Albania signs deal with UK on prisoners transfer

TIRANA, Jan. 15 – Albanian Minister of Justice Eduard Halimi and British Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright on Tuesday signed an agreement for Albanian citizens imprisoned in the UK to finish their prison sentences in Albania.
The compulsory prisoner transfer agreement will allow the British government to transfer eligible Albanian nationals in UK prisons back to their home country to serve the rest of their sentences. Likewise, British prisoners in Albania will be transferred to UK custody.
In either case the prisoner will serve the original sentence passed by the court. However, transferring to a prison in their home country will benefit the prisoners’ welfare and eventual reintegration into society, for example by allowing increased contact with their family.
This is the UK’s first major bilateral prisoner transfer agreement providing for compulsory transfer outside the European Union, and a very positive development in relations between the UK and Albania. The first transfers are expected to take place later this year.
“I am delighted to have been able to co-sign this prisoner transfer agreement with my Albanian counterpart today. The co-operation of the Albanian authorities has been crucial in ensuring these negotiations have proved so fruitful,” said Wright. “The British Government wants more foreign national prisoners to serve their sentences in their home country.”