The UK has been told to stop blaming Albanians for the migrant crisis by the country’s prime minister as senior MPs have raised concerns about the “dire conditions” migrants are being kept in.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said the British government needs to stop using Albanian immigrants to “excuse policy failures”.
Hours after, the chairs of four cross-party parliamentary committees sent a letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman saying they had “deep concerns about the dire conditions” that migrants are being held at the overcrowded Manston migrant processing centre in Kent.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has singled Albanians out several times over the past week as the numbers coming from the southern European country in small boats across the Channel has soared – and therefore the amount at Manston.
She said the majority of Albanians arriving are adult single males.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said Albanians are “abusing” the Modern Slavery Act to delay deportation attempts.
Craig Mackinlay, the Conservative MP for South Thanet in Kent, said 12,000 Albanian migrants have arrived on small boats in the UK so far this year.
More on Migrant Crisis
Related Topics:
But Mr Rama has had enough and tweeted on Wednesday: “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!).
Advertisement
“70% of the 140,000 Albanians who have moved to the UK were living in Italy and Greece.
“1,200 of them are business people. Albanians in the UK work hard and pay tax. UK should fight the crime gangs of all nationalities and stop discriminating v Albanians to excuse policy failures.”
He added that Albania is a NATO country and is currently negotiating its EU membership, as well as being a “safe country of origin”.
Image: Edi Rama hit out at the UK government
Mr Rama said when Germany had a similar problem “it tightened its own systems – the UK can and should do the same, not respond with a rhetoric of crime that ends up punishing the innocent”.
He said Albania is “not a rich country and was for a very long time a victim of empires, we never had our own”.
The PM added: “We have a duty to fight crime at home and are doing so resolutely, as cooperating closely with others too.
“Ready to work closer with UK but facts are crucial. So is mutual respect.”
On Tuesday, Ms Braverman said there has been a “surge” in Albanian arrivals, with many “abusing our modern slavery laws”.
“We are working to ensure that Albanian cases are processed and that individuals are removed as swiftly as possible – sometimes within days,” she added.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:57
Braverman and migrant row explained
She added that over the past six to nine months there has been a rise in the number of Albanian migrants arriving in small boats via the Channel and said she was suspicious of their claims of modern slavery because Albania is a signatory to the European Convention Against Trafficking.
“If those people are genuinely victims of modern slavery, they should be claiming that protection in Albania,” she added.
Ms Braverman praised the “excellent relationship” with her Albanian counterpart for allowing the quick removal of Albanians with “no reason to be in the UK”.
On Tuesday, the Oxford Migration Observatory said 86% of Albanians who received positive decisions on asylum applications in the year ending June 2022 were women, whose leave to remain was granted on the basis that they were likely to have been trafficked by criminals and in genuine need of protection.
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
Image: US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indianand Israelirepresentatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
6:50
Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.