{"id":120240,"date":"2023-10-21T08:19:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T08:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yourclomid.com\/?p=120240"},"modified":"2023-10-21T08:19:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T08:19:09","slug":"albanias-mini-london-made-richer-thanks-to-migrants-sending-money-from-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourclomid.com\/world-news\/albanias-mini-london-made-richer-thanks-to-migrants-sending-money-from-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Albanias mini London made richer thanks to migrants sending money from the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Albanian town of Has has recently earned a new nickname which is sure to raise eyebrows in the UK. The area has been dubbed \u2018Little London\u2019 thanks to its high number of blatant cultural nods to the country that so many Albanians have now emigrated to.<\/p>\n

From the Britain Resto Lounge to Bar London, this north-eastern corner of Albania is obsessed with Blighty.<\/p>\n

And no wonder, since 2018 Albanians have crossed the Channel to Britain more than nationals from any other country, with the exception of Iranians, according to the Migration Observatory at Oxford University.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, according to locals, is that the Has region, from which the town takes its name, has enjoyed economic development thanks to immigrants sending money back from Britain.<\/p>\n

Has mayor Liman Morina told AFP from his office, in which British and Albanian flags stand side by side, that four in five of his constituents \u201csurvive thanks to the hard and honest work of their relatives in Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n

READ MORE <\/strong> I went undercover to expose Albanian trafficking gangs – they’re here in Britain<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Klodian Kastrati, a Has-based sociologist, said: \u201cEmigration is an epidemic that affects all young people here contaminated by the idea of leaving for Britain in the hope of creating a better future.”<\/p>\n

Has is the former communist state\u2019s poorest region and \u201cemigration is the only real resource to support its inhabitants\u201d, the academic added.<\/p>\n

According to Oxford\u2019s Migration Observatory, Albanian Channel crossings spiked during 2022.<\/p>\n

The experts said: \u201cThere was a sharp rise in Albanian nationals crossing the Channel in 2022, which drove much of the overall increase in arrivals that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 12,000 arrived in small boats that year, compared to only 800 making the trip a year earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the winter of 2022-3 the number of Albanians crossing in small boats dramatically declined, with only 28 making the crossing in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 235 the year before.\u201d<\/p>\n

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