Albania's largest asylum seekers exporter

Periskopi

12 February 2018, 23:48(8 years ago)

Thousands of Albanian minors aged 7-17 have taken dangerous trips like unaccompanied asylum seekers to Europe - a phenomenon that is driven by chronic unemployment, lack of perspective and losing hope for a better future among Albanian families. Over the past four years, Albania was identified as the main country of origin [...]

Over the past four years, Albania has been identified as Europe's main orgy country for the high number of asylum seekers. But the small country of 2.7 million also marks the record for the number of unaccompanied minors it has exported to Europe.

The data provided by BIRN shows that thousands of minors between the ages of 7 and 17 have taken dangerous trips, hoping to find a better future as unaccomplished asylum seekers in Europe.

Fenomen has affected Albania's impoverished northern and northeast areas, but also the suburbs of big cities such as Fier, Elbasan or Corca, as well as families down in Tirana in the mid-1990s.

The main destinations remain the social service centres in Italy, France and Great Britain, where Albanian minorities rank among the three main nationalities. Data provided by Eurostat and other authorities shows the three countries have jointly sheltered about 3 thousand minors from Albania.

Albanian authorities fatten the high number of asylum seekers to their parents and deny that this phenomenon is the main reason for poverty.

Valbona Toula, director of the State Social Service in Shkodra County, told BIRN that among families who were subjected to economic-Social assessment, only five were really poor:

We've found that families have been with normal buildings, with normal living conditions, but when asked why they've taken their children there, first they pick up their shoulders and then say something better for the kids, to do paperwork. That sounds a little bit bad, but that was family idea”

Even Deputy Interior Minister Rowena Voda, who leads the country's efforts to reduce the wave of asylum seekers, denies that the main driving cause is poverty. She said 70 percent of teenagers interviewed cited education as the main motive for leaving the country.

“Dreams of finding a good education at an early age move Albanian families to choose this route. [Families] are not at the level of extreme poverty, but certainly cannot support the schooling of children outside Albania”.

During 2017, the Interior Ministry undertook an aggressive plan to contain the number

During 2017, the Interior Ministry undertook an aggressive plan to contain the number of juvenile asylum seekers by strengthening border controls and drafting a new notary declaration for their unaccompanied trips. As a result, 871 minors were banned throughout the year from crossing the border.

Deputy Prime Minister Voda also said the rigorous rules of free movement have reduced the total number of asylum seekers for 2017 by over 60,000. However, this phenomenon is not just a matter of security.

Economic stability, chronic unemployment and lack of perspective in education are the driving factors of the high number of minors leaving the country.

Deputy Prime Minister Voda said Albanian institutions are working together to meet these challenges:

“Migration issues are not just a matter of security. They are issues related to society, the economy, the mentality of society, and employment. So in a way to cope with migration as a phenomenon is not enough to have only strong law enforcement agencies but also other institutions of society. I believe we will succeed, as also the main challenge declared by the prime minister is economic growth. ”

Ombudsman Erinda Ballca told BIRN that lack of welfare and trust in Albanian institutions moves Albanian families to send children out, in the hope that they will benefit schooling or other facilities in these countries.

The big disaster is that Albania is no longer a country to be felt by minors that they can realise their dreams here. In this context, each of the institutions must do its job, but of course the government and politics as a whole should give us a better place to live”.

Ballance also called on the Albanian political class to work towards boosting the welfare of Albanian citizens and restoring confidence in governance.

Albanian children registered in Italy

2015 1432 12 % of the total

2016 1611 9.3 % of the total

EU ROSTAT

2016 755 Albanian children

Belgium 50

Netherlands 40

Austria 5

Finland 5

Sweden 105

Britain, 405

Switzerland 15