UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday praised the migration policies of Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni as the centre-left British leader aimed to learn how her nationalist conservative government has made “remarkable progress” in reducing the number of migrants reaching Italy’s shores by boat.
The meeting in Rome between the two leaders came after at least eight seaborne migrants died off the French coast over the weekend trying to cross the English Channel.
More than 22,000 migrants have made the perilous crossing from France so far this year, a slight increase from the same period in 2023. Several dozen people have died in their attempts, including the eight killed when a boat carrying about 60 people ran aground on rocks late on Saturday.
