The UK is set to pay Libya to prevent migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea “at the source” and to send them back to their home countries as part of a new deal with the country. The scheme, announced by illegal immigration minister Michael Tomlinson today, was being rolled out with the aim of clamping down on what he said were “record numbers of people headed towards our continent”. Tomlinson said “almost 20,000” people signed up to this scheme last year – double the number in 2022. Similar assistance provided to Tunisia allowed them to return thousands of migrants to their home countries last year. The illegal immigration minister said the Prime Minister and Home Secretary James Cleverly “have been unequivocal that we will confront this challenge head on”.
