Thousands of Albanians protested in London on Saturday in response to Home Secretary Suella Braverman characterising of the migrant crisis in the English Channel as an “invasion”.
As the United Kingdom was in the process of honouring the fallen soldiers in World War I, thousands of Albanians demonstrated in central London, briefly blocking off Westminster bridge and draping the statue of wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill in the Albanian flag.
The protest was condemned by Brexit leader Nigel Farage, who said: “Remembrance weekend in London and Albanians have taken over Westminster Bridge for a protest. This is what our politicians have done to us.
“These people care nothing for our country or the sacrifices of the past. What is happening in London today is a disgrace!” Farage added in reference to the Albanian flag being tied to the Churchill statue in Parliament Square.
According to local news outlet MyLondon, the protesters objected to Home Secretary Suella Braverman calling the waves of illegals crossing the English Channel and “invasion“. Last month, the government revealed that despite Albania being a safe and peaceful country, over 12,000 illegal boat migrants that landed in Britain this year have come from Albania.
Of those, approximately 10,000 are said to be military age males, with the government estimating that the figure represents 2 per cent of the entire male population between the age of 20-40 in the Balkan country.
Some Albanians have argued that it is necessary for them to flee from their country due to the high level of corruption, however, others have noted that they have no need to flee to the UK from France, where the majority of illegal boat migrants set off from.
Iranian-heritage British political commentator Mahyar Tousi commented that “Iranians are not flying the Islamic regime’s flags. They’re flying the Persian flag because they want a revolution so they could go back home. Albanians claim they’re against Albania then come here to protest UK government and fly Albanian flags.”
The protesters also reportedly objected to being perceived as criminals, with placards being seen reading that Albanians “are not criminals but work and pay taxes,” according to the Albania Daily News.
However, at present, Albanians represent the single-largest population of foreign-born criminals in British prisons.
A BBC investigation earlier this month found that drug gangs from the south eastern European nation are using the migrant camps in France as recruitment hubs, offering to pay for their way to the UK in exchange for agreeing to work in underground criminal networks in Britain.
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