewed international law enforcement approach to break the smuggling gangs’ model, this Government is clear that there is no silver bullet.
“But instead of fake solutions and empty gimmicks, we are rolling up our sleeves and taking the serious action needed to deliver the border security that the public expects.”