The plan, part of a deal struck between Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Albanian government, could see officers from the southern European country being taken to the Kent coast while migrants are processed. The Home Office said Albania has committed to support by sending senior law enforcement officers to the UK to help speedily remove those traveling to the UK on small boats. Albanian officers will also provide authorities with information and processing support, the Interior Ministry said. Government officials believe that around 60% of the migrants who cross the Channel every day now are Albanian, although figures vary. Ms Patel and Bledi Cuci, Albania’s interior minister, also pledged to speed up removals of Albanians who have no right to be in the UK from next week when they discussed the situation on Tuesday night. It is understood that checks on migrants arriving by boat who are suspected of being Albanians will be carried out quickly.
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Ads in Albanian on Facebook and Instagram were launched on Wednesday to try to dissuade people from making the trip. The campaign will target those in specific areas in northern France and Belgium and “who meet certain criteria, such as being away from home,” the Interior Ministry said. Officials are believed to still be working out the details of the deal, so little more information is available on how it will work or when it will begin. The Home Office says Albania is a “safe and prosperous country” and many nationals “travel to many countries to travel to the UK” before making “false asylum claims on arrival”. Mr Cuci called the Channel crossings “dangerous and illegal” and said he discussed with Ms Patel “intermediate solutions to provide better opportunities for young people” in Albania, as well as means of “legal migration that allows skilled professionals and access at work. the UK”. Fewer than 1,000 Albanian offenders have been deported from the UK since the relocation deal was signed last year. Ms Patel said: “Large numbers of Albanians are being sold lies by unscrupulous smugglers and vicious organized crime gangs, making treacherous journeys on rickety boats to the UK. “This abuse of our immigration system and the people who put their lives on the line cannot continue.” The Home Office added: “The Albanian government has also offered senior law enforcement support in the UK to provide UK authorities with vital information and support processing.” Increase in Albanians crossing the Channel The ISU union, which represents staff working for the Home Office’s law enforcement body, said its members had seen an increase in people from Albania crossing the Channel in recent months. Lucy Moreton, from the ISU union, said the exact nationality breakdown of migrants using this route “changes from time to time” but “often reflects the nationalities of those seeking to facilitate traffic”. He said: “Members are making the working case that the recent increases in Albanians are to replace those who have been arrested, imprisoned and/or deported as a result of increased police activity in the realm of organized crime. “That’s just a hypothesis, but it makes sense.” Some 1,295 migrants arrived in the UK on Monday on 27 boats – the highest daily total since current records began in 2018. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 2:22 Record numbers of migrants have crossed the English Channel Weather and effective interception of vessels at sea have been suggested as some of the reasons behind the high number of crossings. According to Ministry of Defense (MoD) figures, more than 22,800 people have arrived in the UK after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small craft such as dinghies so far in 2022. Read more: More than 20,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats this year Priti Patel says she wants to stay on as Home Secretary Priti Patel insists Rwanda is ‘safe’ for deportations despite warnings of killings and torture To combat immigration, Ms Patel signed what she described as a “world first” deal with Rwanda, under which the East African nation will accept migrants deemed by the UK to have arrived “illegally” and as therefore inadmissible under the new immigration rules. However, the controversial plan has been met with a series of legal challenges, meaning the deportations have yet to take place. Several asylum seekers, the Civil and Commercial Services union and charities Care4Calais, Detention Action and Asylum Aid are challenging the legality of the Home Office policy, with further court hearings scheduled for September and October.
