Albanian PM Criticizes UK Home Secretary Over Asylum Comments

Albanian Prime Minister Criticizes UK Home Secretary's Asylum System Comments

Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama has criticized UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, accusing her of "ethnic stereotyping" following her recent speech on asylum system reforms.

On Monday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced significant reforms to the UK asylum system. In her address to Members of Parliament, Mahmood stated that approximately 700 Albanian families were residing in taxpayer-funded accommodation after their asylum claims had failed. She highlighted this number despite an existing returns agreement between the UK and Albania, and Albania's status as a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mahmood characterized the current asylum system as "out of control and unfair." The proposed reforms include:

• Making refugee status temporary.
• Extending the wait for permanent settlement from five years to 20 years.
• Permitting the removal of families with children who lack the right to remain in the UK.

Alongside these measures, new legal routes to the UK would be established, subject to an annual cap on numbers.

Prime Minister Rama posted on social media, criticizing Mahmood's comments. He described the 700 Albanian families as "a statistical drop in the ocean of post-Brexit Britain's challenges." Rama questioned the singling out of Albanian families, particularly given what he termed "one of Europe's most successful partnerships on illegal migration" between the UK and Albania. Official data indicate that over 13,000 individuals have been deported to Albania since a returns deal was signed in 2022.

Rama also asserted that Albanians are net contributors to the British economy and that the number of Albanians receiving UK benefits is low compared to other communities. He characterized the repeated focus on Albanian nationals as "a troubling and indecent exercise in demagoguery," stating that "official policy should never be driven by ethnic stereotyping."

Prime Minister Rama has engaged in previous discussions with British politicians regarding their characterizations of Albanian nationals.

• May: During a visit by UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to Tirana, Rama declined to host UK "return hubs" for failed asylum seekers from other countries.
• Previous Conservative Government: In the same press conference, Rama accused the previous Conservative government of "stigmatising" Albanians.
• Nigel Farage: Rama previously invited Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to Albania for a debate after Farage claimed one in 50 Albanians in Britain were imprisoned. Rama dismissed this figure as "bonkers" and accused Farage of employing "post-truth Brexit playbook" politics.