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LONDON (AP) \u2014 Britain’s Home Secretary, James Cleverly<\/a><\/span><\/span>, is visiting Italy as part of the U.K. government’s efforts to crack down on migrants arriving by small boats.<\/p>\n Cleverly will meet his Italian counterpart, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi<\/a><\/span><\/span>, and discuss how Italy and Britain can expand their joint work to stop migrants in north Africa from making often perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea, officials said Tuesday.<\/p>\n Cleverly will also visit Lampedusa<\/a>, the southernmost island of Italy which receives the majority of migrants arriving in the country. In September, some 7,000 people arrived from Tunisia on the tiny island in a span of roughly 24 hours, overwhelming the local migrant reception center.<\/p>\n The visit comes as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stepped up his calls for the U.K. Parliament to approve his plan to deport some asylum-seekers to Rwanda. <\/a><\/p>\n Sunak signed a deal with the east Africa nation two years ago and insisted that his deportation plan is a key deterrent that will help \u201cstop the boats” \u2014 small unseaworthy vessels carrying migrants across the English Channel. But the proposal has been repeatedly blocked by court rulings and human rights campaigners who say it is illegal and inhumane.<\/p>\n British officials say the U.K. and Italy are both \u201cglobal leaders in forging bold and novel solutions to illegal migration.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur countries have shown we are willing to challenge the status quo and use innovative solutions to tackle the issues, while ferociously going after the people-smuggling gangs,\u201d Cleverly said in a statement.<\/p>\n