LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has claimed success in tackling illegal migration. He reported a “nearly 90 percent” decrease in the number of Albanian migrants arriving in Britain by small boats. The total number of illegal crossings in the Strait is said to have reduced by 20 percent in just a few months.

British media are predicting that migration will be one of the main topics in next year’s national elections. Therefore, Sunak was under immense political pressure to demonstrate success in that area. He has presented “holding the boat” as one of his top five priorities, alongside tackling inflation and waiting lists in healthcare.

Sunak struck a deal with Albania last year on tackling illegal migration. He told the press on Monday that “in just six months” 1,800 people had been returned to the small southern European country. “We used to receive about one in five Albanian asylum applications. Now it’s about one in fifty,” the conservative prime minister said.

Legal migration

Meanwhile, within the Sunak party there is also grumbling about legal migration to England. The latest figures from the UK’s statistical office, the Office for National Statistics, show that net migration in 2022 stood at a record 606,000. 1.2 million newcomers arrived, while around 557,000 people left the country.

The Prime Minister’s Conservative Party has ruled Britain since 2010. Successive governments have promised to reduce migration rates. Migration is also the reason many Britons voted for Brexit. Sunak had to admit in late May that he was still not satisfied. “The numbers are too high, simple as that,” he told ITV at the time. “I want to take them down even further.”