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Edi Rama has accused the British Home Secretary of using far-right populist rhetoric, after she deliberately specified during a statement that 700 Albanian families had been selected for deportation after being refused asylum...
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been accused of “ethnic stereotyping” and “inappropriate demagoguery” by Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama after she deliberately singled out Albanian families who were to return to their homeland.
Rama, the leader of the Socialist Party, has questioned why a Labour Party politician should “repeat the rhetoric of the far-right populist”, after Home Secretary officials specifically singled out 700 Albanian families who were awaiting deportation.
“ How can a Labour Home Secretary so weakly echo the rhetoric of the far-right populist party, and single out 700 Albanian families, a statistical dot in the ocean of Britain’s post-Brexit challenges, at a time when the UK and Albania have built one of Europe’s most successful partnerships on illegal migration? Albanians are net contributors to the British economy and the number of Albanians who receive benefits from the UK is very low compared to other communities. To single them out consistently is not politics, it is a disturbing and inappropriate exercise in demagogy.
"The UK should seek ways to deepen cooperation with Albania on all security issues, rather than constantly blaming Albanians and thus exposing the citizens of an allied nation to increasing risks, including those from extremist groups that thrive on such narratives. Official policy should never be guided by ethnic stereotypes ," Rama wrote in a reaction on 'X'.
Quite disappointing to hear the UK Home Secretary, @ShabanaMahmood , cite "around 700 Albanian families" living in taxpayer-funded accommodation after failed asylum claims as justification for resuming family returns.
— Edi Rama (@ediramaal) November 19, 2025
How can a Labor Home Secretary so poorly echo the rhetoric of...
A source from the Albanian government said there were growing tensions between the governments of Albania and the United Kingdom, despite successful cooperation on immigration policies.
Now, Mahmood faces the wrath of more than two dozen Labour Party MPs over government plans that would result in families being forcibly removed from the UK if they refuse financial incentives to return to their country.
Rama's attack has also caused concern in Whitehall, because the Western Balkans are seen as a major transit route for asylum seekers trying to reach the UK.
UK border security officers were sent to Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina over the summer to build links and gather intelligence on smuggling gangs.
Under pressure on Monday to justify plans that would allow for the escalation of deportations of families from the UK, officials pointed to a number of people who had refused to return to their countries of origin despite having their asylum claims rejected.
The Home Office has claimed that there are around 700 Albanian families in the UK without the right to reside, but so far the Home Office has chosen not to prioritise sending them home.
Asylum applications from Albanians remain low and there has been a drop of more than 90% in arrivals from Albania by small boats since 2022. Andi Hoxhaj, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the UK government appears to be targeting and singling out Albanians in its rhetoric.
“We saw the same problem under the previous Conservative administration and both the Albanian community and the Albanian government are deeply frustrated by the return of this narrative. This rhetoric seems increasingly to be linked to the government’s attempt to reinterpret or reform the ECHR provisions on family rights, using Albanians as an example to make a wider political argument, as the Reformists and the Conservatives have done using Albanians as an example. By specifically mentioning Albania, the Home Secretary is also responding to Farage’s messaging, as he has made Albanians a central part of his rhetoric ,” he said.
This is not the first time that Rama, one of Europe's most extravagant leaders, who knelt while greeting the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, at an EU summit in May, has criticized a UK Home Secretary.
In November 2022, he accused Suella Braverman of inciting xenophobia and targeting, singling out one community when she accused some Albanians of abusing modern slavery laws./ Adapted “Pamphlet” from “The Guardian”
30 vite te shkuara ne Britani ishin 1 milion aziatike e tani jane mbi 7milione. Kane zaptuar lagje te tera, zyra bashkie, zyra kompanish, shumica e personelit mjekesor jane raca e tyre, ne polici po ashtu e lista nuk vazhdon. Ne nje kohe kur Shqiparia e Shqiptaret jane adhurues e mbeshtetes te Britanise totalisht trajtohen me urrejtje e perbuzje, keta aziatike qe urrejne cdo qenie te bardhe e qe shtetet e tyre te origjines jane kethyer kunder Britanise, USA e Europes duke i dale ne mbeshtetje Putinit trajtohen me perkedhelje e vihen ne postre kyce te shtetit e politikes. Eshte per te qare e te shkretet Shqiptare nuk dijne nga tia mbajne. Nuk e di se cfare kane Europianet perendimore me kombin Shqiptar kur dihet qe te tere e kane origjinen prej tyre. U kane bere keq sa nuk thuhet me Konventa te Fshehta e politika te ndyra pas shpine e ketyre turi zinjve me miliona, qe kur i pushtuan i mbajten nen zap me 2 mije ushtare i kane si embelsire pas ushqimit. Politika nuk eshte kurve por po te vihet kurveria ne krye te politikes eshte problem ne cdo shtet e ne te gjithe boten. Boten e ka pushtuar klasa kurveri e ulet. Shembull eshte edhe Shqiperia me gjendjen ku ka perfunduar. Rrofte imoraliteti boteror.
Veprim shume i gabuar , i pa konsultuar dhe i monitoruar keq nga institucionet ligj zbatuese. Familje Shqiptare ka ne shume shtete Europiane. Nese ato familje nuk i pergjigjen legjistacionit te shtetit ku jetojne , atehere ka masa te ndryshme per familjet Shqiptare....