TIRANA, May 8, 2023 – Citizens of Albania led the list of people who were found to have broken EU member states’ migration rules and were consequently deported in 2022 as well as ranked second among those denied entry into the EU, according to the latest data published by the European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat.
The news comes as Albania is in the midst of a renewed migration spike and is significant given the country’s small size and EU’s massive pull of migrants worldwide. However, the numbers involved are only a small fraction of the total amount of Albanian citizens who legally live in or travel to the EU.
According to the May 5 Eurostat report, about 9,950 Albanians were ordered to leave EU member states. Georgian citizens followed in the list with about 8,040 deportees, then Syrians with about 5,590 people removed from the EU.
Albanian citizens with removal orders had been found to be living illegally in one of the EU countries in 2022 or to have broken visa-free rules.
About 1 million Albanian citizens live in the EU legally, not including dual citizens, according to the latest data.
Albanian citizens have been traveling without visas to the European Union since December 2010, but those removed would have violated the three-month stay period in the countries of the Schengen area or have taken up work which is not allowed under the visa-free agreement.
-Many looking to work on tourist status-
According to reports on migration in the countries of the European Union, the activities of persons from the countries of the Western Balkans, including Albania, which are of concern, are mainly related to employment, employment or self-employment, at a time when the conditions for short-term visits do not allow such such activity.
Another aspect, related to this, has to do with criminal offenses that may involve short-term visitors.
According to Eurostat, the number of non-member citizens ordered to leave a member state of the European Union was 422,400, but only 96,795 were non-EU citizens.
France had the highest number of people it had deported in 2022, about 14,240, followed by Germany with about 13,130 people and Sweden with about 10,490 people.
-Albanians also high on refusal of entry list-
In another negative listing, Albania also ranked second in the list of refusals to enter a European Union country during 2022.
According to Eurostat, about 15,630 Albanian citizens have been refused entry, while the list is headed by Ukrainian citizens with 28,890 people and in third place in terms of refusal of entry to the European Union are Russian citizens with 10,860 people.
In 2022, about 141,060 citizens from countries outside the European Union, Eurostat reports, were refused entry into the European Union.
The highest number of entry refusals according to Eurostat was reported by Poland with 23,330 people, followed by Hungary with 15,780 people, Croatia with 11,800 people and Ireland with 9,240 people.
