Kosovo hosts and escorts migrants

Palestine Mohammad Al Tael, 26, has been staying in Kosovo for ten months at the asylum seekers camp in Magure.

He's been traveling for over three months. It is launched by Turkey in Greece, has spent time in northern Macedonia, Albania, and, in the end, is located illegally in Kosovo.

Mohammad says he also plans to leave Kosovo towards a country where, according to him, he can find work.

My <x0 plan is to get out, start getting a job, maybe see how to join my family if I can”, he tells Radio Free Europe.

Mohammad has fled his homeland for nearly four years in the Palestinian Authority, in search of a better life. Since then it says it has spent over 20,000 euros, standing and traveling from one state to another.

With him, at the camp in Magure, located some 15 miles [15 km] from Pristina, is Nasser Almassalma, 54, from Syria.

He has entered Kosovo from Serbia and was originally located at the Vranidol asylum seekers centre, which is located closer to Pristina about 15km.

I've lived in Hungary for more than 20 years and they have deported me. I have gone to Serbia and from Serbia I have come to Kosovo. Kosovo likes me, people here are good and respectable”, Nasser says.

Over 1,300 migrants have entered Kosovo in nearly 11 months

Within a year, hundreds of migrants use Kosovo as a transit nation to countries of the European Union.

Migrants entering Kosovo illegally are mainly from Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Afghanistan and Libya.

Fitim Zariqi, director of the Centre for Asia in the village of Magure in Lipjan, tells Radio Free Europe that from January to November 17th, 516 migrants who have sought asylum in Kosovo are registered as asylum seekers.

Within this period, according to Zaric, 880 migrants have requested temporary residence permits, and one has been offered for 72 hours.

After 72 hours, they must leave Kosovo.

It is now known that immigrants, Kosovo, are exploiting it as a transitor country, as other Balkan countries are exploiting it. So their goal is to get them somewhere in the European Union. All those who come to Kosovo have all conditions, and all those who have come have claimed to be satisfied, but their goal is to go elsewhere”, Zariqi says.

Under the Kosovo asylum law, to gain asylum status, procedures take between six and nine months.

In 2019, 2,081 persons were applied to asylum in Kosovo, and in 2020 1,409 people.

Asylum seekers entering Kosovo's territory mainly exploit green border areas to cross the border illegally, Zariqi says.

“The majority of migrants or asylum seekers have entered from Albania's territory 80% of them, then from Northern Macedonia 12 %, from Montenegro 0.50%, from Serbia 4.50% and at the International Airport Jashari 3%”, Zari says.

There are actually about 40 immigrants in Magur camp.

Zariqi says the majority of migrants entering Kosovo are up to 30 years of age and that they belong to Islam.

But not all migrants entering Kosovo are reported to the police. There are reportedly those who temporarily reside in private houses and hotels until they find their way out of Kosovo.

Since the beginning of 2015, the Western Balkan region has become a transitor center for people who flee mainly from the Middle East and Africa and aim to settle in countries of the European Union.

The EU and the United Nations Migration Agency have provided support to authorities in Kosovo to improve migration flows management, especially during the COVD-19 pandemic, as well as to strengthen capacity for waiting and protecting migrants.

A former military building in Vranidol has been rebuilt this month, which will serve as an admission centre and registration centre for migrants.

The United Nations Refugees Agency in Kosovo (UNHCR) has told Radio Free Europe it is doing the monitoring of trends and identifying the needs of people needing international protection.