He said it is 'insane' to blame his country for Britain's immigration woes, claiming it is about UK policy failure
Comes after Home Secretary described an 'invasion' of migrants and accused Albanians of abusing system
PUBLISHED: 22:01 GMT, 2 November 2022 Daily Mail
Albania's Prime Minister and Crown Prince have accused Suella Braverman of 'demonising' their countrymen with 'purely xenophobic' language after she said many Albanians landing in Kent in dinghies were not genuine asylum seekers and were gaming the system.
PM Edi Rama claims Britain is becoming a 'madhouse' and accused the Home Secretary of 'finding scapegoats' when 'failed policies' are to blame for the migration crisis, warning Britain must treat his country with 'respect' if it wants to seal a fast-track returns deal.
Mr Rama, who has been Albania’s leader since 2013, said it was ‘insane’ to blame his country for the UK’s immigration and crime woes. He said he was 'disgusted' by the Home Secretary's language in a combative Commons debate this week in which she claimed there is an 'invasion' of England by migrants crossing the Channel.
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He said: '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.'
It comes as the Home Secretary heads to Dover today where a dockside reception site for migrants was petrol bombed. There is also an ongoing crisis at the overly crowded Manston arrivals centre, where residents including children have been sleeping on floors of marquees for up to a month. Migrants were pictured performing Albania's controversial nationalist eagle gesture as they left the Manston yesterday.
Prince Leka said the 12,000 Albanians who have arrived in the UK on dinghies in 2022 – 10,000 of them single, young men – was not an 'invasion'.
He tweeted: 'Stop demonising us for your own internal political benefits. The UK has a population of 67 million, with 6 million emigrants (sic). 12,000 Albanians is not an invasion. The failings of British law enforcement is not our responsibility. A vast number of Albanians coming to the UK are from the EU and not Albania.'
While Albania is a republic and its monarchy was abolished in 1946, the country still recognises Prince Leka as the head of the country's royal house since he is the only grandchild of the country's final king – Zog I.
Ms Braverman has frequently singled out Albanian asylum seekers after their numbers crossing the Channel in small boats spiralled. She has also been considering negotiating a 'bespoke route' with the nation to get failed Albanian asylum seekers removed from the UK quicker – but this could now be under threat.
She told the Commons on Monday: 'If Labour were in charge they would be allowing all the Albanian criminals to come to this country, they would be allowing all the small boats to come to the UK, they would open our borders and totally undermine the trust of the British people in controlling our sovereignty'.
She also said the UK had seen a 'surge in the number of Albanian arrivals' and that 'many of them [are] abusing our modern slavery laws', adding: 'Albania is not a war torn country. And it is very difficult to see how claims for asylum really can be legitimate claims for asylum.'
It came as migrants were pictured performing Albania's controversial nationalist eagle gesture as they left the Manston arrival centre.
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