The prime minister of Albania has claimed the UK is in “a very dark place” after Brexit. Edi Rama’s bold comments came as he took aim at UK plans to send refused asylum seekers to “return hubs” in third countries.
The leader of Albania’s Socialist Party accused Britain of looking for places to “dump immigrants” and suggested the asylum policy would not have been “imaginable” before Brexit. Sir Keir Starmer announced the Government would begin exploring the possibility of sending failed asylum seekers for processing in third countries prior to deportation during a visit to Albania last month. Mr Rama said: “It’s one of those things that 10 years ago would simply not have not been imaginable…that Britain would look for places to dump immigrants.”
He made the comments in an interview with The Guardian, adding: “The fact that today it’s not just imaginable, it’s happening, is not because of Keir Starmer or [Rishi] Sunak doing something outrageous; it’s because of the country being in a very dark place.
“80% of the things that are said, or are written, or are accepted as a normal part of the discourse in today’s Britain are things that [before Brexit] would have been totally unacceptable, totally ridiculous, totally shameful.”
In May, Mr Rama appeared to rule out being a host to the UK scheme, saying Albania was “loyal” to its arrangement with Italy.
He told The Guardian that “very decent” Sir Keir had not made a public request for Albania to take part and said former PMs Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak had previously asked.
“I’ve always said no,” said Mr Rama who has just led his party to a landmark fourth term in office.
He argued Albania’s similar deal with Italy, which has been held up by legal objections, is different because the countries have a “very special relationship”.
Sir Keir said last month that he has spoken to countries about possibly holding return hubs.
It comes as the Government continues to struggle to get ahold of the migrant crisis.
The Prime Minister has vowed to “smash the gangs” responsible for smuggling people across the Channel but crossings are at a record high for this point in the year (18,51).
The UK and France are expected to announce a one in, one out migrant returns deal to crack down on the crossings, according to reports.
The Government earlier this month announced plans to stop using hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029.
