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From rafting to studying at Oxford, The Spectator vs Daily Mail: Who better than Uran Ferizi to solve the immigration problem

2023-12-24 14:23:32Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

From rafting to studying at Oxford, The Spectator vs Daily Mail: Who better than

The new ambassador of Albania in London will be Uran Ferizi. The British media "The Spectator" writes that
Ferizi arrived in Britain as an illegal immigrant in 1998.

He was 17 years old and had nothing but his underwear. For more, read the article by Alasdair Palme, dedicated to the new ambassador of Albania in Britain.

ARTICLE
I first met Uran Feriz more than a decade ago and learned about his story then. He told me that he had been determined to go to Britain since he was 15 years old. He wanted to study at Oxford University because his father had cited an Oxford education as an example of something his son could not achieve. This desire had driven Uranus to go further and prove his father wrong.

He felt that there was no future for him in Albania. His parents had lost most of their savings when their bank invested in a Ponzi scheme that bankrupted millions of Albanians.
With the help of his family, the teenager Uran Ferizi managed to collect the 300 German marks that were then needed to buy 'a place' on a clandestine boat from Albania to Italy. That boat carried only seven people. More than 30 entered it. Italian police patrolled the Adriatic. To avoid them, the smugglers chose a route that meant a journey that should have taken 30 minutes but ended up taking several hours. The sea that night was extremely rough. Another boat left at the same time and from the same place. It landed somewhere between the coasts of Albania and Italy. All on board drowned. Uranus did not know this at the time. He only found out when he called home and discovered that his mother thought he was dead. She had thought he had been on the boat that sank. The news in Albania had been full of disasters.

Uranus had to swim, in his clothes, to reach Italy. The crew ordered all passengers off the boat while it was still out to sea. When he finally got out of the water, he walked for six hours to get to Brindisi. The smugglers told him he could take a taxi to Milan. He gave his precious 150 German marks to a taxi driver. When he woke up, the taxi driver told him he was in Milan. It was only when he reached the railway station that he realized he was still in Brindisi.

Hungry, cold, wet clothes and penniless, the rational decision might have been to give up going to Oxford. But Uran boarded a train heading north to Milan. His first task was how to avoid the ticket inspector. He took a seat across from a dignified Italian lady, whom he felt sorry for as she stood shivering at the station. He told her about his last trip and how the taxi driver had cheated him of all the money he had left. When the ticket inspector arrived and asked for his ticket, the woman paid for Uran's ticket.

In Milan, Uranus sneaked onto a train bound for Antwerp, where he had a cousin he could stay with while he figured out how to cross the Channel. The problem was once again how to avoid the ticket inspector. This time, a group of journalists came to his aid. He started a conversation with them about immigration. Sensing a story, they helped distract the ticket inspector and Uran again managed to take a long train ride without paying.

Uranus' first task was to find a job. After four days of walking around London, stopping at every place that had a sign outside offering work, he got a job washing dishes in a Greek restaurant in Islington. He also started attending evening classes, first to improve his English, then to get the A levels he knew he needed if he was to get to Oxford. He also met the girl who would become his wife. Although he loved her, the marriage broke up over the issue of children and Oxford. He wanted children, but she didn't. He was determined to go to Oxford. She told him she had to choose between her and Oxford.

He chose Oxford and they divorced.

Uran passed A-level maths and physics with an A grade. He applied to University College Oxford and was called for an interview and took the college maths test. He was offered a place to study engineering. But he was still an illegal immigrant. Uranus could not occupy that place until its status was adjusted. He went to Lunar House in Croydon, the Home Office's visa and immigration centre, and was taken to an official who explained to Uran that he could deport him at that moment. Uran showed the official the letter from Oxford. He told the official he had a choice: he could destroy a young man's promising future by expelling him, or he could give him the chance to go to Oxford and do something useful with his life. The official told Uran to wait outside his office while he consulted with his colleagues. After what seemed like an eternity, Uran Ferizi was called. The official gave him a piece of paper. At the top it said: Permit without time limit.

Ferizi does not know how the decision was made, or exactly why Home Office officials decided to let him stay in Britain. According to a strict application of the rules, he should have been deported and now, under the same circumstances, he would surely be an illegal, undocumented immigrant, as he was, an Albanian. Uran Ferizi later applied for and received British citizenship. In order to become Albania's ambassador in London, he had to give up his British citizenship, as required by his diplomatic status. It was a very painful decision. Being British is dear to him: the debt of gratitude he feels to this country is colossal. He has assured that he can reapply as soon as his time as ambassador of Albania ends.

But why was he chosen in the first place to be the ambassador of Albania? After Oxford, Ferizi was a banker for a short period, before completing a PhD in microstructural modeling of the brain at UCL. He then worked at NYU and Stanford medical schools. His research contributes to advances in the early diagnosis of diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's, benefiting people not only in this country but around the world.

These are impressive achievements, but they are not obvious qualifications to be ambassador to London. They do, however, demonstrate Dr Feriz's powerful intelligence, which is a relevant qualification – as is his perfect command of English, which he speaks as well and, indeed, better than many Englishmen. His successful struggle to reach Britain and Oxford also testifies to his phenomenal tenacity and determination, both of which are strong points for success in diplomacy and politics.

When Rishi Sunak meets with the future Albanian ambassador in London, the prime minister will meet a man who knows from the inside the problems of Albanian emigration to Britain. If there is a solution to those problems, no one better than Uran Ferizi can solve it.


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