UK Scapegoating Albanians for Its Failure to Curb Illegal Immigration, Nation’s PM Says

Edi Rama, prime minister of Albania, speaks with German Chancellor Scholz during a joint press conference in the Federal Chancellery, in Berlin, on April 11, 2022. Soeren Stache - Pool/Getty Images

Albania’s prime minister has accused the UK government of looking for “scapegoats” to blame for its “failed policies” on curbing illegal immigration.

Edi Rama commented on UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s choice of language in a debate in the House of Commons this week, in which she said there is an “invasion” of England by illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Braverman told MPs on Oct. 31 the UK has seen a “surge in the number of Albanian arrivals.” She also agreed with Tory backbencher Lee Anderson who brought up “Albanian criminals” and suggested those who dislike UK accommodation “can get on a dinghy and go straight back to France.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman arrives in Downing Street ahead of the first Cabinet meeting with Rishi Sunak as prime minister, in London, on Oct. 26, 2022. Victoria Jones/PA Media

Speaking on BBC’s Newsnight on Nov. 2, Rama said: “I thought it came a point where it was impossible to not react because it was really an embarrassment for our civilisation to hear all kind of crazy words being thrown in the air like normality and ‘invasion’ was the peak. It’s about the climate that has been created, and it’s about finding scapegoats and blaming others.”

He said it is “very obvious” that “it’s not about Albanians or aliens or gangsters, but it’s about failed policies on borders and on crime.”

He said the kind of language being used by some UK politicians is “fuelling xenophobia” and “going totally against the great British tradition of integrating the minorities.”

‘Unfortunate’

Asked about Rama’s comments, immigration minister Robert Jenrick said: “I want to have a constructive and productive relationship with our Albanian friends.”

But he told Sky News that “it is correct that a quarter of people who’ve come in small boats have come from Albania this year,” and that the UK’s National Crime Organisation has said “a very significant proportion of serious organised crime is emanating from those individuals.”

Illegal immigrants who crossed the English Channel from France give V signs on UK Border Force boat Valiant as they arrive in the port of Dover, England, on June 14, 2022. Chris Eades /Getty Images

But climate minister Graham Stuart conceded “unfortunate” language had been used.

He told Sky News that the UK and Albanian governments have been cooperating on the issue, but “clearly there’s pressure.”

“It can lead to language which is sometimes unfortunate and it is worth putting on record our gratitude to the Albanian government for their cooperation in working to sort this out,” he added.

‘Unprecedented Pressure’

Earlier, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who met Rama on Nov. 2 to discuss the crisis, wrote on Twitter: “We agree that we must break the business model of people smugglers who are putting lives at risk.”

Downing Street said on Nov. 3 that it is “extremely grateful” for Albania’s cooperation on the illegal immigration crisis.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said the UK has a “strong working relationship” with Albania, which the government wants to “continue to build on.”

She said that Albanian nationals made up to over a third of small boat arrivals this year, with rising crossings putting “unprecedented pressure” on the UK asylum system.

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

PA Media contributed to this report.