Talk: Targeting Albanian Communities for Immigration Detention
This talk explores developments which have led to Albanian communities being over-represented in immigration detention over recent years. The speakers discuss why this is the case, related policy developments and the impact on Albanian communities.
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Prejudice against people from Albania is not new. However, in recent years, the Albanian community have been increasingly vilified with the rise in inflammatory discourse in the media and from the government. This has justified restrictive immigration policies and made it exceptionally difficult for people from Albania to have their case heard, let alone accepted. There has been a significant increase in the number of Albanians being deported and Albanians are disproportionately represented in immigration detention centres. The impact on peoples lives has been devastating.
In this event, we discuss how people from Albania have come to be a convenient scapegoat for divisive immigration policies and rhetoric.
In the first part of the talk Piro Rexhepi talks about Albanaphobia situating this in the wider context of international migration policies and racist discources. In the second part, Kristina Millona discusses recent developments in the UK which have led to the stigmatisation, over-policing and the incarceration of Albanian men and asylum seekers in detention, including key changes to the Country Policy and Information Notes (CPIN) on Human Trafficking in Albania.
References
- Shpresa Programme is a charity that promotes the participation and contribution of Albanian-speaking refugees and migrants in the UK.
- Government statistics: Albanian communities represent one quarter of people detained in the year ending September 2025. Albanians have consistently been the most common nationality detained since 2022.
- An inspection of asylum casework (June - October 2023), Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration: Includes background to Operation BRIDORA.
- Albania: country policy and information notes
- White Enclosures, Piro Rexhepi
- The Albanians Sailing to the UK: Xenophobia and simplistic narratives harm Albanian asylum-seekers in the U.K. Kristina Millona
The Speakers
Piro Rexhepi is an author and researcher who works on decoloniality, sexuality and Islam. His book “White Enclosures. Racial Capitalism and Coloniality Along the Balkan Route” (2023) situates the Balkans within the context of postcolonial border regimes, shedding light on the way racial hierarchies have been imposed and perpetuated through the production of whiteness in the area. Piro is interested in the way that solidarities form and how we can bring these to the forefront in order to disrupt dominant narratives.
Kristina Millona is a scholar from Albania working on topics around sexualities, communism and archives. She is currently focused on writing around the nexus between men, mobility and border violence by focusing on the securitisation of Albanian asylum-seekers in the UK.
This talk took place in January 2024 and was part of AVID's Winter School 2023/4, exploring key issues and challenges in acting in solidarity with those impacted by detention.