London: The UK Home Office has launched an advertising campaign to discourage Albanian migrants from illegally entering the country via small boats.
The scheme, which will use Facebook and Instagram, is the latest attempt by British authorities to limit the number of migrants crossing the English Channel. Albanians who enter the country illegally face "detention and removal," according to the advertisements.
More than 6,000 migrants have crossed from mainland Europe into Britain using small boats so far this year.
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The Home Office did not disclose the cost of the advertising campaign, but stated that it would "make clear the perils" that migrants may face on their journey.
Albania is described as a "safe and prosperous country," and migrants are making "spurious asylum claims" after arriving in the UK.
However, migrant advocacy groups and the main opposition Labour Party have criticised the campaign, which is set to launch next week.
The advertising, according to Refugee Action CEO Tim Naor Hilton, is "pointless" and "repeats the myth that refugee migration is illegal."
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"If the government wanted to smash the smuggling gangs and stop people crossing the Channel in flimsy boats," he continued, "it would create more safe routes for refugees to travel here to claim asylum."
The new campaign follows a similar scheme launched by the Home Office last August, which also used social media to deter Albanian asylum seekers.
From January to March of this year, Albanians were the top asylum seekers in the UK, with 13,714 people from the Balkan country filing applications.
Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith predicted that the new advertising campaign would fall short of its goals.
"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 way to put people smugglers out of business, stop small boat crossings, and save lives is to provide safe passage to refugees with valid asylum claims in the UK."
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The campaign comes in the wake of the government's proposed Illegal Migration Bill, which would deport asylum seekers who enter the UK illegally to their home countries or Rwanda.
"We are determined to stop the boats," Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said. "The campaign, which is 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.