Shabana Mahmood will today warn that Britain’s inability to control its border is causing an erosion in trust of politicians and the state itself. The Home Secretary will speak at a summit with Balkan interior ministers in London where she will give the damning assessment that Britain and European partners have lost control of their borders.
The western Balkans are a major transit route through Europe for drug gangs and people traffickers, with nearly 22,000 people believed to have passed through last year. Mahmood is also expected to discuss the possibility of “return hubs” in countries along major migrant routes in a bid to deal with migration issues and asylum claims before people reach UK shores. The Home Secretary is expected to begin her speech by saying: “The citizens of each of our countries have a very simple expectation of us.
“The public rightly expect that their government will be able to determine who enters their country, and who must leave.
“Today, in this country, and I know in many if not all of yours, that is not the case. And the failure to bring order to our borders is eroding trust not just in us as political leaders… but in the credibility of the state itself.”
She is also expected to hit out at the Government’s political opponents, such as Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, accusing them of wanting to “turn inwards” and seek solutions to migration without the aid of other countries.
“Illegal migration is a shared threat which requires a strong, joined-up international response,” Ms Mahmood will say.
She will add: “To those who think the answer to the challenges that we face is to turn inwards, or back away from international co-operation, I say that in coming together as we are today we will make all of our borders and our countries stronger.
“I am proud that the UK is leading the charge on a co-ordinated response to tackle organised crime and take down the vile people-smuggling gangs who put the value of human lives behind their own profits.”
The Western Balkans, which includes the countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, has become increasingly important to tackling illegal migration across Europe.
Director general of the National Crime Agency, Graeme Biggar, will join the gathering in the afternoon to discuss work on disrupting the supply chains of the gangs, and a session on combating violence against women and girls is also due to be held.
The Conservatives said Ms Mahmood’s warning was “rich coming from a government that has lost control of our borders”.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, added: “The first nine months of this year have been the worst in history for illegal immigrants crossing the channel.
“The Government is accommodating more illegal immigrants in hotels than at the election, and have only returned a paltry 26 to France – over a time period when 14,000 have arrived.
“This is clearly no deterrent.
“The Conservatives would leave the ECHR which will enable us to remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival.
“Then the crossings would soon stop.”