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Concerns Grow About Albanian Children Missing in UK

January 25, 202313:17
British admission that hundreds of Albanian minor asylum seekers have gone missing from placements in hotels has drawn criticism from experts demanding more responsibility on the issue.


Human trafficking illustration. Photo: EPA/MLADEN ANTONOV

A British minister said Albanian children are prominent among migrant youngsters who have gone missing from hostels and hotels run by the Home Office – the UK equivalent to the Interior Ministry.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs that of 4,600 child asylum seekers who had arrived in the UK since 2021, 440 had gone missing and only about half had returned.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office Simon Murray said that of those 200 missing migrant children, most were Albanians. “Out of 200, 88 per cent are Albanian nationals,” Murray said on Monday.

Andi Hoxhaj, a lecturer in London said the UK has done nothing to protect the most vulnerable, especially young Albanians, who are one of the groups most vulnerable to trafficking.

“Young Albanians are among the most vulnerable demographics for child trafficking, and the UK government’s rhetoric and overall hostile environment toward migrants, as well as its refusal to acknowledge the risk that they may face if deported back to Albania, have resulted in a significant number of missing children who are now being exploited by traffickers and organised crime networks,” he told BIRN.

Altin Hazizaj, who runs an organization that focuses on children’s rights in Tirana, also stressed concerns related to the issue.

“These facts raise a very serious question on the ability of the UK government to protect children. International law requires from UK to protect unaccompanied children same as British children. One has to wonder if this lack of care and responsibility comes from the fact that they are mostly Albanian children,” Hazizaj told BIRN.

BIRN asked Albania government about this issue but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Albania and the UK in December last year agreed to join forces through a task force to tackle crime and illegal migration.

But on January 16, Albania delivered a “note of protest” to the British Ambassador in Tirana over comments made by a British minister towards Albanian migrants in UK.

In a video published in Twitter UK Minister of State Robert Jenrick was seen visiting an immigration removal centre and saying: “I’ve been meeting the fantastic staff who are working round the clock to find the Albanians, to detain them, to put them onto coaches, to take them to the airport and get them back to Tirana.”

The two countries said they would work together in fighting organised crime and illegal emigration through prompt implementation of a readmission agreement between the two countries.

Some 15,000 Albanians have crossed the English Channel, which divides France from the UK, since the start of last year, of a total of 44,000 illegal migrants.

In the UK, the government of Rishi Sunak is under pressure to do more to tackle illegal migration and organised crime.

The UK promised to help Albania to better protect victims of human trafficking and to provide better opportunities for youngsters through building skills.

It is not known what caused the latest wave of Albanian emigration to Britain, which involved an astonishing number of mostly young people. As Albania has a male population of 508,000 people aged 14-40, the 15,000 that have crossed the Channel means almost one every 30 have left for Britain.

 

Fjori Sinoruka