Politicising safety and racialised and gendered criminalisation: political agenda-setting and the case of Albanian asylum-seekers in the UK
Politicising safety and racialised and gendered criminalisation: political agenda-setting and the case of Albanian asylum-seekers in the UK
How the UK government has politicised asylum by categorising Albanian asylum-seekers as “criminals” and Albania as a “safe” country to advance an immigration deterrence agenda remains unresearched. We use agenda-setting and policy framing analytical insights to explain how and why UK government’s successful agenda-setting was underpinned by the racialised and gendered criminalisation of Albanian males and the politicisation of the safety conditions in Albania. Our findings draw on qualitative empirical data, alongside triangulation with official and stakeholder data and documents. We argue that the racialised and gendered criminalisation of Albanian males – as evidenced by political rhetoric and the media – was integral to the targeted legal and political measures making Albania a “safe” country. Nonetheless, we show that these framings misrepresent the reality in Albania and the challenges that vulnerable Albanians face when seeking protection in the UK.
Albanian asylum-seekers, politicisation, criminalisation, agenda-setting, policy framing
Iusmen, Ingi
696395c1-d60e-4fbd-aa2b-98aeecaa64b2
Shankley, William
fba90881-abc8-4205-a78d-5164c900baf8
20 January 2026
Iusmen, Ingi
696395c1-d60e-4fbd-aa2b-98aeecaa64b2
Shankley, William
fba90881-abc8-4205-a78d-5164c900baf8
Iusmen, Ingi and Shankley, William
(2026)
Politicising safety and racialised and gendered criminalisation: political agenda-setting and the case of Albanian asylum-seekers in the UK.
British Journal of Politics and International Relations.
(doi:10.1177/13691481251411834).
Abstract
How the UK government has politicised asylum by categorising Albanian asylum-seekers as “criminals” and Albania as a “safe” country to advance an immigration deterrence agenda remains unresearched. We use agenda-setting and policy framing analytical insights to explain how and why UK government’s successful agenda-setting was underpinned by the racialised and gendered criminalisation of Albanian males and the politicisation of the safety conditions in Albania. Our findings draw on qualitative empirical data, alongside triangulation with official and stakeholder data and documents. We argue that the racialised and gendered criminalisation of Albanian males – as evidenced by political rhetoric and the media – was integral to the targeted legal and political measures making Albania a “safe” country. Nonetheless, we show that these framings misrepresent the reality in Albania and the challenges that vulnerable Albanians face when seeking protection in the UK.
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Accepted/In Press date: 11 December 2025
Published date: 20 January 2026
Keywords:
Albanian asylum-seekers, politicisation, criminalisation, agenda-setting, policy framing
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 508420
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/508420
ISSN: 1369-1481
PURE UUID: 513f8945-8496-4573-8890-e054c01b1c23
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Date deposited: 21 Jan 2026 17:31
Last modified: 22 Jan 2026 02:45
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Author:
William Shankley
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