Starmer's two-day visit to the southeast European nation will seek to “step up efforts to break the crime web fuelling illegal migration across the Western Balkans”, his office said.
Starmer will visit the Port of Durres, the country's largest seaport, to see firsthand efforts to intercept people smugglers.
In a deal between the previous Conservative government and Tirana in 2022, Albanians arriving in the UK on small boats across the Channel can be sent back immediately.
Some 5,294 Albanians were sent back in 2024, more than double the 2,035 Albanian nationals returned two years earlier.
Starmer is due to announce an expansion of the Joint Migration Taskforce in the Western Balkans, set up with Albania and Kosovo, to include North Macedonia and Montenegro.
The UK and Albania will also launch a new project “to tackle illicit finance and investigate underground finance streams that are laundering money” between the two countries.
Rama has vowed to integrate the Balkan nation into the European Union, and is also set to meet EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa on Thursday in the capital Tirana.
In March the European Commission unveiled a planned reform of the 27-nation bloc's return system, which opened the way for member states to set up migrant return centres outside the EU.
Separate plans by Italy for Italian-run facilities to process migrants to be based in Albania are bogged down in the courts.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( UK PM in Albania visit to tackle irregular migration )
Also on site :