Albanian Prime Minister accuses Home Secretary of 'ethnic stereotyping' over asylum reforms

Shabana Mahmood set out a raft of reforms to the asylum system on Monday, including to return families with children with no right to be in the UK by force if necessary.

She added that there were "around 700 Albanian families living in taxpayer-funded accommodation having failed their asylum claims".

But Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said it is a "troubling and indecent exercise in demagoguery" on Wednesday.

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He posted on X: "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?

"Let us also be clear: 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.

"Official policy should never be driven by ethnic stereotyping. That is the very least humanity expects from the great Great Britain."

The comments come as Ms Mahmood has also faced criticism from some Labour MPs for the "shameful" package which is aimed at deterring migrants from seeking asylum in the UK and making it easier to remove people with no right to be in the country.

Ms Mahmood told MPs on Monday it was the "uncomfortable truth" that the UK's generous asylum offer, compared with other European countries, is drawing people to UK shores, and for British taxpayers the system "feels out of control and unfair".

Under the plans, refugee status will become temporary and subject to review every 30 months, while refugees will be able to apply for permanent settlement only after 20 years, instead of five years currently.

After each review they could be forced to go home if their country is deemed safe.

Plans to deport asylum seekers who have their claims refused, including families with children, will also apply to children born in the UK where their parents have no right to be in the country.

The Times reported officials said children would be required to leave the country with their parents if their refugee status is revoked.

A source told the paper it was to ensure there are no "perverse incentives" for refugees to have children in the UK "on the basis that they can stay".

Ms Mahmood said on Monday: "We are not going to separate parents and their children, but we are going to consult on the removal of support and how we effectively and safely ensure that those individuals are returned."

She added that an equality impact assessment would be conducted.

According to the i newspaper, the asylum reforms will also apply retrospectively to refugees already in the UK once the legislation is introduced.

This means refugees who have not secured long-term status by the time the changes come into force will also be subject to the regular checks and sent back to their home country if it is determined to be safe.

On Tuesday, Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs, who fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and arrived in England on the Kindertransport, said it was a "shabby thing" that Ms Mahmood was using "children as a weapon".

He said: "I find it upsetting that we've got to adopt such a hard line - what we need is a bit of compassion in our politics and I think that some of the measures were going in the wrong direction, they won't help."

The refugee campaigner also said that "to use children as a weapon, as the Home Secretary is doing, I think is a shabby thing" as he pointed to the fate of children born in the UK and integrated into communities whose parents are slated for removal.

The Home Office is also understood to be setting out changes to the way a person can apply for settled status in due course.

As part of the reforms, refugees in the UK under the "core protection" system will be encouraged to switch to a new "protection work and study" route where they will be able to earn earlier settlement this way.

They would be eligible for this route if they get a job or study at the appropriate level and pay fees.

Elsewhere, Ms Mahmood said that the safe and legal routes being introduced under the plans will first allow "a few hundred" asylum seekers and it will be expanded over time.

The new pathways for work, study and community sponsorship are hoped to help cut dangerous journeys in small boats across the English Channel.

Those arriving on these resettlement routes for work and study could be offered permanent settlement in 10 years, subject to consultation.

The reforms come as part of plans to curb Channel crossings, and work to crack down on people smugglers facilitating the dangerous journeys.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper also announced on Wednesday during a visit to Berlin that Germany will pass a law before Christmas to allow British police to pursue criminal gangs storing small boats in warehouses in the country.

"It is the result of our co-operation that we are able to go after the criminal gangs that undermine our border security at home," she said.