Albanians could help plug Britain's staff shortages, says MPs' migration report
MPs today call on the Government to recruit Albanians to help tackle staff shortages.
A study by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee suggests a campaign in Albania “and elsewhere” to promote temporary work visas in industries worst hit by short staff shortages.
It could prevent more Albanians crossing the Channel in small inflatable boats and claiming asylum, according to the panel.
“There is no case for special treatment for Albania in provision of work visas: its citizens are as entitled as any others to apply for those available in the UK,” says the report.
“There may, though, be a case for promoting more actively in Albania and elsewhere the provision of short-term work visas in sectors in which the UK needs workers - seasonal agriculture or construction, for example - with the specific aim of enabling some transfer of wealth to countries from which asylum applications should not normally be countenanced but from which substantial numbers of people seek opportunities elsewhere.”
Theresa May savages Tories over five year delay to Hillsborough report response
Committee chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson warned: “People will continue to be attracted to the UK from Albania while it continues to offer job opportunities and higher wages.
Labour MP Diana Johnson chairs the Home Affairs Committee (PA Archive/PA Images)“The UK should look at how access to work visa schemes can be improved to fill our skills or staffing gaps, while offering Albanian nationals a route to higher income, benefiting both nations.”
More than a quarter of the 45,755 migrants who crossed the Channel in small inflatable boats last year came from Albania - and most claimed asylum.
The number arriving in small boats over the Dover Strait - the world’s busiest shipping lane - rocketed from 800 in 2021 to 12,301 in 2022.
Publishing its 30-page ‘Asylum and migration: Albania’ report today, the committee says the rise “was both unexpected and unexplained”.
Dame Diana said: “Such a substantial sudden increase in asylum claims from a seemingly peaceful country understandably raised concerns.”
Arrivals from Albania have slumped dramatically this year - and the committee “found little evidence to indicate significant numbers of Albanian nationals are at risk in their own country and require asylum in the UK”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak aboard the Border Force cutter HMC Seeker during a visit to Dover last week (Getty Images)However, it adds: “While claims for political asylum should not normally be entertained, there are unquestionably cases of Albanian citizens being trafficked to the UK, from within Albania or from within other European countries, where appropriate safeguards must be in place before they are returned to Albania.”
Women are “disproportionately at risk from this form of crime”, it says.
Earlier this month, the Home Office launched an advertising campaign to deter Albanians from coming to Britain.
Dad who strangled woman to death told police he killed her to 'wash away shame'
The adverts, running in Albanian on Facebook and Instagram, warn they "face being detained and removed" if they make the dangerous journey across the Channel.
The Government claimed the campaign would "make clear the perils" faced by migrants on small boats.
Last week, Rishi Sunak said numbers of Albanians heading to Britain had plummeted in recent months.
The Prime Minister added: "So far this year, the number of Albanian small boat arrivals has fallen by almost 90%.”
He said a returns deal with Tirana had led to 1,800 people being sent back.
* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
