Dua Lipa hits out at British government’s “small-minded” attitude to migrants

Dua Lipa has criticised the Government’s “small-minded and shortsighted” attitude to migrants.

• READ MORE: Dua Lipa: “If somebody told me not to discuss issues I’m passionate about? I wouldn’t listen”

In October, the home secretary Suella Braverman singled out “Albanian criminals” and claimed England was facing an “invasion” of migrants crossing the Channel by small boats.

In a new interview with The Sunday Times Dua Lipa, who was born in London to Kosovan-Albanian parents, said the way the British government has discussed immigration “hurts”.

“All those words thrown around about immigrants? I always felt London was an amalgamation of cultures. It is integral to the city,” she said. “So when you hear the government talk about Albanians, for example, it hurts. It’s shortsighted and small-minded, but it’s the way 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’,” she added.

“However, immigrants who have come here have earned their keep by working incredibly hard,” Dua Lipa said. “There needs to be more empathy, because people don’t leave their country unless they have to out of necessity, out of fear for their family.”

Last November, Dua Lipa was granted Albanian citizenship following an oath-taking ceremony between herself and the country’s president, Bajram Begaj.  

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama went on to call Braverman’s comments criminal. “Unfortunately, we have seen ourselves and our community being singled out in this country for purposes of politics. It has been a very, very disgraceful moment for British politics,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme [via The Guardian].

During a meeting with Rishi Sunak earlier this year, Rama used Dua Lipa as an example of the positives that immigrants bring to Britian.

“Dua Lipa is not just simply a British singer, but she’s an Albanian immigrant that has come here, as many have come, to construct, to nurse, to cook and to sing for you, and we want to make sure that this community feels not only safe but feels honoured here,” he said.

Last month, Dua Lipa shared new track ‘Dance The Night’, the lead single from the upcoming Barbie movie soundtrack.

As well as providing the lead single, Dua Lipa also has a cameo appearance in the film — playing a mermaid variation of Barbie.

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