London, Thanasis Gavos

The establishment of one “strategic cooperation on immigration”which will be aimed at the destination of migrant flows from north Africa in boats and boats across the Mediterranean, is being prepared by the governments of the United Kingdom and Italy.

As revealed by the Daily Telegraph, the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sent the secretary of the Cabinet Office to Rome in mid-June Simon Case for discussions on the agreement.

The agreement is expected to be modeled on a similar agreement London has with the French government, which includes enhanced security intelligence sharing on trafficking gangs, joint coastal and maritime surveillance operations and cooperation between the two countries’ border and organized crime agencies.

The UK it will also support Italy’s efforts to negotiate with the Tunisian government an agreement on the rapid repatriation of irregular migrants arriving on Italian soil from the North African country.

A similar agreement has been concluded by the British government with the government of Albania, following the large increase in arrivals of Albanian immigrants on British soil through the English Channel in the last year.

The preparation of the Anglo-Italian agreement takes place while the London expresses concern for the increase in illegal migration flows in the Mediterranean towards Italy. This year it is estimated that 62,000 people have attempted the dangerous crossing, while in the corresponding period last year the number was 24,808.

The British government is concerned that these increased flows will mean an increase in corresponding flows to English Channel in the coming months, especially after the decision of the Court of Appeal in London to rule out the plan to send asylum seekers who have arrived in Britain illegally to Rwanda with summary procedures.

The promotion of bilateral strategic cooperation on immigration follows the Prime Ministers’ meeting at Downing Street in April Sunak and Meloni in which it was agreed that there was a need for mutual prioritization of tackling illegal immigration.

Before Mr. Case, Italy had been visited for discussions on the subject by the Deputy Minister of Immigration Robert Jenrick and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior ser Matthew Rycroft.