Asked by: Lord Lansley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Albanian prisoners (1) have been returned to Albania from the UK to date, and (2) are expected to return in the rest of 2022.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service continue to remove foreign national offenders (FNOs) where routes are available. Between January 2019 and June 2021, 9,286 FNOs were removed from the UK.
We are absolutely committed to removing FNOs from the UK and we continue to work closely with international governments to maximise the removal of serious and persistent offenders.
We are regularly reviewing progress to ensure that all options are being pursued and that our early removal mechanisms are working as effectively as possible.
A revised Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) between the UK and Albania was signed in July 2021, replacing an earlier Agreement to allow for a wider adaptation of sentences to align the custodial periods on transfer. Both parties agreed at the time of signature not to specify exact numbers of returns, since a new Albanian government due to be formed in September 2021. We have not had any formal requests to enter into discussions with the new administration.
To date, 24 Albanian prisoners have been transferred to serve their prison sentences in their home country.