The Albanian towns left crumbling as workers flee to UK: British taxpayers hand £8.4m to regenerate poverty-stricken Kukesi after it loses half of its population  - but teenagers still vow to make it to England for lucrative jobs in construction

Teenagers in one of Albania's most deprived areas have not given up on their dreams of migrating to Britain, despite UK taxpayers funding an £8.4m programme to encourage them to stay at home.

The money was recently earmarked by the UK Government to be spent on job creation and community schemes in the region of Kukesi where the local mayor has launched a campaign to persuade citizens who have emigrated to return to their homeland.

The poverty-stricken area was picked for the handout after losing half of its population since 1990 due to so many of its younger citizens paying people smugglers to get them into the UK on small boats and hidden in lorries.

The mass migration has left the area's capital Kukes and its surrounding mountain villages being labelled 'ghost towns' as so many young people and families have left with only the older generation left behind.

The region in north east Albania near the Kosovo border has the highest percentage of its population living illegally in the UK or claiming asylum, compared to any other area of the former Communist country.

But the situation is replicated to a lesser extent in towns and villages across Albania where populations have been stripped of citizens leaving to start new lives overseas with many heading for the UK.

The new mayor of Kukes has pledged to spend much of the UK money on persuading people to return by offering tax rebates and grants to set up businesses related to tourism which he sees as the key to boosting the region's economy.

But a MailOnline investigation has revealed that many teenagers seem unimpressed by the measures and still want to head for Britain as soon as they can because they believe they will be able to find work easily and earn far more there.

A 15-year-old boy called Dardan who was with friends in the Costa coffee shop in Kukes, named after the UK café chain, vowed to try and get to the UK as soon as he finishes middle school in July.

He said: 'In Albania, we don't have jobs or places to work. It's a poor country. I just want to go to England because I know the language. I have family members on my mother and father's side who are there already.

'Maybe I will get there in a truck or by boat. It will cost me thousands of euros, but I can borrow the money, and pay it back by working. I want to work in England as an electrician. I have been learning the trade from my uncle who is an electrician.

'All my friends think the same way. We see no future for us here. My parents understand, but they say I should finish school first. There are just better opportunities in the UK. Here, you cannot do anything.

'If I have to claim asylum, I will tell them that I have a very old house, my parents don't work and I have a sick brother. If I get sent back, I will try again. I don't want to listen to people trying to make me stay. I just want to go'.

Fjoli Zhubi, 17, who was also in the Costa said he was prepared to be people smuggled into the UK if he was unable to find work after he completes a three year course to become a vehicle mechanic at a professional school.

He said: 'My parents don't want me to go, but I will have no choice if I can't find a job. My chances of getting work here are just 50/50 because the economy is not good. About 80 per cent of people who leave college here stay unemployed.

'If it is possible, I will try and apply for a visa to go to the UK legally, but I may have to pay to go on a truck. I have relatives in England and I know I will get work there.'

Official figures reveal that the number of Albanians seeking asylum in the UK surged to nearly 16,000 last year - more than the total number for the rest of Europe - with the majority arriving by small boat.

Home secretary and former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly boasted last month that the number of Albanians being detected on arrival in the UK had plummeted by 90 per cent since its height last year.

He blamed the decrease on greater co-operation with the Albanian authorities and an increased willingness to return those with no legal right to stay, making the UK a less attractive destination.

But young residents of Kukes insisted that plenty of people were still willing to risk their lives making the perilous journey across the Channel on open boats or smuggled in lorries.

A 19-year-old construction worker who gave his name as Erjon said: 'I think it just means that people are getting into England without anyone knowing and then living illegally. There is no point in claiming asylum if you are going to get rejected.'

Older residents told MailOnline of their despair at living in an area which so many young people have abandoned in their quest for new lives, particularly in the UK.

Musli Llehsi, 60, who owns the Amerika Hotel in Kukes, said: 'I am very concerned. I can't find people to work for me. All my former waiters are in the UK or Germany.

'Even the guy who used to guard my car park is now in the UK. I can't blame people for leaving. The cost of living is high here as the wages are lower. I have six cousins in the UK. They went in a lorry seven years ago and are there illegally.

'They are working in construction and they are very happy. They are never coming back. There is nothing for them here.'

While coffee shops in the main street in Kukes appeared to be doing a brisk trade on Saturday, there seemed little other economic activity in the town with former factory buildings in its old industrial area lying abandoned and derelict.

With most of the housing in grim looking blocks of flats, the only signs of affluence appeared to be occasional luxury right-hand drive cars with UK number plates, driven across Europe by successful Albanians returning home and apparently flaunting their wealth.

The only other sign of activity as snow blanketed the town on Saturday was an annual chess tournament in a community centre between Albanians and a visiting group from Kosovo with none of the participants appearing to be under 60-years-old.

One of the players, Jetes Shala, 64, who is a maths teacher at a secondary school, said the population of the area where he lived around 20 miles away in Prizren, Kosovo, had been equally stripped of its population.

He said: 'Right after the war in Kosovo, we had around 1,200 pupils. Now, just 23 years later, this number has decreased to 300. The main reason is migration.

'They have gone to countries all around Europe including Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, and of course the UK. It has a negative impact on the school. Sometimes there are only seven, eight or nine pupils in the classroom. It makes it more expensive to run.

'It is a problem for old people remaining alone without their children. I live in a village with around 1,000 houses and 300 are empty. More than 400 are occupied by old people or couples whose children have left. Only a few houses have children in them.

'It is very bad because people live for their children. I have three sons with two in Switzerland and Italy, and only one at home. I have two grandsons in Switzerland I miss them a lot. I am hoping for a visa to visit them in January.'

A 52-year-old man sipping fiery homemade Raki in the near deserted Communist era cultural centre in Kukes told MailOnline how his 14-year-old son had secretly left home and gone to the UK in 2016 before being followed in 2018 by his older brother.

The grey-haired father who has not seen his sons since, said: 'My younger son was lured by criminal groups in Albania as soon as he left school. They got him into the UK, and I still don't know how he got there. I only found out by surprise.

'The other one paid to get over on a lorry on a ferry from Belgium. I believe he paid around 2,000 euros. They are now living together illegally with three other people in a rented house in Enfield in London.

'I speak to them on the phone, but I miss them both, It has been seven years since I saw the younger one and five years for the older one. They are working in construction and trying to help here with money.

'I have a younger son who is 13 now, and I am trying to persuade him to stay. He has very good grades at school.'

A 67-year-old retired military administrator who did not want to be named, added: 'Young people are leaving due to the economic conditions because they cannot find jobs here. They are trying to improve their lives.

'We are grateful to the UK for receiving these people. They are all working and sending money back to their families here. I know there are some Albanian criminals in the UK, but the majority just want to work and help their families.

'It is a problem for old people left behind because they have to look after themselves, although they get sent money. You cannot stop young people from going. They just want better lives.

'My brother has two sons in the UK. They are working in a car wash and in construction. They are not getting a big salary, but it is a lot compared to Albania and they are renting a house.'

Albert Halilaj, who was elected as socialist mayor of Kukes municipality last September, said he had no statistics about how many people had emigrated from the area, but insisted that the number had been decreasing.

He told of his hopes of harnessing the regions's potential as a tourism area, creating jobs for mountain guides and in hotels, guest houses, hospitality, and other services to rejuvenate its fortunes.

Mr Halilaj said he hoped to use the UK funding to give two year tax breaks to people returning from the UK and starting tourism related businesses, along with grants of between 5,000 and 40,000 euros.

He added: 'We have noticed a growth in tourism in the last three years. We have wild and unexplored areas in the mountains which people from abroad are curious to explore as well as the River Drin.

'We have also reached an agreement with the UK embassy to try and develop the network underground bomb shelter bunkers in the town which date back to Communist times, so they can become an attraction.

'We want to make it a priority for young people to stay here, and give them the opportunity to get involved in new projects. We are also trying to look at improving local agriculture and encouraging farmers to grow healthy plants.

'I have been trying to persuade people to come home. I cannot support young people going to live abroad illegally. We are trying to tell them that they don't know what they are doing and what they might get into.

'They can easily be exposed to crime, and they could find themselves back here after three months if they cannot find work and accommodation.'

Asllan Dogjani, an MP for the Democratic Party opposition in Tirana who was visiting his family home in Kukes, said: 'Albanian people are very poor, especially in Kukes and especially the young. They want to leave because they have no jobs or security for their futures.

'Also, the law in Albania is not the same for everyone. The law does not seem to apply to people who have plenty of money or are gangsters, or are from the criminal classes, but it applies to the poor and normal people.

'There is no justice here and I do not consider that we have free and fair elections. Voters are intimidated by people with more money and power. People don't believe there is ever going to be change, and they emigrate as they face so much injustice.

'It is very harmful for the city and also the villages. There are only old people left behind. They are living on money sent back by their families and they have nothing else. But it is not a solution. The city is being abandoned and if it continues, there will be nothing left.

'What else can young people do? The only opportunity for work is in state administration. Even those working in bars or cafes are just the owners of the businesses. They are not really hiring people.

'There are no factories, and while there is potential in mountain tourism, there are no people left behind to do the jobs, and the infrastructure like roads is not good. Everyone without exception wants to leave when they are 14-years-old.'

Romao, 20, who was visiting Kukes after working in recent years in France and Germany said: 'Of course, we have to work abroad because there is nothing here. You look around here, and it is just old men.'