The EU proposes to return more quickly to Kosovo: What do the asylum seekers say?

Since visa liberalisation on 1 January last year, the number of asylum seekers from Kosovo to the European Union has increased significantly. Now, a European Commission proposal may make them forced back to Kosovo.

This is after the European Commission has proposed that asylum seekers from Kosovo and six other countries accelerate procedures for their return to their homeland because it names them safe places.

Now it is up to Parliament and the European Council to approve this proposal or not for the seven countries of Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and India, of which a total of 200 thousand people applied last year for asylum.

Just last year, the number of asylum seekers from Kosovo increased markedly compared to the previous years.

What affected this growth?

By January 1st 2024, after many years of waiting, Kosovars have been able to travel through the 29 member states of the Schengen area, mainly EU member states, without the need for visas.

This visa liberalisation allows visa-free travel for only up to 90 days within six months to any of the 29 members of the Schengen area.

Basically, visa - free travel should serve for tourist visits, family or similar matters, and neither for work nor for other benefits. But, since before liberalisation, numerous organisations had warned that visa liberalisation could exacerbate the migration trend from Kosovo.

And data from the EU statistical office (Eurostat) shows that exactly this has happened.

Although not at the levels many nongovernmental organisations had warned about, the trend in raising asylum seekers is continuing this year.

As in the early years, France remains the main destination of Kosovars seeking asylum in European Union countries, followed by Germany.

Germany has also targeted many Kosovars in recent years because of relaxed employment procedures. But since the process of obtaining a work visa has been eased, asylum demands do not involve these people and the number is smaller.

Among Kosovo asylum seekers to the EU, there are mostly young people under the age of 18 and men. In recent years, however, the difference in the number of asylum seekers has been reduced by women and men.

After visa liberalisation, the number of Kosovars forced to return to Kosovo has also increased, as part of the agreement on re-admission of citizens who are refused asylum requests or caught standing illegally.

In the first quarter of this year alone, nearly half of all readmissions have returned during 2023 - prior to liberalisation.

Most of them return from European countries.

The result?

Besides involvement in the list of countries where the EU intends to turn asylum seekers into accelerated procedures, the trend of larger applications risks the visa liberalisation agreement.

The European Union holds the so-called Mechanism of visa suspension. With this mechanism, a non-EU country, like Kosovo, could temporarily be suspended from visa exemptions if it makes misappropriations.

There are four scenarios where the visa suspension mechanism would be activated:

• In case of significant growth over 50% of irregular migration.
• In the event of considerable growth over 50% of low-level asylum requirements, about 3-4%.
• In the event of the decline in co-operation for the repatriation of citizens expelled from the EU, as a result of the irregular stance.
• In the event of increased risk for the security of EU member states, especially for serious criminal acts.

So far, the EU has not expressed concern about increasing migration or asylum demands from Kosovo, nor have organisations representing businesses from Kosovo expressed concern that workers are leaving massively.

However, this year the EU is considering the possibility of this mechanism being toughened so that it is easier to restore the visa regime for 61 countries, including Kosovo and other Western Balkan countries. / REL/Periscopi/