Robert Jenrick: We’re going to return as many Albanian migrants as possible

Tirana accuses immigration minister of verbally ‘lynching’ Albania, but he says he does not regret comments

Migrants, Dover
Last year, Albanians accounted for up to a third of the 46,500 migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats Credit: Gareth Fuller/PA

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has pledged to find, detain and return as many illegal Albanian migrants as possible despite a diplomatic protest by Albania’s government about his language.

Mr Jenrick said all but a tiny fraction of “extreme” cases involving Albanian Channel migrants would be granted asylum as he doubled down on his comments which prompted the Albanian foreign minister to accuse him of verbally “lynching” the nation.

Alastair King-Smith, the UK’s ambassador to Albania, was handed a “note of protest” from the ministry of foreign affairs in Tirana in response to what it described as discriminatory language used by Mr Jenrick.

On Friday, Mr Jenrick released a promotional video praising work to find and detain illegal migrants from Albania.

The note of protest, a formal diplomatic rebuke, accused him of verbally “lynching” Albania in the video, in which he praised Home Office staff and police officers for identifying and detaining illegal migrants.

Mr Jenrick drew a distinction between the Albanian diaspora in the UK and those who came to the country legally to work, study or visit – all of whom were respected – and those who entered illegally.

Last year, Albanians accounted for up to a third of the almost 46,000 migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats.

“The Prime Minister, Home Secretary and I have made it a particular focus of government policy to try to deter those Albanians from coming here in that manner,” he said.

“One element is finding Albanians when they arrive, detaining and removing them. What I was highlighting was the weekly flights removing illegal Albanian migrants to Tirana, working in concert with the Albanian government.

“The key thing is that Albania is a safe country. It is not Afghanistan or Syria. It’s demonstrably a safe country. It is an EU accession state, exactly the place that people should be returned to, and we are going to return as many as possible.

Although as many as 60 per cent of Albanians had secured asylum in previous years, Mr Jenrick suggested the numbers who would do so after arriving in last year’s cross-Channel surge – up from 800 in 2021 to more than 11,000 last year – would be “extremely low”.

“There may be extreme cases, but that will be very unusual because Albania is a safe country,” he said. “I expect the vast majority to be returned under the agreement with the Albanians.”

He said Albanians who “abused” the UK’s “world-class” modern slavery laws in order to try to remain in the country could also expect to be returned to Albania even if their claim was upheld under the agreement with the Albanian government.

Mr Jenrick said he did not regret his comments despite the diplomatic criticism from the Albanians.

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