Plans to speed up the removal of Albanians who arrive on small boats have been dealt a blow after the country’s prime minister warned Suella Braverman the UK must treat his country with “respect” if it wants a deal.
In an extraordinary attack, the already embattled home secretary was accused of discriminating against Albanians to excuse homegrown “policy failures”.
Edi Rama also hit out at what he said were “insane” beliefs and “easy rhetoric”.
Ms Braverman, who was reappointed last week just days after she resigned over a security breach, singled out Albanians as part of what she described as an “invasion” on the UK’s south coast, remarks that were roundly condemned and led to accusations she was “dehumanising” migrants.
The Home Office says that some weeks this summer more than half of small boat arrivals said they were Albanian.
The government wants a “bespoke route” agreed with the country to bolster the removal process.
But Mr Rama tweeted that he was “ready to work closer with UK but facts are crucial. So is mutual respect”.
The row erupted as Ms Braverman was warned by council chiefs that Kent is at “breaking point” as a result of the migrant asylum centre crisis, with the potential for disorder at an overcrowded processing facility.
The chairs of four House of Commons select committees have also written a joint letter to Ms Braverman expressing their “deep concerns about the dire conditions” at Manston asylum processing centre and wider issues with Channel crossings.
Together they demanded answers from the home secretary on how her department plans to get a grip on the issues, including reducing “as a matter of urgency” the backlog in asylum cases.
Ms Rama said: “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!).”
He said the UK “should fight the crime gangs of all nationalities” and “stop discriminating” against Albanians “to excuse policy failures”.
He also argued that Albanians in the UK “work hard and pay tax”.
Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, is reported to be planning to visit the country shortly in a bid to beef up a deal the UK already has with Albania on migrants.
Ms Jenrick has said minister are working on a “fast track” system to speed up the removal of migrants with no right to stay in the UK.
Reports suggest the proposals could see migrants being deported immediately, which experts suggest would contravene their rights under the UN Refugee Convention.
On Monday Mr Jenrick told Today on BBC Radio 4: “We have sent 1,000 Albanians back home as a result of the returns agreement that was signed just a year ago, and I want to see far more sent back.”
Nearly 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far in 2022 – the highest number since figures began to be collected in 2018.
As the controversy about his choice of home secretary continued to rage, Rishi Sunak told the Commons they were “on the same page”.
But he declined to say whether she had been given legal warnings about blocking the transfer of asylum seekers from an overcrowded processing centre in Manston in Kent into hotels.
He was also forced to admit that “not enough” asylum claims had been processed, but insisted: “That’s what we are going to fix.”
But he was warned by a leading polling expert that the reappointment of Ms Braverman could blow a hole in his hopes of holding onto power at the general election.
Sir John Curtice said restoring Ms Braverman after just six days to the post she lost due to a breach of the ministerial code represented a “risk”.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said there had been a “total collapse” in asylum decision making.
A government spokesperson said: “We are always working extremely closely with our Albanian partners on a range of issues and are committed to building on our cooperation to date, including on tackling illegal migration.
“That includes excellent operational collaboration with Albanian law enforcement, and our readmissions agreement which has already seen over 1,000 Albanian foreign national offenders and others returned.
“Working together, we will continue to take every opportunity to intercept the activities of organised criminal gangs and people smugglers.”
