Albanian PM Criticizes UK Third-Country Asylum Plans Post-Brexit

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has strongly criticized the UK government’s plan, announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to establish 'return hubs' in third countries for refused asylum seekers, calling it a sign that post-Brexit Britain is 'in a very dark place.' Rama described the policy as 'totally unacceptable, totally ridiculous, totally shameful' and said that such ideas would have been unimaginable a decade ago, but have become normalized in British political discourse since Brexit. While Starmer announced the plan during a visit to Albania, Rama made it clear that Albania would not participate, consistent with his previous rejections of similar proposals from UK leaders including Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. Rama contrasted Albania’s cooperation with Italy on a similar asylum processing scheme, citing historical support Italy provided Albania after the fall of its Stalinist regime. He lamented the decline in the tone of public discourse in Britain, stating that 80% of what is now accepted would have been unacceptable before Brexit. The UK government maintains the policy aims to remove individuals who have exhausted all legal routes to remain in the UK and have no lawful basis to stay.