By Frank Ledwidge
Sometimes you heart just sinks. Last week, a list of the 16 most wanted foreigners in the United Kingdom was published by police forces. There are four Poles, two Hungarians a Lithuanian and a Georgian. There was also Dritan Shkurti, Gentian Doda and Shaqir Ziko all wanted for murder. The roll of shame continues with Durim Gremaj, Agim Kabashi and Xhevat Kaca all of whom are wanted (what a shock for Albanian criminals) -sex crimes, usually rape and sex slavery. Mr Kabashi has, it seems been involved with child sex offences. The police want to talk to Nikola Naci about a misunderstanding concerning explosives and drug trafficking. One other is an unnamed Albanian.
So, of the 16 most wanted foreigners in the UK, 8 of them are Albanian. Half of them.
Two questions came to mind. The first is very obvious. How can it be that so many of nasty sociopaths are from one country? There is no answer to that, and the usual reasons offered ‘we had it worse than anyone in the communist times’ does not work with these criminals most of whom were not born when Hoxha lived. And the Romanians had it pretty bad too, as indeed did all communist countries.
The second question is why is that even in the often xenophobic British press, no comment was made about their nationality? This despite the fact that these creatures were accepted into Britain as so-called ‘refugees’.
I suspect the reason no fuss was made is not particularly positive. I think it is because by now most people don’t consider this to be particularly remarkable. Just as the first association people make with, say, Brazilians is football the reputation of Albanians is for crime. The reason no comment was made about a country of 3 million apparently producing more seriously wanted criminals than all the other countries of Europe combined, is that no-one considers it surprising any more than finding out that a Swiss man was a banker. Most Europeans believe, wrongly it goes without saying, that Albanian men are likely to be criminally inclined.
Its no good saying, as I know some people will, that all this is ‘anti-Albanian prejudice’. We all know that is nonsense. Prejudice is a sentiment that relies upon an unreasonable prejudgement, hence the ‘pre’ bit of the word. In my experience as a criminal lawyer, child sex, murder, human trafficking and drug trafficking are not functions of prejudice but of hard edged fact.
So what? The ‘so what’ is that until; this reputation improves, Albania will not be going anywhere in the EU. Meanwhile, if you know the whereabouts of any these assorted sociopaths, child abusers and rapists do contact the British police. I am sure the British Embassy would find a way.
