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Lea Ypi on mothers, the motherland and the cruelties of UK immigration – Audio Long Reads

I tend to suppress the worst things about being an immigrant in this country. But the government’s anti-Albanian rhetoric has brought it back.

By Lea Ypi and Rachel Cunliffe

In November 2022 Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, told parliament that the south coast of England faced “an invasion” of small boats. “If Labour were in charge,” she said, “they would be allowing all the Albanian criminals to come to this country.” Since then, others have suggested that the nearly 200 unaccompanied children found to have gone missing in the UK were Albanians “willingly joining” organised gangs.

In this moving and often funny personal piece, Lea Ypi reflects on life as an Albanian in the UK and the everyday cruelties of the country’s immigration system – from having to share romantic letters to her husband with officials, to the fact her brother has never been allowed to visit. But it was when her mother was denied a visa soon after she gave birth that the cruelties hit home hardest. “The UK’s immigration system does not find criminals,” she writes, “it creates them. It projects criminal intent well before any criminal act has occurred.”

Lea Ypi is professor of political theory at the LSE. Her book “Free: Coming of Age at the End of History” (Allen Lane) won this year’s Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.

This article was originally published in the magazine on 7 December; you can read the text version here.

Read by Rachel Cunliffe.

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Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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