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THE BIG RUSH
Traffickers are conning Albanian migrants into racing to UK before new PM is elected
TRAFFICKERS are conning boat migrants from Albania into racing to Britain before there is a new Prime Minister.
They tell them a new leader will halt all Channel crossings with an armada of patrols — and that failing to stop them was Boris Johnson’s downfall.
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The smugglers have also dropped the price for the 20-mile crossing during good weather to as low as £2,000 per person, compared to £10,000 in previous months.
Meanwhile prices for crossing hidden in a lorry are around £22,000 and come with a much larger risk of being caught.
The revelations come as an intelligence report found four in ten people arriving on small boats are from Albania, despite there being no war there for 25 years.
Nine gangs were behind 2,863 migrants arriving between June 1 and July 12. Of those, 1,075 were Albanian.
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The total number to have made the journey this year hit the 18,000 mark on Saturday when 337 crossed in ten boats.
A source said: “Albanians are told hundreds of people will patrol the Channel, fences will guard the coast and they will get sent back and lose their money.
“When there is a new PM, there will be a new lie — whatever it takes to keep this trade going.”
Dover and Deal MP Natalie Elphicke said the new Prime Minister should see the crossings as a “key priority”.
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She added: “It’s beyond question that many are simply economic migrants.
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"There’s a right way to apply to work in the UK — and it isn’t in the hands of people smugglers.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "Social media posts used by criminal people smugglers promoting illegal crossings are totally unacceptable.
"This government is already tackling this deceitful online propaganda, with law enforcement, social media companies and overseas governments”.
“The UK Government works with the Albanian government on a range of issues, including signing a historic agreement to remove Albanian nationals with no right to be in the UK in 2021.
"Since then, we have removed over 1000 Albanian foreign national offenders, including some who crossed the Channel illegally to come to the UK."
“The Government has an established procedure to patrol the Channel, involving the Ministry of Defence, Home Office and other departments, and engaging with the French authorities”.
“No one should question this government’s determination to break the business model of the criminal gangs as every government department has been involved in tackling the issue of illegal migration.
"Under our new Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda, we will relocate those who are making dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journeys into the UK."
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