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Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, has criticised Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for what he described as “ethnic stereotyping” following her recent comments highlighting Albanian families in the UK asylum debate. Mahmood, addressing MPs, mentioned that about 700 Albanian families were residing in government-funded accommodation despite having failed their asylum applications. Rama dismissed this figure as a “statistical drop in the ocean of post-Brexit Britain’s challenges” and condemned the targeting of Albanians in this context.
The UK government has been pushing through significant reforms aimed at overhauling what Mahmood described as an “out of control and unfair” asylum system. These changes include making refugee status temporary, extending the period to obtain permanent settlement from five to twenty years, and enabling the removal of families with children who do not have the right to remain. Mahmood emphasised the importance of removing those with unsuccessful asylum claims regardless of nationality. She also announced the creation of new legal pathways for migration that would include annual caps on the numbers allowed to enter the UK.
Rama took to social media to respond firmly to Mahmood’s remarks, questioning how a Labour Home Secretary could echo far-right rhetoric by singling out Albanian families during a period of close cooperation between the UK and Albania on tackling illegal migration. He also stressed that Albanians are net contributors to the British economy and highlighted that the proportion of Albanians receiving UK benefits is relatively low in comparison to other groups. Rama labelled the repeated singling out of Albanians as not policy but “a troubling and indecent exercise in demagoguery,” insisting that official policy must avoid ethnic stereotyping.
This was not the first time Rama has publicly confronted UK politicians over their portrayal of Albanians. Earlier in the year, he rebuked Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to Tirana when Starmer sought Albanian support to establish “return hubs” for failed asylum seekers from other countries. Rama also criticised previous Conservative governments for what he called the “stigmatisation” of Albanians. Known for his outspoken presence on social media, Rama has openly challenged figures like Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, disputing claims about Albanian criminality in the UK and accusing Farage of spreading misleading narratives linked to Brexit politics
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