The other Albanian migrant crisis

All of this poses a puzzle: if legal emigration to other destinations is a possibility, why is there such desperation to reach the UK? And why now?

One explanation relates to chain migration and the UK's labour shortages. The UK hosts a large diaspora from Albania's poorest region, Kukes County. That attracts relatives and acquaintances who have an easier time finding well-paid jobs in Albanian-owned construction businesses, according to Safet Gjici, mayor of Kukes. “Some do hire workers without immigration papers, but it's honest work,” Gjici said. “Of course, there are those who do work in illicit areas. But they are a minority, a small percentage.”

On timing, the focus has been on a recent advertisement campaign on social media by smuggling groups, which make the dangerous boat crossing seem easy and affordable. But those who choose that route are in danger of falling victim to criminal activities, such as having to work in cannabis greenhouses “willingly or unwillingly, in an attempt to pay off the debts they have taken to make it there,” said Kristafi, the AIIS researcher.

The UK also stands out for the lack of legal travel options. Albanians have been able to travel visa-free to the Schengen Area, which encompasses most of the EU, for more than a decade. In contrast, it is exceedingly difficult for most Albanians to get even a tourist visa to Britain or to join family already in the United Kingdom. This, some say, is another reason why Albanians are crossing the channel. Despite its dangers, most other routes are closed.

Lea Ypi, an Albanian-British professor at the London School of Economics, bitterly recalled on Twitter that her mother and brother have never been allowed to visit her in the UK, where she has lived for 14 years and is a citizen. Despite having spent hundreds of pounds in fees they were ultimately denied their travel visas.

“My mother … had not ‘satisfied the consular office that her intentions are those of a genuine visitor'. Ask any Albanian you meet and they will have at least one story like this. It's very likely they will have more,” Ypi wrote. “If you've never seen a UK visa rejection letter – the cruelty, the contempt, the humiliation – here's the one denying entrance to my mum because I'd said in my invitation letter that I was pregnant … [and] needed help. I'm a privileged academic. Imagine what it's like for other Albanians.”

Calls for solutions

It's a point that has not been lost on UK authorities, which recently launched a project to offer legal migration and better conditions at home in places like Kukes County.

Alastair King-Smith, British ambassador to Albania, said it was the UK's most ambitious initiative in northern Albania and will provide skills and jobs across the region. “My message to those who are considering whether to travel in an illegal manner to the United Kingdom is this: Wait. Don't go now and ruin your lives,” the ambassador wrote in a LinkedIn post. “What you are being shown on social media is not the reality. Either stay here or apply for visas through legal routes. Do not go illegally! We appeal to everyone who can contribute: please work with us to create hope and choices for young people here, so that they don't feel forced to leave.”

Even the church is calling for action. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Albania recently issued a statement calling on Albania's leadership to come up with and implement solutions to the crisis.

“Our believers dramatically tell us how whole families prefer to emigrate for fear that they cannot guarantee a safe future for their children and that many of them have lost hope to live in Albania,” Monsignor Angelo Massafra said in a statement to the media. He called for solutions to stop “a total emptying of school structures in rural areas”, and the depletion of what he called “the most valuable professions for the social and economic development of our country, such as in healthcare and education.”

So far, his prayers haven't been answered.