The challenges posed by migration are presumably the biggest single social and political issue that the UK and Germany have in common in the present.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has been on the line for its asylum policy; many Germans have recently been voicing concern that nearly a decade of rather liberal asylum rules had made the country unsafe, -- especially after last week's attack in the western German town of Solingen, in which three people were stabbed to death by a suspected extremist from Syria, whose asylum request had been rejected.

Also read: Germany continues debate on outsourcing asylum procedures

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is still reckoning with inheriting years of asylum backlogs from his predecessors under 14 years of Conservative Party rule. The boat arrivals across the English Channel also continue unabatedly with no change in sight.

Earlier this week alone, more than 500 migrants arrived in the UK in eight boats, with the provisional total for 2024 pushing close to 20,000 irregular arrivals -- slightly more than the total for all of 2023 but still about a fifth shy of 2022 numbers.

Also read: Migrant dies in Channel as crossings continue

Focus on dismantling smuggling gangs

A joint action plan between the two countries is therefore now being formulated, which could in future help curb arrival numbers, help squash the business model of unscrupulous people smugglers and lower casualty and fatality numbers on migration routes.

"I'm sure you'll appreciate, quite a number of the boats that end up on the north coast of France carrying people across are coming through Germany; therefore, this isn't a sort of remote action plan," Starmer said at a press conference.

"It's actually a concrete one because, as you've heard me say many, many times, I simply don't accept that the people who are running this trade can't be taken down, that they can't be busted, and intercepting the boats as they are in transit across Europe and those that are moving them is an important part of that as far as I'm concerned," the prime minister added.

Starmer stressed to that end that "we cannot smash the smuggling gangs who perpetrate this vile trade without the help of our partners."

No returns agreement – yet

Starmer shared few details about the action plan, highlighting only that it would involve aspects of international cooperation like data sharing, and intelligence sharing on either side of the North Sea. 

The proposed agreement is reportedly modeled in part on agreements that Britain has struck in recent years with France on defense, security and closer law enforcement cooperation against people-smuggling gangs. 

However, the British prime minister added that at this stage, that there weren't any details about a returns agreements discussed between the two countries – or the EU.

Since Britain left the EU, the provisions of the so-called Dublin Regulation no longer apply, meaning that there is no returns agreement with the EU for asylum seekers who have lodged claims in other European countries first.

Also read: Why immigration is a major issue in the UK election

Germany welcomes migration cooperation deal

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meanwhile said that he welcomes Starmer's initiative in warming back up to the EU.

On the specific issue of migration, Scholz had said that irregular immigration has to be contained "so as to not overburden the country."

"This can and must succeed without questioning our basic law and also international treaties," he is quoted as saying.

Following the meeting in Berlin, the two nations also plan to deepen their trade and defense ties in addition to a deeper cooperation against irregular migration.

According to Starmer, these bilateral deals with Germany should be finalized by the end of this year.

"That will be ambitious, it will be wide-ranging, covering trade, the economy, defense and many other issues," he told reporters.

Starmer took office in early July four years after the UK's departure from the EU, which is commonly referred to as Brexit.

Also read: Can Labour repair the United Kingdom’s fragmented asylum system?

with AP, dpa, PA