Albania's Rama chastises "madhouse" UK in migrant row, praises Germany. Britain should look to Germany to learn how to cope with a wave of migrant arrivals, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Thursday, chastising London for its depiction of Albanian nationals arriving to the country via the English Channel.

“To single out a community and to talk about gangsters and about criminals, this doesn’t sound … very British, sounds more like screams from a madhouse,” Rama said while praising Berlin’s response to migration policy.

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British ministers have claimed that Albanians are behind a surge in arrivals by small boats across the English Channel and that many of them are involved in organised crime and seeking to abuse Britain’s modern slavery laws. Prime Minister Edi Rama has called for an end to the 'xenophobic' and 'criminal' rhetoric used against Albanians. Thousands have crossed The Channel and sought asylum in the UK this year. #Rama said that 70% of the 140,000 Albanians who have moved to the UK were living in Italy and Greece beforehand.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has called for an end to the “xenophobic” and “criminal” rhetoric used against Albanians amid mass irregular migration to the UK and has called for cooperation and respect from British counterparts after thousands crossed The Channel and sought asylum in 2022.

Irregular migrants travelling to the UK, mainly in dinghies, made headlines over the summer, with the British authorities reporting as many as 14,000 Albanians made the perilous trip since January. While Albanians have been leaving the country for centuries in waves of migration, resulting in a number equivalent to half the current population having emigrated in the last three decades alone, the number of those going to UK has caught the attention of the British media and authorities.

“Targeting Albanians (as some shamefully did when fighting for Brexit) as the cause of Britain’s crime and border problems makes for easy rhetoric but ignores hard fact. Repeating the same things and expecting different results is insane (ask Einstein!)”, Rama tweeted on Wednesday.

He said that 70% of the 140,000 Albanians who have moved to the UK were living in Italy and Greece beforehand and 1200 of them are business people working hard and paying tax.

“UK should fight the crime gangs of all nationalities and stop discriminating Albanians to excuse policy failures,” he added noting that the UK must tighten its systems and “not respond with a rhetoric of crime that ends up punishing the innocent,” said Rama alluding to claims from the UK that all Albanians entering the UK are criminals abusing the system.

Affirming he is ready to cooperate on fighting crime, Rama nevertheless said “facts are crucial. So is mutual respect,” he continued, stating that the British government should stop blaming Albanians for “failed policies”.

From the thousands that have reportedly sought asylum in the UK this year, no data has been provided on where they originated from; Albania or other European countries. Albania has been a leading country for Albanians seeking asylum in the EU for several years, with many being granted the right to remain.

Jenrick said on Wednesday that London was working on a “fast-track” system to speed up the removal of migrants with no right to stay, which could see them sent back “within days”. Other options reportedly include putting them on immigration bail, detaining them, or tagging them.

However, detentions cannot exceed a “reasonable” time and can only be allowed if there is a realistic prospect of removal. Ministers say they can process them quickly, leaning on rapid-return deals that were close to being signed by former home secretary Priti Patel but that came to a standstill amid recent political turmoil.

But the legality of these processes is already being questioned with one legal expert telling The Times that, “how can you exercise your appeal rights if you’re not in the UK? It would be extrajudicial and contravene rights under the [UN] Refugee Convention.”

As for why people are leaving, the reasons are complex and driven by a perfect storm of factors. These include a long-standing trend of emigration stretching back centuries, in addition to current issues such as poverty, the economic crisis, the perceived lack of opportunities, and problems with crime including trafficking and domestic violence.

Lori Amy, a professor at Georgia Southern University living in Albania, believes the country’s past has an impact on current migration trends.

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