Albanian migrants abandon small boat Channel crossings for lorries

Albanians are abandoning boat crossings of the Channel in favour of lorries amid fears they will be detained and deported back to their homeland if they arrive in small vessels.

Criminal gangs are turning to smuggling Albanians into the UK in lorries because there is less chance that they will be caught if they reach Britain, meaning theycan then disappear into the black economy, Albanian sources said.

The increased demand for lorry routes has pushed advertised prices on TikTok up to £20,000 per migrant.

Officials said the winter fall-off in Albanians reaching the UK on small boats was “dramatic”, with “very small numbers.”

Last year, Albanians they accounted for 28 per cent of the 45,755 small boat migrants last year. For the first three months of this year, less than five per cent of the 3,700 arrivals so far are thought to be Albanians.

The overall number of Channel migrants reaching the UK is down by more than 20 per cent on the 4,548 who had reached the UK by this time last year, although the start of this year has been marked by worse weather.

“The number of Albanians crossing on small boats has fallen dramatically. We are now seeing very small numbers. We aren’t quite sure why.  The returns agreement with Albania and increased enforcement is potentially a factor, but we will see if it stays low,” said a source.

Some 500 Albanians who entered the UK illegally have been deported since Rishi Sunak agreed a fast-track returns deal with Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama in December.

A further 2,478 Albanians were deported between July 2021 and September 2022 after a readmissions agreement.

Other sources remained sceptical because last year the bulk of Albanians arrived during the summer months before numbers tailed off from October to December when they accounted for nine per cent of arrivals, or 1,099 people.

In those three months, Afghans overtook Albanians to become the main nationality reaching the UK, accounting for 33 per cent of small boat arrivals (3,834).

The switch to sea routes followed a crackdown on illegal road and rail Channel migration. However, TikTok adverts promoting the lorry route still boast of a 100 per cent success rate, despite tighter checks on ferry ports out of France, Belgium and Holland.

Smugglers charge £20,000, a 10 per cent rise on last year and double the rate a decade ago. One TikTok advert, featuring a picture of a lorry and posted on March 26, stated: “Hey Albanian. Not 18K. Not 19K. Journey 20K sterling, hotel where you will stay paid every day by us. So, Albanians do not get cheated with low prices.”

Another, posted on March 28, claimed: “Journey tomorrow on the head of the lorry. Passage 100%. Payment on arrival,” while a third, on March 27, stated: “Journey every week for all Albanians. We are the best at the moment and correct. Facts speak for themselves.”

People-smugglers also advertise deals in which they fix it for migrants to be smuggled into the UK as “second drivers” in lorries bringing goods into the UK.