According to a recent report by The Sun on Sunday, based on the latest statistics from the UK Ministry of Justice, an average of about five Albanian citizens end up in British prisons every day. During a one-year period up to last September, around 1,865 Albanians were sentenced to prison, making them the largest group of foreign inmates, accounting for nearly 9% of a total prison population of over 75,000.
Based on analysis by British media, in the first quarter of this year alone, 58 Albanian citizens received sentences of over one year for criminal activities including drug trafficking and migrant smuggling. British legislation stipulates that any foreign national sentenced to at least 12 months in prison automatically faces deportation after completing their sentence. Meanwhile, the current Labour government is considering changes that would allow the expulsion of some convicts after serving only one-third of their sentence, instead of half as currently applied.
Simultaneously, the bilateral agreement between Britain and Albania on prisoner transfer stipulates that Albanian citizens sentenced to over four years in prison will be returned to Albania to serve the remainder of their sentence. A representative of the UK Ministry of Justice disclosed that since July 2024, over 8,700 foreign nationals involved in legal violations have been deported, marking a 32% increase compared to the previous period.