Decision to expel 700 Albanian families, The Guardian: Growing tensions between Albanian and British governments

The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has clashed with the British government over the deportation of 700 Albanian families who have been refused asylum and continue to live in the UK.

The well-known British media outlet The Guardian writes that Shabana Mahmood has been accused of "ethnic stereotyping" and "indecent demagoguery" by the Albanian prime minister, who has questioned why a Labour Party politician could "express the rhetoric of the far-right populist so weakly" after Mahmood's officials singled out 700 Albanian families for deportation.

In a reaction on the X platform, Rama refers to the deportation of immigrants as “a statistical point in the ocean of Britain’s challenges after Brexit.” Among other things, Rama singles out those leaving Albania as “net contributors to the British economy,” complaining that the benefits they receive from the British government are very low.

“How can a Labour Home Secretary so weakly echo the rhetoric of the far-right populist – and single out 700 Albanian families, a statistical dot in the ocean of Britain’s post-Brexit challenges – at a time when the UK and Albania have built one of Europe’s most successful partnerships on illegal migration?

"Let us also be clear: Albanians are net contributors to the British economy, and the number of Albanians receiving benefits from the United Kingdom is very low compared to other communities. Continuously singling them out is not politics - it is a disturbing and inappropriate exercise in demagogy ," Rama wrote.

A source from the Albanian government said there were growing tensions between the governments of Albania and the United Kingdom, despite successful cooperation on immigration policies.

Rama's attack has also caused concern in Whitehall, because the Western Balkans are seen as a major transit route for asylum seekers trying to reach the UK.

UK border security officers were sent to Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina over the summer to build links and gather intelligence on smuggling gangs, it has been confirmed.

Under pressure on Monday to justify plans that would allow for the escalation of deportations of families from the UK, officials pointed to a number of people who had refused to return to their countries of origin despite having their asylum claims rejected.

The Home Office has claimed that there are around 700 Albanian families in the UK without the right to stay here, but so far the Home Office has chosen not to prioritise sending them home.

Asylum requests from Albanians remain low and there has been a more than 90% drop in arrivals of Albanians by small boats since 2022.

Andi Hoxhaj, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the UK government appears to be targeting and singling out Albanians in its rhetoric.

He said: “We saw the same issue under the previous Conservative administration and both the Albanian community and the Albanian government are deeply frustrated by the return of this narrative.

“This rhetoric seems increasingly linked to the government’s attempt to reinterpret or reform the ECHR provisions on family rights – using Albanians as an example to make a broader political argument, as the Reformists and Conservatives have done using Albanians as an example.

“By specifically mentioning Albania, the Home Secretary is also responding to Farage’s messages, as he has made Albanians a central part of his rhetoric.”

This is not the first time that Rama, one of the leaders who knelt while greeting the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, at an EU summit in May, has criticized a UK home secretary.

In November 2022 he accused Suella Braverman of “inciting xenophobia and targeting, singling out a community” when she accused some Albanians of abusing modern slavery laws.

Mahmood's office has been contacted for comment.