Albanian migrants question

[Notthetoothfairy]

Everyone knows the U.K. is really short of staff since Brexit and that is pushing up prices for food etc. If we now (like it or not) have a huge influx of Albanian young men who actually want to work, wouldn’t we be better off letting them legally get jobs here and treating them like the Europeans who left?

Maybe I’m being too simplistic here but I’m not sure how keeping them unhappily detained for long periods in processing centres then spending something like £7m a day putting them in hotels without letting them work is helping anyone. Obviously it’s different if someone has just come over to claim benefits and has no intention of working but I get the impression that’s not the case for a lot of these young men.

If you think I’m wrong, you can explain why and still be nice about it 😁

This discussion is about Albanian men.

And no, it's not impossible that they have been trafficked, but you stated as a fact that they were. That's why I asked you for evidence. Have you got any?

Albania is an official candidate for ascension into the EU....has been since 2014. One of the key principles of the EU is freedom of movement. It can only work if the countries involved have similar economies and living standards imo. I wonder if and when Albania will be accepted?

Then why don't they apply through legal channels then. Rather than paying thousands to enter illegally. If their business here is as legitimate as you think it is.

I have so many questions. To what extend can Brexit be blamed for the increase in prices when the inflation on the UK is lower than in the Eurozone?

Also what is going on in Albania that there are tons on young men coming to look asylum? Of course people who come to UK should be working but this does not seem legit. Surely they can get a job once they are processed? Yes, the current immigration system has too long of a processing times. Yes, my visa app was rejected and I'm salty about that

Putting resources into the police here to make it less attractive to criminal gangs, home grown or imported.

Personally I’d legalise cannabis too but that’s probably a separate debate.

Yes, and if they're so 'ambitious' shouldn't they direct their energies towards making their own country a more prosperous place? That, or emigrate by legal means.

More police to resolve this here is a few steps too late.

The cost is already huge by then.

I don't disagree with you on either, but your first suggestion takes times.

What do we do with them whilst that is being done?

Essentially it comes down to criminal gangs. People get into debt with them (real or fabricated) and are forced to work that off, under threat to themselves or/and their families. currently Albanian gangs make a lot of money in the UK so that’s where they need to ‘staff’.

@triggerpod

This offers some explanation and history from an Albanian as to why Albanians are heading for the UK:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/04/albanians-scapegoats-britain-failing-ideological-project-invaders

It does take time but there needs to be an acceptance that’s just reality. There is no quick fix. Immigration has been a headline topic for years and it’s still not ‘solved’ so we need the media and politicians to stop enabling fanciful bullshit like Rwanda and start having an actual grown up conversation about it.

I voted leave... reluctantly. I'm pro freedom of movement but the list of countries waiting to join are countries which are just too poor for it to work imo.

I’m interested too. Where is this assertion coming from?

For the recently arrived 10,000 males

I think that's great. I'd completely understand and support a man's desire for that. But most residents of care homes are female because women do live longer, and make up 2/3 of dementia sufferers, I believe. I think it's inevitable that there will always be a greater demand for same sex care from women.

Is it? Pretty sure the title says ‘Albanian Migrants’.

Has sending them straight back been tried though?

Hi everyone. We've deleted several posts from this thread already. While we have no problem with MNers discussing the myriad of issues raised by people arriving in the UK in small boats, we do not tolerate racism or xenophobia. The posts we have deleted so far have pretty much declared an entire country's population to be criminals. If the thread continues along those lines, we will delete it.

From Wikipedia entry on 'Albanian mafia':

'Deeply reliant on loyalty, honour, and familywith blood relations and marriage being very importantmost of the Albanian networks appear to be "old-fashioned". Albanian mafia families or clans are usually made up of groups that have thousands of members all over the world, constituting an extended family, residing all along the Balkan route from Eastern Turkey, to Western Europe, and North America'.

'According to the US State Department, "Albania is the mainstay of organised crime worldwide and the main points of drug trafficking, weapons and immigrants in counterfeit goods".[14] In addition, "the cartels 'national' are distinguished by the absence of vertical hierarchy, and controlled by family groups. Four major clans control 20 families that also govern human trafficking, prostitution, blackmail, car robberies and money laundering," writes Sputnik.'

'Albania experienced a rise in gangs and the drug trade following the economic collapse during the 1990s, caused by the pyramid schemes in 1997. The economy's reliance on drug trade and smuggling has led the country to be declared as Europe's only narco-state'

Albania is a tribal clan society perfectly suited for criminal mafia activity, people thinking these men are here themselves work legally are quite amusing really

The OP's post focusses on men, as do most of the replies.

Albanian men are probably more likely to be traffickers than trafficked.

Just to counter any “men can’t be victims” narrative, there are industries where forced labour of men is widespread. Agriculture is one, and forced labour/exploitation is being seen across the construction industry too. Just to be really clear, this doesn’t just apply to Albanians, or just to asylum seekers or illegal immigrants. This can also happen to British people and legal migrants (especially those on seasonal work visas.)

“In 2021, construction accounted for more than 20% of incidences of labour exploitation reported to our Helpline.

A further 13% of labour abuse cases raised through the Helpline also related to the building industry.”

“It’s not just the big building sites where modern slavery occurs. Take Frank who was exploited on local building jobs for several years.

Every day Frank was driven round in the back of a van to a different job and told that there would be violent consequences for his son if he refused to work.”
www.unseenuk.org/modern-slavery-in-construction-is-on-the-rise/

Here is the BBC article, difficult situation and also many towns and villages in Albania are being depleted of their young people www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63488070?at_campaign=64&at_custom3=%40BBCNews&at_medium=custom7&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_custom4=790C72D4-5C24-11ED-93AF-B945FC756850&at_custom2=twitter

I don’t think anyone has the slightest idea. We only know about those who are intercepted or hand themselves in, not about the enormous traffic in small leaisure cruisers into smaller harbours.