Key facts
- Albania's UK ambassador, Uran Ferizi, stated that right-wing politicians and media are fixated on the 2022 surge of Albanian migrants.
- Ferizi described the criticisms as "unhinged" and "hysterical," arguing the influx was "exceptional" and "short-lived."
- He suggested restrictive UK visa policies may have contributed to the surge by making legal routes difficult.
- A report indicated 12,658 Albanians crossed the Channel in 2022, a spike but only 1% of total UK immigration that year.
- Albanian visa approval rates were lower than other Western Balkan countries, with over 70,000 applications refused.
- Ferizi criticized media coverage, citing a Daily Telegraph article that he claims demonized the Albanian community.
Albania's ambassador to the UK, Uran Ferizi, has strongly criticized what he terms the "unhinged" and "hysterical" fixation of right-wing politicians and media on the 2022 surge of Albanian migrants arriving in small boats.
Ferizi stated that while the influx of over 12,000 Albanians in 2022 was a real and exceptional event, it was short-lived, yet the Albanian community in the UK continues to be framed by these past events by parties like Reform UK and publications such as the Daily Telegraph. He urged Reform UK to cease what he called "Albanian-spotting" and suggested that the UK's visa policies at the time, which had a lower approval rate for Albanians compared to other Balkan nations, may have inadvertently pushed vulnerable individuals towards people traffickers.
His office has compiled a 10-page report, utilizing data from the Home Office and the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. The report details that 12,658 Albanians crossed the Channel in 2022. Although a significant spike, this figure represented only about 1% of the UK's overall long-term immigration for that year. The report suggests that arrivals subsequently fell sharply and that most of the 2022 cohort has since departed the UK.
Ferizi, who himself arrived in Britain as a teenage stowaway before studying mathematics at Oxford, commented that some of the focus on Albanians "sounds unhinged." He argued that a "loud minority" in British politics and media has kept the "Albanian migration crisis" alive long after the data indicated it had ended. He recounted an experience at a Reform UK conference where a pub quiz led his table to conclude he was "actually alright," suggesting direct contact often contradicts the narrative. Ferizi proposed that Reform UK could better serve Britain by addressing domestic issues like youth unemployment and welfare rather than focusing on Albanians.
He also noted that some Conservatives, including those in government, appear more eager to emulate Reform UK's headlines than to scrutinize the evidence. The report indicates that Albanian applicants for UK visas had an approval rate of just 65.5% between 2018 and 2025, contrasting with approximately 90% for other Western Balkan countries, with over 70,000 Albanian applications being refused during this period. Ferizi contends that this disparity warrants greater examination, stating that when legal routes are exceptionally difficult, the irregular route cannot be discussed in isolation. While the report does not definitively claim visa refusals caused the Channel surge, it raises the possibility that restricted legal access made young Albanians more susceptible to smugglers and traffickers.
Ferizi has also voiced criticism regarding the Daily Telegraph's coverage, accusing it of demonizing the Albanian community by portraying them as criminals. He cited an article from 2024 that claimed one in 50 Albanians in the UK were in prison, a rate he argued was the worst of any nationality. Ferizi countered that when adjusted for age, sex, and other relevant factors, this rate diminishes significantly, suggesting the unadjusted figure was used to achieve a desired headline.