Albanian PM hits out at ‘disgraceful’ migrant attacks in No10 meeting

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Rishi Sunak has vowed to strengthen ties with Albania in the battle to tackle the migrant boat crisis. The Prime Minister also insisted he wants to ramp up efforts to send more Albanian criminals in British prisons back to their homeland.

His remarks came as he met Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in Downing Street yesterday, hours after the leader of the Balkan state had lashed out at Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Speaking of the issue of small-boat crossings, Mr Rama said: “It has been a very, very disgraceful moment for British politics.”

Figures showed that at least 13,000 Albanians entered Britain on small boats last year, which was just under a third of all arrivals.

Ms Braverman sparked a diplomatic row with Tirana in October when she spoke about “allowing all the Albanian criminals to come to this country”.

Speaking alongside Mr Rama, the Prime Minister said he was “very pleased with the progress we’re making” on tackling illegal migration.

He added: “I know we’ll be discussing that later, not least how we can do more on prisoner returns.”

Mr Rama said his visit to Downing Street was “an opportunity to underline that just as all Britons are not James Bond or Mr Bean, not all Albanians are some characters out of Taken [a film in which Liam Neeson tries to get his daughter back from people traffickers].”

Mr Rama told Mr Sunak: “Dua Lipa is not just simply a British singer, but she’s an Albanian immigrant that has come here, as many have come to construct, to nurse, to cook and to sing for you, and we want to make sure that this community feels not only safe but feels honoured here.

“And the rotten apples are our common objective to be gone after and to win this battle.”

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