The prime minister of Albania has accused home secretary Shabana Mahmood of “ethnic stereotyping” after she singled out Albanian families for refusing to return to their homeland in her controversial announcements on asylum this week.
Edi Rama was furious that Ms Mahmood had singled out Albanians in her document, and questioned how a Labour minister could “so poorly echo the rhetoric of the populist far right”.
The home secretary used the claim that 700 Albanian families avoided deportation, through the right of families to be reunited, as a justification to get rid of the human rights safeguard and water down Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
In a furious attack on social media, Mr Rama, who leads Labour’s sister party in Albania, wrote: “How can a Labour home secretary so poorly echo the rhetoric of the populist far right – and single out 700 Albanian families, a statistical drop in the ocean of post-Brexit Britain’s challenges – precisely at a moment 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 receiving UK benefits is very low relative to other communities. To single them out again and again is not policy – it is a troubling and indecent exercise in demagoguery.”
Meanwhile, Andi Hoxhaj, an associate fellow from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), also accused the government of targeting and singling out Albanians in its rhetoric.
He said: “We saw the same issue 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 tied to the government’s push to reinterpret or reform ECHR provisions on family rights – using Albanians as an example to make a broader political argument, like the Reform and Conservatives have made by using Albanians as an example.
“By specifically naming Albania, the home secretary is also responding to Farage’s messaging, as he has made Albanians a central part of his rhetoric.”
This is not the first time Mr Rama has clashed with a British home secretary. In November 2022, he accused the then home secretary, Suella Braverman, of “fuelling xenophobia and targeting, singling out a community” when she accused some Albanians of abusing modern slavery laws.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We welcome the partnership with Albania on returns.
“However, today thousands of failed asylum families are stuck in accommodation and support at taxpayer’s expense despite their home country being perfectly safe.
“The Government makes no apologies for beginning to remove families back home.”
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