{"id":121652,"date":"2023-11-21T18:49:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T18:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uklevitrasupport.com\/?p=121652"},"modified":"2023-11-21T18:49:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T18:49:41","slug":"albanian-ghost-town-mayor-plans-to-lure-migrants-back-from-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uklevitrasupport.com\/world-news\/albanian-ghost-town-mayor-plans-to-lure-migrants-back-from-britain\/","title":{"rendered":"Albanian \u2018ghost town\u2019 mayor plans to lure migrants back from Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The mayor of a region of Northern Albanian which has seen a huge proportion of its population leave to work in Britain has told the Daily Express the UK is helping fund efforts encouraging them to return.<\/p>\n

Mayor Albert Halilaj of the Kukes Municipality said collaboration was part of a wider ambition \u201cto help everyone who is living in England come home\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Located near the Kosovan border, Mayor Halilaj\u2019s region has lost more than half its population to migration since 1990 with a significant number settling in the UK. A recent poll found two-thirds of those interested in leaving Kukes in 2023 wanted to move to Britain.<\/p>\n

When the Daily Express visited the area we found boys as young as 13 making plans to cross the Channel on small boats and scores of heartbroken older residents\u00a0left alone in abandoned villages.<\/p>\n

Another constant presence was the wealth flaunted by young men who had earned vast sums working in London-based cannabis farms\u00a0before returning home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asked how he felt about so many local young men being willing to risk their lives to swap Kukes for a new life in Britain, Mayor Halilaj replied that he didn\u2019t agree with such choices and expressed a commitment to changing minds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ MORE <\/strong> Albanian community becomes ‘ghost town’ as young men flock to work in UK[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are against people going illegally to England,\u201d he added. \u201cBut things will change, people will try to find different ways to make money.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor Halilaj plans to try and tempt people back by encouraging them to start a business in Kukes and by opening the region up to tourism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said part of these efforts involves working with the British Embassy on projects to train locals and set up funds for new business ventures in the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone who comes back from England and starts a new business will not pay taxes for two years as a way to help them start a new life in Kukes,\u201d he added. \u201cThe British Embassy is also trying to help with big donations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong>
Money, cars and girls luring Albania’s teenagers into crossing the Channel[REVEAL] <\/strong>
\u2018My dream is to cross the Channel in a small boat to work in a UK drug farm'[INSIGHT] <\/strong>
‘I’m planning to leave Albania and get a small boat to UK as soon as I’m 16′[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n