UK working group to assess Albanian prisons in April

A special working group will assess the security of Albanian prisons in April. This was agreed during the meeting between Edi Rama and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak this Thursday in London. This is because the British want to be sure of the return of hundreds of Albanian prisoners serving their sentences in the United Kingdom.

“On criminal justice cooperation, Prime Minister Edi Rama and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed the joint work on extraditions, criminal prosecutions and forensic capabilities and the extradition of hundreds of prisoners under existing agreements. They agreed that a joint UK-Albania team will conduct an assessment of Albania’s prison capacity, a process to be completed by the end of April, with the aim of returning all Albanian nationals held in the UK prison system,” they said in a joint statement.

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"As NATO allies, members of the UN Security Council and close partners, they also reaffirmed their commitment to working together to protect the security of citizens of both countries, protect democracy and promote human rights, including a strong international response to Russian aggression. This will include assisting Albanian cyber defense against online threats," the press release states, among other things. Particular emphasis is also placed on the issue of illegal immigrants.

“The Prime Ministers of the two countries committed to deepening the work within the framework of the Joint Declaration and Working Group agreed in December, to advance the shared priority of tackling irregular migration and criminal gangs trafficking in human beings. They discussed increased operational cooperation, including joint high-level communications on limiting the flow of people, and further agreements on data sharing and passports. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the progress made so far, as around 800 irregular migrants have returned to Albania since December, the actions against organised crime and the new UK guidelines designating Albania as a safe country,” the statement said.

“Finally, both Prime Ministers welcomed progress in business and university cooperation, including the opening of the new British Chamber of Commerce in Albania, the doubling of the Market Risk Preparedness Fund to finance British exports to Albania to £4 billion, to facilitate investment and deepening links between Albanian and UK universities,” the statement concluded.