EU during 2016 has turned more than 42 thousand Albanians

The number of illegal immigrants the European Union returned to Albania during 2016 has been 42 thousand and 600. Eurostat has made news public (The European Institute of Statistics), which reported that Albanians top the list of returns from EU countries by a large margin from other countries.

According to Eurostat, European Union countries ordered the return of 226 thousand illegal immigrants to total, tch.al reports. This is the highest number since 2008, when Eurostat started publishing the statistics on immigrants' exits and every one in five returns was Albanian.

After Albanians, immigrants from Ukraine rank in second place with 22 thousand and 600 returnees. Iraq holds third place with 17 thousand and 100 repatriated immigrants, while another Albanian state is ranked in fourth place, Kosovo with over 13 thousand repatriations.

Official data shows that Albanians continue to emigrate at a high rate among European Union countries. According to Eurostat, in just the last three years 2014-2016, over 118,000 illegal immigrants from Albania have entered the EU countries.

The overwhelming majority, respectively, have been returned by force, a process that continues during 2017.