Albania in 2024 with the lowest number of foreign asylum seekers in the Balkans

2025-02-04 14:52:00, Aktualitet CNA

Albania has the lowest number of irregular foreigners who entered the country and were referred to the asylum system in the Western Balkans in 2024, while Albanian citizens themselves continue to lead the region in terms of the number of asylum requests they have submitted in European countries.

According to data from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), out of 1,388 irregular foreigners who entered Albania in 2024, only 87 of them were referred to the first phase of the Albanian asylum system.

According to UNHCR data, other countries in the region had higher rates of asylum referrals of irregular foreigners in the initial phase.

Thus, out of the 25,333 preliminary asylum applications that were submitted for the first time in the Balkan countries, Serbia had 850, Montenegro 2,968, Bosnia and Herzegovina 21,450, while Kosovo and North Macedonia had no data referenced for this phase.

But despite the high number of asylum referrals in the initial phase, according to UNHCR, first-time asylum applications were extremely low in the Western Balkan countries during 2024.

Thus, out of 1,125 asylum applications submitted for the first time in the Balkan countries, Albania had 17 applications, North Macedonia had 333, Serbia 219, Montenegro 132, Bosnia and Herzegovina 234 and Kosovo 190.

The decrease in asylum applications compared to referrals in the initial phase is related to the fact that irregular foreigners do not stay in these countries to continue asylum procedures but leave for European countries irregularly.

According to UNHCR, from January to December 2024, around 17,500 refugees and migrants are estimated to have transited through the Western Balkans as part of mixed movements.

UNHCR says that around 2,300 people were present in the Western Balkans by the end of December 2024, including 99 unaccompanied children.

According to UNHCR, 35% of irregular foreigners were present in Serbia, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina (34.5%), Kosovo (12%), Albania and Montenegro (7% each) and North Macedonia (4.5%).

According to UNHCR, the largest number of irregular migrants entering the Balkans during 2024 were from Afghanistan (15%), Syria (12%), Morocco (10%), Egypt (5%), Iran (2%), etc.

Businesses in the Western Balkan countries are increasingly facing a need for labor due to the emigration of their citizens, especially young people, to the European Union, where Albania, according to EUROSTAT statistics, is the most affected country in the region.

But, according to economic analysts, Balkan countries are unable to alleviate their labor needs by integrating foreigners who enter the Western Balkans irregularly, as they temporarily stay in Balkan countries and then move on to European countries irregularly./ Voa