Albanians are asylum champions in France

Today, Albanians take first place on the sad podium of asylum seekers in France with 7432 applications in 2016, ahead of Syrians, Afghans and Sudanese. It may seem surprising how citizens of countries who are not in a position to come and seek asylum, but this happens that the procedures are not blocking French, and the administration has little means to address many demands.

For this reason, once Albanians set foot on French soil, the first thing they do is seek asylum. According to Tony, an Albanian immigrant who has lived in France for four years and then returned him, he himself arrived very soon. Some cousins told me. They had sold the house themselves. They told me that in France it's comfortable, that you don't need to work, that they give you shelter and money. I didn't think they were lying because they kept staying in France, but they couldn't go back than they had money. And so did I.

Since controls at Tirana airport have been reinforced under agreement with the European Commission, Tony, just as thousands of other Albanian citizens passed through Skopje, where controls are easier. France has therefore sent security teams to assist authorities in Pristina, Skopje or Thessaloniki.

We Go for a Better Life

When I arrived in Paris at Beauvais Airport, I immediately asked for asylum”, Tony continues. They immediately provided me 370 euros a month, but without a job right until I received the answer to asylum. When the negative answer came, France again gave me a lot of money to return to Albania”. But Tony got a few black jobs, but today he says it was a waste of time and he regrets that many of his colleagues are trapped in criminal networks.

So far Albanians emigrated massively towards Greece or Italy. But the economic crisis that grips these two countries is resurpassing immigration routes differently. For Vandjel Dulen , deputy in Albania's Parliament, Albania's evacuation phenomenon will stop. “Poverty, unemployment, corruption and clientelemism drive the youth to seek a better future”. A number of unformed Albanian politicians, but holding key positions, are accused of stealing public funds.

This situation is also the result of the fact that since the fall of communism in 1991, it has never occurred that elections will be contested to the point of canceling”, further VIandel Dule comments. This significant lack of political and economic stability can be corrected claims the government, if the current candidate country, arrives and memberships in the EU.

A very premature prospect for many observers. Meanwhile, Zerar Kolombe, French Interior Minister, is expressing a strong will to solve “in the coming weeks the most acute asylum problem in France consisting of Albanian asylummen, because 75% of them at the European level are located in France”. After calling Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Zerar Kolomb claims that “have jointly decided to undertake a number of co-operation measures between the security forces of both countries”.