Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Don't blame us for UK border problems, says Albanian PM

Don't blame us for UK border problems, says Albanian PM

The UK should stop discriminating against Albanians to excuse "policy failures", the country's PM has said.

Edi Rama said "rhetoric" blaming his citizens for the UK's crime and border problems ignored the facts.

Albanians now make up the biggest group of those crossing the Channel in small boats, following a big increase in arrivals in the past two years.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said many of them were "abusing our modern slavery laws".

UK ministers have said they want to "fast-track" Albanian arrivals so their asylum claims are assessed more quickly.

Last week, MPs were told 12,000 Albanians had arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, compared to 50 in 2020.

Of these 10,000 were men - representing 1% of Albania's adult male population.

In a tweet Mr Rama said: "Targeting Albanians (as some shamefully did when fighting for Brexit) as the cause of Britain's crime and border problems makes for easy rhetoric but ignores hard fact.

"Repeating the same things and expecting different results is insane."

He said Albanians in the UK "work hard and pay tax", adding: "[The] UK should fight the crime gangs of all nationalities and stop discriminating [against] Albanians to excuse policy failures."

Mr Rama said he was "ready to work closer" with the UK, but "facts" and "mutual respect" were crucial.

Asked about the comments, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said he wanted a "productive relationship" with Mr Rama.

"But it's also true that Albania is a demonstrably safe country, and the vast majority of people coming from Albania are young males," he told ITV.

"It is a good example of economic migrants, of the kind that we as a country should be trying our best to deter," he added.

Edi Rama has been prime minister of Albania since 2013


Last week, Mr Jenrick said the government was looking at setting up a "bespoke route" for Albanians to have their immigration cases heard more quickly so they could be returned to Albania if their claims were unsuccessful.

On Monday, Ms Braverman agreed with suggestions by Conservative MP Lee Anderson that "Albanian criminals" were leaving a safe country to come to the UK.

He said if accommodation in the UK was not good enough for them, they could "get on a dinghy and go straight back to France".

Ms Braverman has been widely-criticised for describing the increasing number of migrants arriving on the south coast of England as an "invasion".

The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk said it was "a horrible word" and politicians had to make sure their language did not "add fuel to the fire on issues that are about human beings".

Albania is considered a "safe country" by the UK and is listed as a "designated state" under UK law, meaning there is generally "no serious risk of persecution" for people living there.

However, it is thought some Albanian migrants make asylum claims on the grounds that they have been trafficked to the UK.

Currently Albanians are the nationality most commonly referred for trafficking support in the UK.

Some 7,627 Albanians claimed asylum in the UK in the year up to June, more than double the number the previous year.

Albanians are less likely to be granted asylum than other nationalities, with the current rate at 53% compared with 76% for other nationalities.

But the latest figures will not include most of those who have arrived this year, as very few of these individuals will have had their asylum applications considered yet.

In 2022 - in the months to June - 440 people were returned to Albania from immigration detention centres. Almost all were single adult men.

Albanians also represented the highest number of foreign offenders sent back in the year to March 2022.


During Prime Minister's Questions earlier, Rishi Sunak admitted not enough asylum claims were being processed and promised to fix the system.

Last week MPs were told just 4% of those who crossed the Channel in small boats in 2021 had received decisions on their asylum claims.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the government of having lost control.

Almost 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far in 2022 - the highest number since figures began to be collected in 2018.

Ms Braverman has been under pressure to tackle severe overcrowding and poor conditions at the Manston migration processing centre in Kent, which ministers have blamed on an increase in migrant crossings in recent days.

Mr Jenrick has confirmed that the Home Office is facing a potential legal challenge over Manston centre, although he declined to say who was behind it.

He told Sky News the department had received "initial contact" for a judicial review - a process that could lead to a judge deciding whether the government has acted lawfully.

Council leaders in Kent warned the county was at "breaking point" because of the burden of accommodating migrants, and that the conditions at Manston could lead to unrest.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
China Presses Netherlands to “properly” Resolve the Nexperia Seizure as Supply Chain Risks Grow
Merz Attacks Migrants, Sparks Uproar, and Refuses to Apologize: “Ask Your Daughters”
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
×