A Tory minister has distanced himself from Suella Braverman’s remarks about Albania after the country’s prime minister accused the UK of descending into a “madhouse”.
Graham Stuart admitted that “unfortunate language” had been used in the immigration debate following Edi Rama’s criticism of the home secretary.
Braverman drew criticism when she appeared in the Commons this week to defend her handling on the situation at the migrant processing centre in Manston, Kent.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has admitted thousands of migrants are being held illegally at the site because the government has failed to find them alternative accommodation within 24 hours of their arrival.
There have also been reports that diseases such as MRSA, scabies and diphtheria have broken out.
Braverman has been criticised after she spoke of an “invasion” on the southern coast and singled out Albanian asylum seekers as being responsible.
She told MPs there had been a “surge” in the number of Albanians arriving on small boats and said that many were “abusing our modern slavery laws”.
Rama appeared on BBC Newsnight last night to accuse the government of “finding scapegoats” for its own “failed policies” .
“I thought it came a point where it was impossible to not react because it was really an embarrassment for our civilisation to hear all kind of crazy words being thrown in the air like normality and ‘invasion’ was the peak,” he said.
“It’s about the climate that has been created, and it’s about finding scapegoats and blaming others.
“While it’s very obvious, even from Tirana, which is not so near to London, that it’s about failed policies, it’s not about Albanians or aliens or gangsters, but it’s about failed policies on borders and on crime.”
Asked about Rama’s criticisms on Sky News, Stuart acknowledged that the “pressure” of the situation had led to “unfortunate language”.
“I’m grateful for the work we’re doing with the Albanians, they have been sending senior police officers over so as to speed up processing, we’ve got an expedited system to return Albanians if it turns out they are not legitimate asylum seekers,” he said.
“So we are trying to work in co-operation, but clearly there’s pressure. You can see it from councillors, you can see it from members of parliament, you can hear it from people and journalists around the country.
“It can lead to language which is sometimes unfortunate and it is worth putting on record our gratitude to the Albanian government for their co-operation in working to sort this out.”
The government remains under pressure over the situation at Manston after it emerged that asylum seekers were left at London’s Victoria station after being transferred from Manston.
Stuart said the incident was “unacceptable” and would be investigated.
“If that’s the case then clearly that’s not acceptable. It will be investigated and further information will come out in due course,” he told Times Radio.
The grim conditions at Manston were laid bare in a letter a young girl detained at the centre threw over the perimeter fence to a PA news agency photgrapher.
The letter claimed pregnant women and sick people were not getting the care they needed.
Written in broken English, the letter appeared to suggest 50 families had been held there for more than 30 days and appealed to “journalists, organisations, everyone” for “help”.
Asked whether he was happy that asylum seekers were being detained illegally at Manston, Stuart told Sky: “Obviously not. None of us are comfortable with it.
“We want it tackled, we want to get a grip, that’s exactly what the home secretary is focused on.”
Braverman is set to visit Dover today, where a separate immigration facility was attacked with a petrol bomb on Sunday.
However, she is not expected to take questions from the media.