Kosovo's number of asylum seekers is marking growth

According to Interior Ministry data, 2019 marks the largest number of asylum requests, from January to mid-December asylum, have demanded about 2,000 people.

These persons mainly come from countries of conflict and war, until Kosovo is viewed as an easier opportunity to penetrate Western countries.

The road to Kosovo from Syria was taken by 30-year-old Isam Knorr, who has currently been staying with his brother at the Lipjan Center for Asylum.

In a confession to Kosova Prees, he shows that he intends to stay in Kosovo and here to build his life by also finding work.

Voicing satisfaction with the conditions the Centre for Asylum offers, Knorr says that if he wants to leave Kosovo, he would already do so long ago.

From Albania to here through the mountains ... With my brother... So far I'm happy... why not, it's a good country and I hope to stay here and start a new life. If I did that, I would do it five months ago, then why am I here so far, if I could use it as a transitator, I would go so far, why am I still here”, he told Kosovas.

Like Isam Knorr from Syria, there are many other asylum seekers standing at the Center for Asylum in Magur, where according to the director of the centre, Fitim Zariqi is currently in place for 106 people from Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco and Pakistan.

Roads used to come from the country of origin in Kosovo mainly are Turkey, Greece and Albania.

According to the head of the Centre for Asylum in special Maguri this year, it has been that asylum in Kosovo has also sought out many families who have even children, who he said were also cared for in education.

This is where the number of applicants for international protection is going to be around 106 applications for international protection, except this object we have the center in Vrnidol that we access to applicants in case this is where we fill up the capacity of the asylum center... 0520 Years We have a lot of families that have even small children, we have an obligation to enroll in elementary school and through our sociologist we record them in the nearest school in Magur, so we have some that are following the lesson... The numbers are moving, but three or four children we have had”, Zariqi told Kosovas.

This centre, along with the accommodation of three daily meals, for foreign citizens also offers legal and psycho-social advice, as well as social assistance.

According to Zaric, the cost for a asylum seekers a day amounts to 19 euros.

There are additional services, through partners and through the Ministry of Internal Affairs budgets we have judicial, psycho-Social services, Albanian language and computer courses, three times a day, clothing, toilet packages, social assistance for reasons that through the Center for Social Affairs and other services needed for individuals seeking international protection... According to a recent assessment, the cost is about 19 euros a day“, he said.

As a challenge for this Zari think tank, it mentions the way of communication, since asylum seekers come mainly from different and distant cultures from Kosovo and their language is not known for Kosovars, but, despite that, he says they have managed to solve this problem.

Department of State, Asylum and Migration at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Director Valon Krasniqi for Kosovo has declared that in 2019 Kosovo has marked the largest number of persons seeking international protection, where some 2 thousand people have so far applied for asylum.

Of them over 80 percent are males, and their age is about 30 years old.

Krasniqi says that seeing the number of asylum seekers in Kosovo marking growth, measures have been taken to increase capacities for the accommodation of foreign citizens. During this year in Vranidol, Pristina, two additional facilities of the 200-bed asylum have been built.

“Viti 2019 marks the year with the largest number of asylum demands from the East states, where from January to now we have about 2 thousand asylum applications, namely 2,000 foreign persons have applied for international protection in our country. Most of the applicants are from Syria, Iraq is Algeria, Morocco and Palestine. These are the dominant countries regarding asylum demands in our country. If we refer to the gender aspect, over 80 percent of those who have applied for international protection have been males, over 80 percent have been about 30 years old, over 97 percent have been of Islamic faith, and over 95 percent have entered Kosovo illegally, but that after facing Kosovo police, they have submitted the demand for asylum”, he said.

The head of the Department for Asylum, State and Migration said Kosovo is mainly being exploited as a Transit country, since destination has Western countries. Even the average time foreign citizens stay in Kosovo is 12 days.

And we can say that even Kosovo is being exploited as a transitor country by foreign migrants is not the purpose of destination, that proves even the fact that asylum seekers are applying for asylum are not staying in our country long. If we make an average of their stay this year, their average attitude has been 12 days”, Krasniqi said.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2015 asylum has required 70 people, which in 2016 marked an increase of 306. In 2017 there was a decline in demand for international protection in 147 requirements, while in 2018 about 600 persons were registered as asylum seekers in Kosovo.