From Gaza to Kosovo, through smuggling and hope

When war and poverty force people to leave their homes behind, travel to a better life becomes an uncertain and dangerous adventure.

Husam Nmvawi, from the Gaza Strip, following long walks through mountains and payments of hundreds of euros, has ended last month in Kosovo.

As he lies on his bed at the Center for Asylum in Lipjan, he seems to have no clear plan for the future.

I was originally in Turkey. From there I paid 800 euros to go to Greece. From Greece, to cross to Albania, I have paid 300 euros”, the 27-year-old shows.

His journey did not end there. He would find a way into Kosovo without documents and without certainty where he has already applied for asylum seekers' status.

I paid a man 100 euros and he showed me the way. I've also used your phone”, reports Husam to Radio Free Europe.

He does not want to find out much about his journey, about groups that may have helped him, or about the dangers he faced along the way.

“I've walked a lot, even through water, to cross limit”, says with a grim face.

His voice is even louder when he mentions Gaza where he says there is no more life and that running was the only solution.

Confessions like this take on added weight today on June 20, when the world stops to reflect on the pain and stability of millions of displaced people.

But why it is located in Kosovo, Husam does not clearly explain it.

“At the moment I am standing here”, it says, and does not show whether Kosovo has a final destination or just a halt to any other state.

He briefly mentions that some of his relatives are scattered to different European states, but he does not say whether he has tried to join them.

Similarly, Kosovo authorities do not have clear information on the long-term goals of migrants like Husam, while trying to strengthen border control with the use of fears and joint operations with neighbouring states to stop smuggling and illegal crossings.

With fears patrolling day and night, Kosovo police say they are carefully monitoring the border belt with Albania, Montenegro and northern Macedonia.

This year alone, it has detained 15 people suspected of smuggling migrants and 13 victims whose cases have been forwarded to courts, while last year, it says it has handled cases of 1,025 migrants.

“We've captured such groups through the night watches, when we've conducted” operations, Free Europe Radio Nexmi Krasniqi, director of the Department for Borders northwest of Gjakova, says of Nexmi Krasniqi.

He stresses that the most critical point in this regard is the area of Vremica, near Prizren, but adds that, in recent months, migrants' movements have been significantly reduced, thanks to close co-operation with Albania's Police.

“In addition to the common monthly patrol we have, we also do operations together, when we have such cases”, Krasniqi says.

According to him, these smuggling networks are mixed and driven mainly by the Syrian Moroccan, with the participation of Afghans.

He says they use modern technology, such as internet and mobile phones, to communicate and co-ordinate movements, bringing migrants from Greece through Albania, Kosovo, and beyond to Serbia and beyond to Europe.

Some of these individuals may also have connections with persons from Kosovo, Krasniqi says, though their numbers are not large.

The “people who helped them have been few from Prizren, from Gjilan, Mitrovica... These are related to those who have their own taxi companies and people who also have vans and do their transport”, Krasniqi explains.

According to data provided by Kosovo Police Radio Free Europe, banned migrants to Kosovo are mainly from Morocco, Syria, Palestinian territories, Egypt and other countries.

They enter Kosovo from all countries with which they are limited, especially from the border with northern Macedonia and Albania.

But the fight against smugglers does not end with police shares.

Law institutions are also engaged in this process, aimed at striking down criminal networks.

The Constitutional Prosecutor in Prizren ʹ one of the most critical municipalities for smuggling migrants makes known to Radio Free Europe that in recent years, a significant number of cases, with over 30 open materials and dozens involved, while in 2025, no new case has been accepted.

“in 2022, this prosecutor has accepted 13 subjects against 48 persons; he has committed 19 subjects to 46 and filed charges in 13 subjects against 31 persons. In 2023, 3 subjects to 13 have been accepted and 3 subjects to 32 persons have been performed. In 2024 3 subjects to 4 persons were admitted, 1 subject to 9 persons was conducted and an indictment was filed against 8 people after the investigation”, reportedly in response to the Constitutional Prosecutorship in Prizren, sent to Radio Free Europe.

Currently, 17 migrants are sheltered at the Center for Asylum in Magur, while 9.

Fitim Zariqi, director of the Centre for Asylum in Magur, tells Radio Free Europe that, unlike previous years, a decline in the number of persons sheltered at this centre has been noted this year.

We've had 44 applications for international protection since January this year. Some of them have left. As you know, Kosovo is most often exploited as a transitor country for migrants and is not staying here. Most have left, but now we only have 17 people”, Zariqi says.

It shows that by 2019, when Kosovo applied for asylum 2,081 persons, the number went down: 1.409 in 2020; in 2021 578; in 2022, 550; in 2023, 181; 2024 190; and by this year 44.

Under the rules in Kosovo, a Migrant can stay in the country for only 15 days without reporting to authorities in the order.

After 15 days, he must apply for asylum seekers' status on the contrary should leave Kosovo's territory.

Kosovo does not have extradition agreements with many states and migrants cannot be expelled, but most, authorities say, leave on their own.

According to them, migrants not intended to stay in Kosovo usually stop for 3 to 7 days.

To gain asylum status, however, they need several months.

Kosovo, although not part of the European Union and faces socioeconomic challenges, has accepted and sheltered hundreds of asylum seekers in recent years, especially during humanitarian crises such as the one in Afghanistan or Ukraine.