Poverty, not crime, fuels urge to flee abroad
The Guardian Weekly|November 11, 2022
It has been all go for his majesty's ambassador to Albania, Alastair King-Smith. The crisis in relations between the two countries, arising from the boats crossing the Channel with reportedly growing numbers of Albanians, has been reflected in the calibre of officials, both military and political, visiting the British mission.
Helena Smith
Poverty, not crime, fuels urge to flee abroad

Last week it was Lt Gen Stuart Skeates, the Afghanistan veteran now leading efforts to stem the crossings, who flew in. This week the home secretary, Suella Braverman, was expected for a visit that, it was hoped, might dampen the outrage sparked by her description of Albanians as staging an "invasion" of the UK.

Last Thursday, the row escalated and Albania's prime minister, Edi Rama, compared the British government's rhetoric to "screams from a madhouse".

But the real centre of the dispute that has prompted London to dispatch its delegations is not in Tirana but around 150km north-east, in Albania's poverty-stricken highlands, where many still dream of getting to Dover on the dinghies Braverman is determined to stop.

Once a dumping ground for convicts and political prisoners during Albania's communist era, it is on this hard terrain, within view of the Albanian Alps, that those lucky enough to have a job eke out a living on average pay of just €270 ($270) a month.

Bu hikaye The Guardian Weekly dergisinin November 11, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye The Guardian Weekly dergisinin November 11, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Finn family murals
The Guardian Weekly

Finn family murals

The optimism that runs through Finnish artist Tove Jansson's Moomin stories also appears in her public works, now on show in a Helsinki exhibition

time-read
4 dak  |
November 08, 2024
I hoped Finland would be a progressive dream.I've had to think again Mike Watson
The Guardian Weekly

I hoped Finland would be a progressive dream.I've had to think again Mike Watson

Oulu is five hours north from Helsinki by train and a good deal colder and darker each winter than the Finnish capital. From November to March its 220,000 residents are lucky to see daylight for a couple of hours a day and temperatures can reach the minus 30s. However, this is not the reason I sense a darkening of the Finnish dream that brought me here six years ago.

time-read
3 dak  |
November 08, 2024
A surplus of billionaires is destabilising our democracies Zoe Williams
The Guardian Weekly

A surplus of billionaires is destabilising our democracies Zoe Williams

The concept of \"elite overproduction\" was developed by social scientist Peter Turchin around the turn of this century to describe something specific: too many rich people for not enough rich-person jobs.

time-read
4 dak  |
November 08, 2024
'What will people think? I don't care any more'
The Guardian Weekly

'What will people think? I don't care any more'

At 90, Alan Bennett has written a sex-fuelled novella set in a home for the elderly. He talks about mourning Maggie Smith, turning down a knighthood and what he makes of the new UK prime minister

time-read
10+ dak  |
November 08, 2024
I see you
The Guardian Weekly

I see you

What happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads? A new clinical trial reveals some surprising results

time-read
10+ dak  |
November 08, 2024
Rumbled How Ali ran rings around apartheid, 50 years ago
The Guardian Weekly

Rumbled How Ali ran rings around apartheid, 50 years ago

Fifty years ago, in a corner of white South Africa, Muhammad Ali already seemed a miracle-maker.

time-read
3 dak  |
November 08, 2024
Trudeau faces 'iceberg revolt'as calls grow for PM to quit
The Guardian Weekly

Trudeau faces 'iceberg revolt'as calls grow for PM to quit

Justin Trudeau, who promised “sunny ways” as he won an election on a wave of public fatigue with an incumbent Conservative government, is now facing his darkest and most uncertain political moment as he attempts to defy the odds to win a rare fourth term.

time-read
3 dak  |
November 08, 2024
Lost Maya city revealed through laser mapping
The Guardian Weekly

Lost Maya city revealed through laser mapping

After swapping machetes and binoculars for computer screens and laser mapping, a team of researchers have discovered a lost Maya city containing temple pyramids, enclosed plazas and a reservoir which had been hidden for centuries by the Mexican jungle.

time-read
2 dak  |
November 08, 2024
'A civil war' Gangs step up assault on capital
The Guardian Weekly

'A civil war' Gangs step up assault on capital

Armed fighters advance into neighbourhoods at the heart of Port-au-Prince as authorities try to restore order

time-read
3 dak  |
November 08, 2024
Reality bites in the Himalayan 'kingdom of happiness'
The Guardian Weekly

Reality bites in the Himalayan 'kingdom of happiness'

High emigration and youth unemployment levels belie the mountain nation's global reputation for cheeriness

time-read
5 dak  |
November 08, 2024