Just days after sailing across the English Channel in tiny boats, Albanian migrants posted pictures on social media of themselves posing in front of London monuments.
One migrant even took a selfie while travelling in a dinghy across the English Channel. He then showed up in a London restaurant and, six days after his journey, was seen grinning on Westminster Bridge with the London Eye in the distance.
A second Albanian described how he travelled from a bus in Kukes, northern Albania, to a Premier Class hotel in France, and then – after the boat ride – ended himself in front of a horseman from the Kings Troop who was on sentry duty.
Government flights are used to deport robbers and rapists.
On charter flights to Poland and Romania this week, the government transported 61 foreign criminals serving a total of more than 400 years in prison.
38 people who entered the UK unlawfully were deported yesterday on a flight to Romania, and 23 people were deported to Poland on Tuesday, August 23.
Those who were taken from both planes had been convicted of crimes like rape, sexual assault, and robbery and had served cumulative jail sentences of more than 419 years in UK and foreign prisons.
“These criminals are responsible for some of the most horrific crimes conceivable, including rape and sexual assault,” said Home Secretary Priti Patel. They have broken our laws and abused our morals, leaving the victims and their families to pick up the pieces and start over after their heinous acts.
“The British public should have no doubts about my commitment to getting rid of them using every tool at my disposal to make our streets safer. The cycle of last-minute claims and appeals that might postpone removals will be broken thanks to our new Nationality and Borders Act.
As the public is entitled to expect, “We are continue to deport foreign criminals and those with no right to be here.”
The Telegraph discovered a total of five Albanians who had posted videos of their travels to TikTok.
One claimed he started his journey “from a point where the [French] police were not present” and had been at sea for ten hours.
He claimed to have paid £3,500 for the crossing and that UK immigration officials questioned him for 24 hours before releasing him.
When seen the video, Home Secretary Priti Patel reacted by saying it “glamorises unlawful and dangerous paths to the UK.”
In order to benefit organised crime organisations and people smugglers, she continued, “They are urging people to leave safe European countries and make dangerous voyages to the UK.”
“Social media firms, like TikTok, have a moral need to act immediately to remove these reckless and deadly posts and prevent social media content that encourages crime from being placed on their platforms in the first place.”
The security agencies are inspecting Albanians when they enter the UK due to widespread worries about their possible involvement in organised crime.
According to a source, increasing numbers from the Balkan state are “climbing up the security services list” of priorities.
Albanian immigrants surpassed Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians, and Afghans as the most common nationality crossing the English Channel in the first half of this year, as people traffickers take advantage of Britain’s open borders.
Data indicated that 2,165 Albanians had arrived during that time; however, it is believed that number has now reached 6,000 as of the beginning of July.
A new fast-track removals programme geared toward Albanian newcomers was unveiled by Ms. Patel yesterday.
Albanian police will join UK immigration authorities in Dover starting the next week.
It is believed that Albanian officials’ previous visits to the dockside caused a “significant difference in behaviour” among new Albanian newcomers.
Albanian asylum petitions will be treated as “obviously baseless” under the fast-track programme, which will utilise current regulations approved by the previous Labour administration in 2002.
Pro-immigration organisations have already voiced their opposition to the Albanian quick removals plan.
Enver Solomon, the head of the Refugee Council, declared that it was “completely incorrect” to approach asylum claims “based on preconceptions towards the nation of origin.”
It is yet unknown if the “quick removal programme” would be challenged in court, similar to how the Rwanda asylum agreement, which has been in legal limbo for months, was.
24,231 migrants have entered the UK so far this year, nearly DOUBLING the amount that did so by this time last year as nearly 3,000 migrants crossed the Channel in only four days.
Harry Howard writing for MailOnline
On Thursday, more than 800 immigrants made their way across the Channel and into the UK.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), 16 boats carried 804 passengers.
Analysis of interim Government data shows that it brings the total for the year to date to 24,231.
This implies that roughly 3,000 people have come in the last four days and is almost double the figure for this time last year.
After being rescued and brought ashore by the RNLI at Dungeness in Kent, some of yesterday’s arrivals were captured on camera.
In one image, teenage guys could be seen waiting to be processed by Kent Police and Border Force agents while lined up against a wall.
According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, the French government is asking British taxpayers for £93 million to fund additional beach patrols on their side of the Channel.
The amount would be over £40 million higher than the £54 million that Home Secretary Priti Patel had previously agreed to.
According to statistics, the cost of the UK’s asylum system has surpassed £2 billion annually, with the biggest number of claims in 20 years and the longest wait times for those awaiting a judgement.
Spending on asylum by the Home Office increased by £756 million from around £1.4 billion in 2020–21 to £2.1 billion in 202–21. According to official statistics, this is the greatest sum ever recorded and more than double what was spent in 2019–20.
According to the government, the 63,089 applications submitted in the year ending in June 2022 represent the largest number for any 12-month period since 71,316 applications were submitted in the year ending in June 2003.
The number of arrivals this month set a new monthly record. Inflatable dinghies or other small craft were used by 6,869 migrants to enter the UK in November 2021, breaking the previous monthly record.
Since 2018, the Ministry of Defense has been keeping track of how many small boats regularly traverse the English Channel.
The majority of the public money given to France thus far has been used to purchase tools like CCTV cameras and night-vision equipment.
This week, The Daily Mail covered how fewer patrols had been conducted recently since gendarmes are on vacation.
Officials are reportedly working incredibly hard to process the backlog of pending asylum claims, but they are having trouble keeping up with the number of new applications.
Albanians (18%), Afghans (18%), and Iranians made up more than half (51%) of the small boat arrivals in the first half of this year (15 per cent).
Since the Taliban took control of Kabul last year, more Afghans are travelling, according to the Home Office.
Recent statistics on asylum show that Iranians submitted the most applications (10,752).