Albanian migrants who come to the UK are likely safe in their own country, cross-party group of MPs finds
- 45,755 migrants crossed Channel in 2022, with more than quarter from Albania
- READ MORE: Albanian people smugglers mock UK in ads promoting crossings
Albanian migrants who come to the UK are unlikely to be at risk in their own country or require asylum here, a cross-party group of MPs has found.
Of the 45,755 people who crossed the Channel in small boats in 2022, 12,301 – or more than a quarter – came from Albania and most claimed asylum after arriving.
The Commons home affairs committee found little justification for the Home Office’s acceptance of 51 per cent of Albanian asylum claims up to June 2022 – a far higher proportion than elsewhere in Europe.
A report by the committee said: ‘Albania is a safe country, it is not at war and is a candidate country to join the EU.
‘There is no clear basis for the UK to routinely accept thousands of asylum applications from Albanian citizens.’
Of the 45,755 people who crossed the Channel in small boats in 2022, 12,301 – or more than a quarter – came from Albania and most claimed asylum after arriving (file image)
The surge in Channel crossings has reportedly led to a rise in crime in Britain, with 80 Albanian migrants sentenced for offences including murder, rape and kidnap in the first four months of 2023 alone.
The National Crime Agency has previously revealed that a ‘significant number’ of Albanian Channel migrants work for drug gangs once in the UK and send hundreds of millions of pounds to Albania every year.
The NCA also said Albanians were falsely claiming to be victims of trafficking to game the system and remain in the UK.
The committee found that in January 2023 there were more foreign nationals from Albania in English and Welsh jails than any other country.
Nine other countries, including Germany, had accepted no asylum claims from Albania.
The committee wants the Home Office to explain why the UK’s asylum acceptance rate is so generous, and insists ‘a key driver of migration from Albania is economic’.
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