Migrants do not prefer asylum, stay illegally in Kosovo

So far, according to official figures from this minister, the number of migrants entering Kosovo has exceeded 900 people, just during the first two months this year.

Valon Krasniqi, director of the Department of State, Asylum and Migration, tells Radio Free Europe that at the beginning of this year, there has been a trend of increased asylum seekers compared to the past two years.

Their “, Syrians dominate, are about 300 from Syria alone, and then 56 people from Palestine, 54 from Iraq, from Morocco 63, Algeria 27, Afghanistan 26. We also have other countries from Iran, Tunis, Yemen, Egypt, Lebanon”, Krasniqi said.

Krasniqi has explained to Radio Free Europe that of the more than 900 people who have entered Kosovo in the past two months, only 540 have expressed the desire to complete the app and seek asylum in Kosovo.

In addition to asylum seekers, we have over 300 other immigrants who have crossed Kosovo's territory, but [some] have not introduced the asylum app, and the same is believed to have left the territory within or after 72 hours”, Krasniqi said.

Krasniqi says asylum seekers when they want to leave Kosovo, initially as their destination, where they continue towards developed European countries.

A considerable number of migrants who have left Kosovo have gone to Serbia and after spending more than 10 days on the streets and in uninhabited homes have returned to Kosovo.

Ammar Bero, 30, had stayed in Kosovo for more than 10 days and later fled to Serbia, where he has been staying for more than 10 days.

I wrote in Serbia and have met many people, but they have not welcomed us. Everything in Serbia was bad. The police have not been nice to us, everything was unaffordable. We've been trying to get to Hungary, but the police have tortured us and beat us”, Bero said.

He, currently standing in a private house in Pristina where he pays rent.

Bero says he has refused to return to the housing centre for asylum seekers in the village of Vranidol, since he has lost his right because he has not appeared there for several days.

His plans are to return to Albania and from Durres to Italy and then to Germany.

Radio Europe and Free Europe has also contacted several others who have come from Syria and are staying illegally in Kosovo.

They are staying at different motels in Pristina. As they say, one night they pay up to 30 euros. The same have been declared to want to stay at the asylum centre, but do not want to seek asylum in Kosovo. With his first appearance in the police, they have received permission to stay in Kosovo for only 72 hours. Now they claim that after this deadline is passed, they are afraid of the police and have limited their movements in Pristina.

Pumman Sylejmani, director of the Directorate for Migration and Foreign Affairs under the Kosovo Police, told Radio Free Europe that if police meet persons who are standing illegally, appropriate legal measures will be taken against them.

“They within this term [72 hours] are obliged or required to seek, to settle at the asylum centre or to release Kosovo territory. If none of us or the police order happen again, they will be considered irregular migrants, citizens with an illegal attitude in Kosovo, and the constitutional provisions of the Law for Foreigners will be sent to the Preservation Centre, which is of closed character and will be subject to their deportation to the state of origin or to the state from which they have the last entry into the Republic of Kosovo<1>, Syleyman said.

Interior Ministry officials say that Kosovo, as well as other countries in the region, is being used by migrants as a transitor country to move later to other destination countries.

The area where most migrants are caught entering Kosovo's territory is the green area in Vremica, the village in Prizren's municipality, near the Kosovo-Albania border crossing.

Refugees in Turkey have been targeting European borders since February 28th, after a Turkish official said borders have been opened in response to the escalation of war in Syria. On Thursday, 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Syrian government forces supported by Russia.

“We have made a decision, which immediately goes into effect, not to prevent Syrian refugees from going to Europe, whether through land or sea”, a senior Turkish official told Reuters news agency.

All refugees, including Syrians, could be transferred to the European Union”, the Turkish official said on condition of anonymity.

On March 1st, Turkey said thousands of migrants have headed towards the border with Greece after Turkey's President Recep Tayip Erdogan said he would open the “doors” for migrants to head towards EU countries.

Greece and Bulgaria have said they have strengthened controls at the border.