Posted on 06/15/2007 7:21:05 AM PDT by DTA
Hundreds could lose British status
Hundreds of successful asylum seekers could have their British citizenship revoked after investigators uncovered a massive immigration fraud. The Home Office is targeting Albanians who claimed to be victims of the war in Kosovo.
According to the Daily Mail's sister paper, the Evening Standard, more than 80,000 refugees settled in Britain when Nato expelled Serbian forces from the province amid accusations of "ethnic cleansing" in 1999.
More than 80,000 refugees fled to Britain claiming to be victims of the war in Kosovo, but were they all genuine?
Now the Home Office has evidence that many were not refugees fleeing the war but economic migrants from neighbouring Albania who adopted fake Kosovar identities to claim asylum.
The clampdown, launched last month, is being aimed at those whose identities have been checked and proved false - genuine refugees from the Kosovo conflict are not affected.
The precise number of those involved is not known, but dozens of letters are thought to have been sent out so far, with more to come as information is gathered.
London's 25,000-strong Albanian community has been thrown into panic by the move, with internet forums flooded with posts from people anxious about their future in Britain.
A genuine asylum seeker, who was given permission to remain, said: "It's been an open secret for years that thousands of Albanians were getting refugee status here by saying they were from Kosovo. It used to be the fasttrack route into Britain and lots of people took it.
"There was a network that included traffickers and intermediaries. People were told to say they were from Kosovo - it never failed."
Many of those facing expulsion have jobs, mortgages and British passports, with children who speak English and are at school here.
The Home Office letters warn that those suspected of getting a passport by deception could face three months in jail or a £5,000 fine.
This week, another letter was sent out by the Border and Immigration Agency, ordering those suspected of trickery to hand in their passports.
The letter adds that the passport and certificate of naturalisation will be retained "until this matter is resolved".
Another letter said their application for citizenship would be re-assessed, causing confusion because those affected are not sure if they are going to be deported.
The clampdown began when British embassy officials in the Albanian capital, Tirana, examined applications from so-called Kosovars who had been given leave to remain in Britain and wanted to bring their families over as well.
Embassy staff noted that the families all seemed to be from Albania, not Kosovo, and further checks revealed that a massive fraud had been operating for years.
A Home Office spokesman said: "We believe British citizenship should be a gold standard. Whenever we receive evidence of fraud we will investigate.
"Where we can prove fraud we will strip individuals of their citizenship and remove them from the country."
IMHO, those Albanians have proven to be cut of British cloth - ruthless, sly and dishonest. They are now the cream of the crop of the British nation.
Shocked...just shocked!
I wonder how long we will have to wait for "8000 Srebrenica men and boys" to be discovered as immigrants in Iceland, Netherlands, Ireland, U.S. of A and elsewhere.
Their only guilt, they lied through their teeth, the same as Blair and British media.
Embassy staff noted that the families all seemed to be from Albania, not Kosovo, and further checks revealed that a massive fraud had been operating for years.
Where are you now that the propaganda you so believed is being deflated?
He certainly has run away as have most of the Jihadist-supporting posters who dragged down the Balkans threads.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.