Seven men involved in trafficking illegal immigrants from Albania to Britain to work in cannabis factories have been jailed. The Metropolitan Police described them as a “sophisticated organised crime group” and said they dismantled the gang after launching an operation together with the Home Office’s immigration enforcement department and the UK Border Force. Seven men…

There is no clear basis for the UK to accept thousands of asylum applications from Albanian citizens, a cross-party group of MPs has found. The Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons said in a report (pdf) on Monday that it has found little evidence to indicate significant numbers of Albanian nationals are at…

More than half of the illegal immigrants who claimed to be victims of “modern slavery” after crossing the English Channel in the first half of 2022 were Albanian, newly released figures show. In response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from Migration Watch UK, the Home Office revealed that 1,156 people were recorded as making…

Albanians should be barred from claiming asylum in the UK as they are coming from a “demonstrably safe” country, the UK’s immigration minister has said. The government is under intense pressure from Conservative MPs to get to grips with the issue of human traffickers using small boats to ferry illegal immigrants across the English Channel…

The UK’s National Crime Agency says Albanian gangs are bringing illegal immigrants across the English Channel, coaching them on what to say to the UK Border Force, and then putting them to work in cannabis farms. Ged McCann, a senior NCA intelligence manager, told a briefing of journalists on Tuesday that Albanian gangs were working with…

Ninety-one percent of Albanians who claimed to be the victims of modern slavery when they arrived in Britain after crossing the English Channel have been allowed to stay in the country pending a full investigation of their claims by the Home Office, according to the latest figures. On Oct. 26, Dan O’Mahoney, the Home Office’s Clandestine…

A senior Home Office official has praised the French for intercepting 28,000 illegal immigrants and destroying more than 1,000 boats but has admitted the number of people crossing the English Channel was still “unacceptable.” Dan O’Mahoney, the Home Office’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, told the Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday 38,000 people had crossed the…

A joint operation between Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Guardia Civil in Spain has led to the arrest of seven men from an Albanian organised crime group who were allegedly involved in smuggling illegal immigrants into the UK on board freight lorries. The NCA said the gang brought in around 50 illegal immigrants—mainly…

Home Secretary Priti Patel has invited police officers from Albania to come to England to help tackle a wave of illegal immigrants crossing the Channel in recent months. A Home Office report published on Thursday revealed the number of Albanians arriving in the UK on small boats from France and Belgium had increased “substantially” since…

An Albanian journalist has told The Epoch Times the impact of Priti Patel’s deal with Rwanda has already worn off and traffickers are telling illegal immigrants they will not end up in the African country. Muhamed Veliu, a political correspondent with Top Channel in Albania, said: “When the Rwanda deal was done we reported it…