Albanian ambassador hits out at ‘campaign of discrimination’ amid small boats row

Albania’s ambassador to the UK has called for a “campaign of discrimination” to stop amid a political row over small boat crossings.

The home secretary is considering new measures to reduce the number of Albanians crossing the English Channel after they became the largest nationality arriving on dinghies.

National Crime Agency officials have said that the route has become a means of staffing the “criminal marketplace” after replacing other forms of clandestine entry.

Giving evidence to parliament’s home affairs select committee, ambassador Qirjako Qirko said Albanians contributed to British society and should not be unfairly portrayed.

“Reinforcing negative stereotypes over a prolonged time fosters discrimination and racism,” he told MPs.

“This campaign of discrimination against Albanians living in the UK should stop … there are people, especially youngsters, being bullied in their schools just because they are Albanian.”

Mr Qirko blamed the media for driving discrimination, following coverage of official figures and statements regarding the number of Albanian people crossing the English Channel in small boats.

He said he did not recognise a claim by Dan O’Mahoney, the clandestine Channel threat commander, that up to 2 per cent of Albania’s male population had travelled to the UK on small boats, adding: “We don’t think it’s realistic.”

In the year to September, Albanians made up 35 per cent of people arriving on small boats, 11,241 in total.

Home Office figures show that in the same period, 51 per cent of Albanian asylum applications were granted.

Mr Qirko said the British government had not given any information on whether they were travelling directly from Albania or from other European countries.

He claimed that Albanians were travelling to the UK for business opportunities, “the same reasons that the Italians, the French, the Germans come here, just to see better opportunities”.

The ambassador said some were becoming “victims of TikTok and Facebook” posts by smugglers portraying an easy and prosperous life in Britain.

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He said there should be greater opportunities for legal immigration in order to “avoid the involvement of criminal groups”, calling the visa process “tough and costly”.

Mr Qirko refused to comment on the government’s reported consideration of moves to refuse all asylum claims from Albania, telling the committee: “I can say Albania is a safe country but it’s for the British authorities to decide.”

When questioned on the cost of housing migrants in hotels, which are being used because of a lack of proper accommodation, the ambassador said Albania would not consider a financial contribution “because they are not the responsibility of the Albanian government”.

Mr Qirko said the “solution is legal migration” but would not comment on why people were being granted asylum, or on the involvement of trafficking groups who may be taking people to Britain against their will.

Following statements by officials suggesting that significant numbers are linked to criminal groups and are travelling to Britain to work irregularly or illegally last month, Albanian prime minister Edi Rama launched a scathing public attack on the government.

“Targeting Albanians as the cause of Britain’s crime and border problems makes for easy rhetoric but ignores hard fact,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The UK should fight the crime gangs of all nationalities and stop discriminating v Albanians to excuse policy failures.”

Mr Rama said Albania was “not a rich country” but was attempting to combat organised crime and cooperate with other nations, and needed “mutual respect”.

Dame Sara Thornton, the UK’s former slavery watchdog, said she was not aware of any evidence supporting government claims that modern slavery protections were being widely abused.

The former senior police officer said being recognised as a victim did not grant the right to live in the UK, and that the vast majority of applications for discretionary leave to remain failed in 2021.

Dame Sara told the committee that during her time as the independent anti-slavery commissioner, she wrote to Priti Patel several times requesting the evidence behind statements on alleged abuse of the system.

“I don’t think the evidence supports the rhetoric, and the concern is that the rhetoric is severely undermining Modern Slavery Act protections,” she added.

Dame Sara, whose former post has remained empty since April, said the data on National Referral Mechanism decisions did not suggest abuse, and that the rise in referrals was likely to be a consequence of improved training for Home Office staff.

Experts told the select committee that drivers for people leaving Albania included high rates of poverty, youth unemployment, domestic violence, a lack of “access to justice” and violence resulting from blood feuds in northern areas.

Esme Madill, a solicitor working with child migrants from Albania, said the majority of her caseload was young men trafficked for labour and criminal exploitation, and girls trapped in sex work.

“The asylum system is not an easy system to scam,” she added.