UK to return prisoners to serve sentences in Albania

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - The UK and Albania reached a deal Wednesday that will see hundreds of Albanian prisoners returned in exchange for British help to modernize the Albanian prison system.

"Foreign criminals who break our laws should not be able to stay. The new arrangement with Albania will see some of the most serious Albanian offenders serve their sentences at home not here at the expense of the taxpayer," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote on Twitter.

The arrangement involves the transfer of 200 Albanian citizens incarcerated in prisons in England and Wales, who are serving sentences of four years or greater.

They will be returned to Albania to complete the remainder of their terms in correctional facilities.

It costs nearly £40,000 ($50,000) per year to house each prisoner in England and Wales, according to the British government.

The cost of the deal is projected to be in the region of £8 million over 2 years, equating to £32 per prisoner per day, compared to £109 per day to house them in prisons in England and Wales.

In the past 3 years, 10,000 foreign offenders from around the world have been deported from the UK to their home countries.