According to the Office for National Statistics from 2019, only 47,000 Albanians live in the UK (Picture: Getty/PA)

Albanians living and working in Britain are feeling even more ‘unwelcome’ after Suella Braverman’s declaration of a migrant ‘invasion’.

As it happened with Poles, then Bulgarians and Romanians accused of migrating to ‘steal jobs’, people from the small Balkan country have now become the next ‘scapegoats for the government’s failures’.

Dr Andi Hoxhaj, a lecturer of law at University College London, said Albanians are experiencing ‘an alarming rise in hostility and xenophobia’.

The 34-year-old told Metro.co.uk people often ‘prejudge’ him, assuming he is part of ‘some shady business’ because of his country of origin.

He added: ‘Once people get to know you, it is okay, but every time the problem of Albanian organised crime comes up, there are always negative comments.

‘For instance, when I worked at Warwick University, near Birmingham, there were many reports on the news about Albanian organised crime. People there looked at me with suspicion.’

Like many migrants, Dr Hoxhaj moved to the UK in 2004 for his higher education, and later decided to settle here.

Dr Andi Hoxhaj, a lecturer of law at University College London, moved to the UK in 2004

According to the Office for National Statistics, he is one of only 47,000 Albanians in the country.

This year, he moved from Birmingham to London where incidents of xenophobia are less common, at least for him.

But last week’s comments by the home secretary and Tory MP James Daly, left him concerned about the future of his fellow citizens in the UK.

Corruption has become Albania’s greatest stumbling block, impeding its ongoing bid for EU candidacy and forcing thousands to leave in hope for a better life.

Dr Hoxhaj stressed that such ‘demonisation’ of Albanians has left people in his community feel ‘targeted’.

The academic said: ‘With politicians making such remarks about Albanians, people in the community are feeling more uncomfortable.

An Albanian man stopped a coach carrying his nephew outside Manston detention centre (Picture: Sky News)

Suella Braverman arrives in a Chinook helicopter for a visit to the short-term holding facility located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent (Picture: PA)

‘Our neighbours and people we interact with fear us, especially Albanians who work as builders.’

Dr Hoxjah said neighbours called the council about his friends, who were putting up scaffolding, for ‘suspicious activities’ because they are Albanian.

The lecturer stressed this is ‘just one example’ of the xenophobia people are faced with on daily basis, adding: ‘There are also the casual remarks.

‘I recently heard students making fun of a couple of their classmates who are from Albania. They were asking them if they are in the UK to get involved in drug rings.

‘This is just some of the attitudes. Once people find out you are Albanian, you are not viewed as favourably. Part of this xenophobia is rooted in Brexit.

‘There was a little before but during the campaign, both the Leave and Remain camps used Albania as a negative argument, so many people now associate the country with that.’

A few years back, Dr Hoxjah held a seminar at his university, asking students why the UK left the EU.

At the time, a drug ring in Birmingham had been busted, with a group of Albanian men arrested as part of the police operation.

The lecturer recalled that a number of his students said they voted Leave because ‘many Albanians were coming to the country’.

He said: ‘The way they said it, it was intentional. I did tell my superiors about it but they just responded with “students are being students”.

‘There were also occasions when my colleagues questioned my authority because I come from a non-EU country.

‘At my previous place, some colleagues even asked me ‘why don’t you go back to your country’. This did make me feel uncomfortable.

Primary school teacher Megi Adamou with her husband Chris

‘People were prejudging me just because I come from Albania. They thought I was not good enough to work there and that I should be thankful to have been given the job.

‘This is valid about the general migrant experience, not only Albanians. Migrants do not get the same opportunities or promotions at work.

‘There is always this double standard. Colleagues from other communities have shared similar experiences with me as well.’

Fellow Albanian Megi Adamou agrees that discrimination against migrants is on the rise in the UK.

The 44-year-old moved to London in 2018 after meeting her now husband in Albania.

Volunteering for the Harmony Church London, which mostly caters for Albanians, she gets to hear about incidents of xenophobia first hand.

Ms Adamou shared how her friend’s 16-year-old son was branded a ‘criminal’ at school just for being Albanian after the rhetoric in the Commons about migrants.

Ms Braverman (second right) during a visit to the migrant processing centre in Dover (Picture: PA)

The primary school teacher and college lecturer said: ‘I feel very discriminated against. I work with a large part of the Albanian community in London.

‘I have friends who are university professors, lecturers, architects and conductors, and we are all treated as criminals.

‘Before I came to the UK to live, I had to pay around £2,500 to use the NHS, which I now do every two years. 

‘I love and respect this country. But it’s not at all alright to treat us like that. It is unbelievable.

‘I am living in transparency and honesty and I don’t understand why I should pay the price for another person’s crimes just because they are from my country.’

According to the Home Office, more than 11,500 Albanians entered the UK ‘illegally’ via small boats, representing 35% of the total small boat arrivals to date this year.

More: Lifestyle

Under plans announced in August, they will have their circumstances examined, with those who have no right to be in the UK being removed as soon as possible.

A spokesperson for the government did not comment on the ‘hateful’ language used by Tory politicians or about how it may have affected migrants living here.

But they said: ‘We are always working extremely closely with our Albanian partners on a range of issues and are committed to building on our cooperation to date, including on tackling illegal migration. 

‘That includes excellent operational collaboration with Albanian law enforcement, and our readmissions agreement which has already seen over 1,000 Albanian foreign national offenders and others returned. 

‘Working together, we will continue to take every opportunity to intercept the activities of organised criminal gangs and people smugglers.’

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‘Once people find out you are Albanian, you are not viewed as favourably.’