//18,000 have come via France but they are not predominantly Europeans. For some reason you want them to be. Can you explain why it makes any difference at all ?//
It makes a difference because they are all arriving into the UK from France. It doesn’t matter where they originate from. The idea of the asylum system is to provide safety for those arriving directly from a place where there is a serious threat to their lives or safety. Those arriving directly from France face no such threat. They are free to claim asylum in France (and in fact should have done so before arriving there as very few of them arrive in France directly from a place where they are under threat). They simply don’t like it where they are and the UK is their destination of choice.
As far as Albanians are concerned, however many of them there are, there is absolutely no way that any of them should be eligible for asylum anywhere. Albania is a candidate nation for EU membership. Accession negotiations are ongoing and a draft negotiating framework was presented to the Member States two years ago. There are just a few minor matters to resolve, principally somewhat inconsequential issues such as the judiciary, fight against corruption and organised crime, intelligence services and public administration. I have a sneaky suspicion that many of the Albanians fleeing to the UK no longer like it in their native land as the authorities there may be trying to crack down on their activities so as to speed the country's admission to the EU. It’s just a guess, but if I’m right they sound just the kind of people we need here.