Albanian PM accuses Shabana Mahmood of ‘ethnic stereotyping’’ in asylum reforms
Albania’s prime minister has accused interior minister Shabana Mahmood of “ethnic stereotyping” after her controversial announcements on asylum this week singled out Albanian families for refusing to return to their homeland.
Edi Rama was outraged that Ms Mahmood singled out Albanians in her document and questioned why a Labor minister could “so poorly reflect the rhetoric of the populist far-right”.
The interior minister used the claim that 700 Albanian families were saved from deportation through the right to family reunification as a justification for getting rid of human rights guarantees and diluting Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right to family life.
In a furious attack on social media, Mr Rama, who leads Labour’s sister party in Albania, wrote: “How could Labour’s home secretary so poorly reflect the rhetoric of the populist far-right and single-handedly separate 700 Albanian families, a statistical drop in the ocean of post-Brexit Britain’s difficulties – at precisely the time when the UK and Albania have forged one of Europe’s most successful partnerships on illegal immigration?
“Albanians are net contributors to the British economy and the number of Albanians receiving UK aid is very low compared to other communities. Repeatedly excluding them is not policy but a disturbing and inappropriate practice of demagoguery.”
Meanwhile, associate researcher Andi Hoxhaj from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) accused the government of targeting and excluding Albanians in its rhetoric.
He said: “We saw the same problem under the previous Conservative administration and both the Albanian community and the Albanian government are deeply disappointed with the return of this narrative.
“This rhetoric appears increasingly linked to the government’s effort to reinterpret or reform the provisions of the ECHR on family rights, using Albanians as examples to make a broader political argument, as the Reform and Conservatives have done by using Albanians as an example.
“The home secretary is also responding to Farage’s message by specifically naming Albania because he is making Albanians a central part of his discourse.”
This is not the first time Mr Rama has clashed with a British home secretary. In November 2022, then-interior minister Suella Braverman accused some Albanians of abusing modern slavery laws, while also accusing them of “inciting xenophobia and targeting and excluding a community”.
Independent He contacted Ms Mahmood’s office for comment.
