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File on 4: Albanian Exodus

Albanian Exodus

BBC Radio 4 - File on 4, Albanian Exodus

Paul Kenyon investigates why so many young Albanians want to travel illegally to the UK.

Paul Kenyon travels across Albania and hears from young people all over the country to discover the truth behind the biggest migration controversy to hit the UK for years.

Their country is not at war and it's not ruled by an authoritarian regime, yet thousands of young Albanians are making the dangerous journey across the channel to live and work in the UK. 

File on 4  travels across Albania to discover the truth behind the biggest migration controversy to hit Britain for years, visiting towns where most young men have already left and the rest are planning to leave as soon as possible.

In Has, a small town in Northern Albania, 80 per cent of families rely on funds being sent back by relatives living in the UK. A red phone box can be found outside a pub called Britain Lounge - a mark of respect to the country providing work to the majority of the town's youth. 

While in neighbouring Kukes, men who've made their fortune and returned home, drive around the city in cars with GB number plates.

With wages low and youth unemployment high, File on 4 hears from young people who say there are no prospects for them in their home country.

They're lured to the promised lands of England by slick social media campaigns led by people smugglers and by Albanians who show off their wealth online.

But the exodus of skilled workers and the country's labour force is having a huge impact on the population of Albania, which has still yet to fully recover from its brutalist communist rule.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon
Producers: Hayley Mortimer and Fjori Sinoruka in Albania, Kate West and Annabel Deas
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Editor: Carl Johnston

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