Albanian prime minister says Britain is becoming a ‘madhouse’
The Albanian prime minister has accused Britain of becoming a ‘madhouse’ after the Home Secretary took aim at Albanian migrants.
Edi Rama lashed out at Suella Braverman’s ‘crazy’ choice of language in a Commons debate this week, in which she claimed there is an ‘invasion’ of England by people crossing the Channel.
The rhetoric has been widely criticised amid major questions about the UK’s treatment of migrants and how to deal with a backlog of asylum applications.
In a highly unusual intervention, Albania’s leader suggested the UK government was ‘finding scapegoats’ over the issue – and claimed that ‘failed policies’ are actually to blame for the current crisis.
Mr Rama declared himself ‘really disgusted’ by Ms Braverman’s ‘crazy words’ and suggested that sort of language fuels xenophobia and goes against ‘the great British tradition of integrating the minorities’.
The embattled Home Secretary has frequently singled out Albanian asylum seekers after the number of them crossing the Channel in small boats spiralled.
Ms Braverman has also been considering negotiating a ‘bespoke route’ with the Balkan nation to get failed Albanian asylum seekers removed from the UK more quickly.
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Mr Rama told BBC Newsnight: ‘I thought it came a point where it was impossible to not react because it was really an embarrassment for our civilisation to hear all kind of crazy words being thrown in the air like normality and ‘invasion’ was the peak.
‘It’s about the climate that has been created, and it’s about finding scapegoats and blaming others.
‘While it’s very obvious, even from Tirana, which is not so near to London, that it’s about failed policies, it’s not about Albanians or aliens or gangsters, but it’s about failed policies on borders and on crime.’
Asked about the consequences of Ms Braverman’s language for Albanians settled in the UK, he continued: ‘It doesn’t come for good. This kind of language is not a policy, is not a programme, is not a vision, is nothing but to fuelling xenophobia and targeting, singling out community and practically going totally against the great British tradition of integrating the minorities.
‘Britain was a role model in this and now is becoming like, I don’t know, like a madhouse.
‘I’m not angry at all. I’m a big admirer of the United Kingdom. I have friends that I’m privileged to have there, and I admire everything that Britain represents.
‘But I really am disgusted about this kind of politics that at the end is doomed to fail.’
He confirmed that his Government would continue to work with the UK to clamp down on trafficking gangs as he singled out political rhetoric as the problem while paying tribute to the UK’s ‘great professionals’.
Mr Rama had previously called for ‘mutual respect’ as he used Twitter to condemn the ‘insane’ and ‘easy rhetoric’ of targeting his citizens for the UK’s border failures.
Ms Braverman told MPs on Monday that the UK has seen a ‘surge in the number of Albanian arrivals’ and claimed that ‘many of them I am afraid to say abusing our modern slavery laws’.
Ms Braverman agreed with Tory backbencher Lee Anderson who brought up ‘Albanian criminals’ and suggested those who dislike UK accommodation ‘can get on a dinghy and go straight back to France’.
Last week, MPs were told that 12,000 Albanians had arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, compared to 50 in 2020.
Ms Braverman is facing mounting criticism for the severe overcrowding and dreadful conditions at the Manston migrant processing facility in Kent and a failure to tackle Channel crossings.
The problems have added to her woes as she continues to face scrutiny over a security breach that saw her lose her job under Liz Truss, before being reappointed by Rishi Sunak just days later.
The Government faces potential legal action with conditions some migrants are facing branded ‘dire’ by senior MPs.
Weather warnings in place after Storm Claudio brings more wind and rainAsked about Mr Rama’s comments last night, immigration minister Robert Jenrick told Sky News’ The Take with Sophy Ridge: ‘I want to have a constructive and productive relationship with our Albanian friends. That’s extremely important.
‘But it is correct that a quarter of people who’ve come in small boats have come from Albania this year, and the NCA, our national crime organisation, has said that a very significant proportion of serious organised crime is emanating from those individuals.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed Ms Braverman’s handling of the issue, saying she has taken ‘significant steps’ to address the problem of overcrowding at Manston.
But climate minister Graham Stuart this morning conceded that she had used ‘unfortunate language’ when asked about Mr Rama’s intervention.
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