Albania's 'Little London' is homage to Britain after it took in thousands of ... trends now
A Union Jack flies proudly next to a framed photo of the late Queen Elizabeth II, while an iconic red telephone box is perched on the corner of the Britain Resto Lounge as cars with UK licence plates zoom past.
If it were not for the stunning mountainous backdrop, you could easily be mistaken into thinking you are standing in the British capital.
But the town of Has in Albania's northeast, dubbed 'Little London', now serves as a homage to the country that has taken in so many of its citizens, despite plans in Westminster to crack down on the influx of more than 12,000 migrants this year.
The region of around 22,000 has largely been built with money sent home from the working age men who made the treacherous journeys across the Channel to Britain's shores in search of a better life.
Children pose for a photograph in a British phone cabin next to 'Britain Resto Longue', a new bar in the city of Has
Now, there are tributes to their adopted homeland in Has, featuring cars with registration plates and even projects for a statute of the late Queen.
Like Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, people in Has are outraged by accusations from London that they are part of a migrant 'invasion'.
Has residents say leaving for the UK allows them to earn a living - but comes with the pain of uprooting, dangerous journeys and hard work which also benefits their British employers.
Albanians are now the largest single group making small-boat crossings of the Channel, according to the UK's official statistics.
More than 12,000 arrived in Britain this year compared to 50 in 2020.
Newly built villas in the town of Has have largely been built from the money sent home from migrants
There are tributes to their adopted homeland in the Albanian town including a bar named 'Britain'
A vendor shows traditional clothes in a city shop of Has which has been transformed by the migration exodus
Has mayor Liman Morina told AFP that 80 per cent of his constituents 'survive thanks to the hard and honest work of their relatives in Britain'
Nationals of the Balkan country of 2.8million people have been fleeing unemployment to Britain for decades.
Speaking in his office where British and Albanian flags stand side by side, Has mayor Liman Morina told AFP that 80 per cent of his constituents 'survive thanks to the hard and honest work of their relatives in Britain'.
Klodian Kastrati, a sociologist who works in Has, said: 'Emigration is an epidemic that affects all young people here contaminated by the idea of leaving for Britain in the hope of creating a better future'.
The Has region is Albania's poorest and 'emigration is the only real resource to support its inhabitants', he added.
In the region, which has a population of around 22,000, numerous houses owned by emigrants are being built.
After living in London for a decade, Granit Gojani recently returned to Has to open his own barGranit Gojani
There are tributes to their adopted homeland in Has, featuring cars with registration plates and even projects for a statute of the late Queen
Since Albania opened its borders in the 1990s, residents have left en masse, desperate to escape hardship and isolation after weathering brutal oppression at the hands of the country's communist dictatorship.
