Rishi Sunak to team up with Italy for new illegal immigration crackdown
ITALY will team up with Rishi Sunak for a new crackdown on illegal immigration in a deal struck over an Aperol spritz.
Prime Minister Sunak and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni agreed they must get a grip on the crisis amid signs the EU could adopt Rwanda-style policies.
In what is being dubbed the “Aperol Spritz Summit”, the pair agreed to press for a far tougher approach across Europe.
Ms Meloni has spoken out in support of the Rwanda deportation deal on previous occasions.
And Mr Sunak also suggested he wants to see tougher measures on returning illegal immigrants to India.
Speaking at the meeting in New Delhi, Mr Sunak said Britain is leading the world with its Rwanda deal.
He said: “Illegal migration will just continue to be a growing topic for the world. I said that pretty soon after I became Prime Minister.
“I think we are taking a lead and demonstrating that it requires radical solutions to tackle.
“As I have said, Britain will be tough but fair, and where we lead others will follow. I think that is starting to be shown to be true.”
Mr Sunak added: “I sat down and had a meeting and a drink with Giorgia, the Prime Minister of Italy.
“We talked again about how we can work closer together and discussed the opportunities for us to do more together to tackle this shared challenge.”
He added: “She and I have a view that this is an important topic that needs us to work together to get a grip.
“It won’t be the last of these conversations that I have.”
It comes after several EU countries — including Greece, Denmark and Austria — called for the bloc to do their own Rwanda-style deal.
Ms Meloni sipped on Aperol Spritz during the interaction, while teetotaller Rishi had water.
“A pleasant and useful opportunity for discussion on the challenges posed by artificial intelligence and migration.”
Britain struck its groundbreaking deal to send illegal migrants to Rwanda last year — but nobody has been sent yet as the accord has been stuck in the courts.
The Supreme Court is due to give its final ruling on it later this year.
Nearly 46,000 people turned up on small boats last year.
And Home Office figures show that 2,188 migrants crossed the channel in small boats in the last seven days alone.
Between January and March, Indians made up the second largest nationality crossing the Channel illegally by small boat, with 675 people arriving.
Britain already has a deal to send back illegal Indian migrants to India — known as a returns agreement.
But Mr Sunak, who is of Indian descent, told the summit he wants to strengthen the pact, saying: “That is definitely something we want to do.”