LONDON: The UK Home Office is launching an advertising campaign to discourage Albanian migrants from traveling to Britain illegally via small boats.
The scheme, which will use Facebook and Instagram, is the latest attempt by British authorities to control the number of migrants making the dangerous journey across the English Channel. Albanians “face being detained and removed” if they reach Britain illegally, the adverts warn.
So far this year, more than 6,000 migrants have crossed from mainland Europe into Britain using small vessels.
The Home Office did not release information about the advertising campaign’s cost, but said it would “make clear the perils” that migrants could face in making the journey.
It described Albania as a “safe and prosperous country,” adding that migrants are making “spurious asylum claims” following their arrival in the UK.
But the campaign, which will launch next week, has been criticized by migrant advocacy groups and the main opposition Labour Party.
Refugee Action CEO Tim Naor Hilton said the advertising is “pointless” and “repeats the myth that refugee migration is illegal.
He added: “If the government wanted to smash the smuggling gangs and stop people crossing the Channel in flimsy boats, it would create more safe routes for refugees to travel here to claim asylum.”
The new campaign follows a similar scheme launched last August by the Home Office, which also used social media to deter Albanian would-be asylum seekers.
Albanians were the top asylum claimants in the UK from January to March this year, with 13,714 people from the Balkan country filing applications.
Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith warned that the new advertising campaign would fail to meet its objectives.
“No amount of taxpayer-funded PR spin will deter refugees, who have experienced some of the worst things imaginable from war and conflict to torture and human rights abuses, from seeking a safe future,” he said.
“The only solution that will put people smugglers out of business, stop small boat crossings and save lives is to offer safe passage to refugees with a viable asylum claim in the UK.”
The campaign follows the launch of the government’s proposed Illegal Migration Bill, which aims to deport asylum seekers who arrive in the UK illegally to their countries of origin or Rwanda.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said: “We are determined to stop the boats and the campaign, launching in Albania this week, is just one component of the Home Office’s work upstream to help dispel myths about illegal travel to the UK, explain the realities and combat the lies peddled by evil people smugglers who profit from this vile trade.”
