UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been accused of ethnic stereotyping and indecent demagoguery by Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, after she highlighted Albanian families in plans for escalated deportations.
Rama criticised Mahmood on X, questioning why a Labour home secretary would “echo the rhetoric of the populist far-right” by singling out around 700 Albanian families who face removal from the UK if they refuse cash incentives to return home.
He said Albanians were net contributors to the British economy and that the number receiving UK benefits was comparatively low.
Repeatedly naming Albanians, he argued, is not policy, it is a troubling and indecent exercise in demagoguery”, warning it exposed citizens of an allied nation to greater risks, including from extremist groups who exploit such narratives.
He urged the UK to deepen security cooperation with Albania rather than scapegoat its people.
Mahmood is also facing pressure from more than two dozen Labour MPs who oppose the government’s approach to forcibly removing families with no legal right to remain in the UK.
Home Office officials say some families whose asylum claims were rejected have refused voluntary return.
Tensions between London and Tirana have reportedly grown despite close collaboration on tackling illegal migration.
UK border security teams have recently been deployed across the western Balkans, including Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia to strengthen intelligence sharing on smuggling networks.
Albanian asylum claims remain low, and there has been a 90% drop in small-boat arrivals from Albania since 2022.
But analysts say the government is increasingly targeting Albanians in its rhetoric. Andi Hoxhaj of RUSI argued that Mahmood’s language mirrors messaging from Nigel Farage and earlier Conservative administrations, using Albanians as a political example amid debates on the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Rama has previously clashed with UK home secretaries; in 2022 he accused Suella Braverman of fuelling xenophobia for comments about Albanian migrants.
