Albanian gangs are telling their "clients" that now is the ideal time to use fake passports, instead of trying to cross the English Channel in small boats.
They claim that recent developments at airports mean fewer checks and more opportunities to enter Britain using fake European passports and IDs, reports the Sunday Express.
Over the Christmas period, there were eight days of Border Force checks at British airports. Unions have threatened further strikes that could spread to ports including Dover. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week announced new measures to prevent Albanians from entering the country. This includes new legislation by the end of February to increase the number of weekly flights deporting people to Albania.
He also pledged Border Force officers based at the airport in the capital Tirana, the hiring of 400 specialists to speed up Albanian asylum applications, and new guidelines for asylum caseworkers that Albania is a “safe country,” meaning most requests will be rejected.
According to the Home Office, 45,728 people crossed the English channel in small boats to enter the country illegally last Year. around a third are Albanian citizens, mostly men.
A Sunday Express investigation has identified an Albanian group on the Telegram messaging platform called “Travel to England”, which is offering fake passports from Norway, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia, which it claims have been obtained by people in Britain.
