Dua Lipa calls British ministers’ comments on migrants ‘mean’ | Policy

Singer Dua Lipa has slammed how ministers have branded the migrants ‘short-sighted and narrow-minded’.

Lipa, who was born in London to Kosovar-Albanian parents, said the way the government discussed Albanians had “hurt” her as she called for “more empathy”.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman singled out ‘Albanian criminals’ as she claimed there had been an ‘invasion’ of England during a Commons debate on small crossings by Channel boat.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Lipa, 27, said: “Of course it hurts. All those words thrown around about immigrants? I’ve always thought of London as an amalgamation of cultures. It is an integral part of the city.

“So when you hear the government talking about Albanians, for example, it hurts. It’s short-sighted and narrow-minded, but that’s how a lot of people think.

“No matter how we try to change the rhetoric, there will always be those who think, ‘Immigrants are coming into the country and taking jobs.’

“However, the immigrants who came here made their living by working incredibly hard. We need more empathy, because people only leave their country out of necessity, out of fear for their families.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has criticized the “very, very shameful” singling out of Albanians by ministers, especially Ms Braverman.

When meeting Rishi Sunak at No 10 in March, Mr Rama cited Lipa as an example of the positives Albanians bring to Britain.

“Dua Lipa is not just a British singer, but an Albanian immigrant who has come here, as many have come, to build, heal, cook and sing for you, and we want to make sure that this community feels not only safe but feels honored here,” he said.

Lipa’s parents left Kosovo around 1992, as the tensions that led to the war that began six years later began to surface.