The nation of Great Britain, Northern Ireland … and Albania?

AP Photo/Franc Zhurda

A Parliamentary inquiry has now confirmed that Albanians who are crossing in small boats are economic migrants, not asylum seekers. Parliament has cleared the way for a fast-track repatriation of Albanian asylum seekers, and it remains to be seen if they will be returned to Albania.

The Home Affairs Committee concluded:

Albania is a safe country; it is not at war and is a candidate country to join the European Union. There is no clear basis for the UK to routinely accept thousands of asylum applications from Albanian citizens.

In 2022, 45,755 crossed the English Channel in small boats, that we know of. An estimation of 12,301 are from Albania, and about 10,000 of those were single adult Albanian men. This was a huge increase on the estimated 800 who arrived in 2021. The UK government had sought new deals with Albania to enable a swifter return of Albanians "with no right to be here."

The Home Office is under fire after Dudley North MP Marco Longhi claimed that there was "no excuse" for allowing thousands of Albanians to claim asylum in the UK, especially when other countries in Europe such as Germany had reportedly taken none.

Marco Longhi also went on to criticize the character of Home Office and Border Force staff involved:

If people did their job, put the people of the UK first and executed Government policy then there would be no need for somebody like me to be outspoken.

Meanwhile, the immigration loving Labour Party, such as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is urging the government to scrap the Illegal Immigration Bill. The Labour Party as a whole, made it very well known that they are pro-open borders.

In light of failing public services and the cost of living crisis, tackling issues surrounding immigration is a key vote winner with the electorate.

Especially with the rise in crime in mainland Europe and the UK: Deadly knife attack in Annecy, France, where the suspect was a 31-year-old Syrian, who had refugee status in Sweden. And a West African in custody who killed three British nationals in Nottingham.

Unwanted illegal immigration is becoming a boiling issue across the UK and voters are keen to see the overall immigration numbers capped, illegal immigration stopped, and those here illegally sent back to their country of origin.