Albanian migrants pose for pictures in front of the London Eye

Albanian migrants pose for pictures in front of the London Eye as they boast of trips to London landmarks just days after crossing the Channel by small boats

• One migrant took a selfie aboard boat and later posed in front of the London Eye
• Another paid smugglers £3,500 and ‘spent 24 hours in custody before release’
• Priti Patel said the TikTok footage ‘glamorises illegal and deadly routes to the UK’

Albanian migrants have shared social media photos showing them posing in front of London landmarks just days after crossing the Channel in small boats. 

One migrant even took a selfie while aboard a dingy in the Channel before then appearing at a London restaurant and, six days after his crossing, smiling on Westminster Bridge with the London Eye in the background. 

A second Albanian chronicled his journey from a bus in Kukes, northern Albania, to a Premier Class hotel in France and then – after the boat journey – standing in front of a horseman from the Kings Troop on sentry duty. 

One migrant shared a photo of himself posing in front of the London Eye on August 16 

The Telegraph found five Albanians in total who had recorded their journeys on TikTok. 

One said he had been at sea for 10 hours after ‘starting the journey from a place where the [French] police were not present’. 

He claimed to have paid £3,500 for the crossing and spent 24 hours being interviewed by UK immigration officials before being released.

Presented with the footage, Home Secretary Priti Patel said it ‘glamorises illegal and deadly routes to the UK’. 

She added: ‘They are encouraging people to leave safe European countries and make lethal journeys to the UK to profit organised criminal gangs and people smugglers.

‘Social media companies, such as TikTok, have a moral responsibility to take immediate action to pull down these dangerous and irresponsible posts and stop social media content which is promoting illegal and criminal activity from being uploaded on their platforms in the first place. 

Earlier the same man shared a selfie showing him with other migrants on a packed boat 

Albanians arriving in the UK are being scrutinised by the security services amid widespread concern over involvement in organised crime.

Surging numbers from the Balkan state are ‘rising up the security services list’ of priorities, a source said.

As people traffickers exploit Britain’s porous borders, Albanian migrants became the largest nationality arriving across the Channel in the first six months of this year – overtaking Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians and Afghans.

Data showed 2,165 Albanians arrived in that period – but since the start of July the number is understood to have risen to 6,000.

Ms Patel yesterday announced a new fast-track removals programme aimed at Albanian arrivals.

From next week, Albanian police will work alongside UK immigration officers in Dover.

Presented with the footage, Home Secretary Priti Patel said it ‘glamorises illegal and deadly routes to the UK’

Previous visits to the dockside by Albanian officers have led to a ‘marked difference in behaviour’ by Albanian arrivals, it is understood.

The fast-track scheme will use existing laws – passed by the former Labour government in 2002 – to treat Albanian asylum claims as ‘clearly unfounded’.

The Albanian rapid removals scheme is already facing criticism from pro-migrant groups.

Head of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, said it was ‘totally wrong’ to approach asylum cases ‘based on biases about the country of origin’.

It remains unclear whether the ‘rapid removal scheme’ is likely to face challenges in the courts in the same way as the Rwanda asylum deal, which has been in legal limbo for months.

Nearly 3,000 migrants crossed the Channel in four days bringing total so far this year to 24,231 – almost DOUBLE the number that landed on UK shores by this time last year 

By Harry Howard for MailOnline 

More than 800 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on Thursday.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 804 people made the journey in 16 boats.

It takes the total for the year so far to 24,231, according to analysis of provisional Government figures.

This is almost double the total for this time last year and means nearly 3,000 people have arrived in the last four days. 

Some of yesterday’s arrivals were pictured after being rescued and brought ashore by the RNLI at Dungeness in Kent. 

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 804 people made the journey in 16 boats. It takes the total for the year so far to 24,231, according to analysis of provisional Government figures

One photo showed young men lined up against a wall as they waited to be processed by Kent Police and Border Force officials. 

It came as it emerged that the French government is seeking £93 million from British taxpayers towards extra beach patrols on their side of the Channel, according to the country’s Le Figaro newspaper. 

The figure would be nearly £40million more than the £54million agreed by Home Secretary Priti Patel last autumn. 

Meanwhile, figures showed that the cost of the UK’s asylum system has topped £2billion a year, with the highest number of claims for two decades and record delays for people awaiting a decision.

Home Office spending on asylum rose by £756 million from around £1.4 billion in 2020/21 to £2.1 billion in 2021/22. This is the highest on record and is more than double the amount spent in 2019/20, official figures showed.

The 63,089 applications in the year to June 2022 is also the highest number for any 12-month period since the year to June 2003 when 71,316 applications were made, according to the department.

The arrival figures for this month are the highest monthly record. The previous monthly record was November 2021 when 6,869 migrants reached the UK in inflatable dinghies or other small craft. 

The Ministry of Defence has been recording how many small boats cross the English Channel on a regular basis since 2018. 

More than 800 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on Thursday. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 804 people made the journey in 16 boats

Most of the taxpayer cash handed over to France so far has been spent on equipment such as CCTV systems and night-vision goggles.

The Daily Mail reported this week about how fewer patrols have been mounted in recent weeks because gendarmes are on holiday. 

Meanwhile, officials are understood to be working hard to reduce the backlog of outstanding asylum claims but are struggling to keep up with the number of new applications.

In the first six months of this year more than half (51 per cent) of small boat arrivals were Albanians (18 per cent), Afghans (18 per cent) and Iranians (15 per cent).

The number of Afghans making the journey has risen since the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul last year, the Home Office said.

The latest asylum figures show the most applications came from Iranians (10,752).

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