Immigration: EU eases visa rules for Albanians and Bosnians
FEARS of a new wave of back-door immigration into the UK were raised yesterday after visa requirements for Albanians and Bosnians were dropped by the EU.
From yesterday, citizens from the two countries are now free to make visits of up to three months to countries of mainland Europe.
Experts fear the move will allow migrants and criminal gangs to take advantage of weak border controls in eastern European to slip into the UK illegally.
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UKIP immigration spokesman, Gerard Batten, said: “This will only lead to another wave of immigration by the back door and once again prove we do not control our borders.”
Alp Mehmet, spokesman for MigrationWatch campaign group, said: “Once people establish themselves in mainland Europe it is easier for them to come to this country. It is an important reminder that we have to maintain control over our borders and do not give that up.”
The decision to end visa requirements for the two Eastern European countries was made at a meeting of Europe’s interior ministers in November.
Holders of biometric passports in the former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania, can now legally make visits of up to three months to the borderless “Schengen Area” of Europe, which includes most EU countries apart from the UK and Ireland.
