Nigel Farage has slammed Priti Patel’s plans to rapidly remove Albanian migrants arriving into the UK on small boats.
As part of the deal, Albanian police could be brought to the UK to observe migrant arrivals and pass on intelligence in a bid to tackle Channel crossings.
The plan, part of a deal struck between the Home Secretary and the Albanian government, may see officers taken to the Kent coast to be present while migrants are processed and assist UK authorities with information, the Home Office said.
Ms Patel and Bledi Cuci, Albania’s minister for interior affairs also pledged to speed up removals of Albanians with no right to be in the UK from next week.
Nigel Farage
GB News
Priti Patel
Aaron Chown
It comes as some 2,165 Albanians were recorded as arriving between January and June 2022, compared with just 23 detected in the same period the previous year, according to a Home Office report published on Thursday.
GB News has been told that around 6,000 Albanians have crossed the Channel so far this year.
While GB News can confirm that 60 percent of arrivals across the Channel are currently coming from the tiny Balkan nation.
Reacting to Ms Patel’s plan, Nigel said he “personally doesn’t believe a word of it”.
Speaking on GB News’ Farage, Nigel said: “Yesterday, 536 people crossed the English Channel and today the English Channel is absolutely rammed.
“I can tell you as I speak operations are still ongoing, we estimate so far today about 650 people have come through the port of Dover.
“And guess what, 60 percent of them are Albanian.
“In response to this overnight Priti Patel has announced a new emergency package, a deal that’s been agreed with the Albanian government which she hopes means within two to three weeks, most of those that have come will be deported back to Albania.
“Will the Patel plan work? I have to say I’ve heard so many plans and proposals from Priti Patel since she became Home Secretary in 2019, I personally don’t believe a word of it.
“I hope I’m wrong, but it seems on this I rarely am.”
