Last October, Albania stood alongside another ten countries with the highest number of asylum requests in the European Union.
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) reported a total of 65,400 asylum applications from last October, an 8% dip compared to September figures.
Afghans ranked first in the world for asylum-seeking requests.
Asylum requests:
- Afghanistan 11,300
- Syria 10,600
- Irak 3, 100
- Turkey 2,600
- Venezuela 2,500
- Bangladesh 2,400
- Pakistan 2,300
- Columbia 1,800
- Georgia 1,700
- Albania 1,500
Around 3,300 applications were made by unaccompanied minors.
Asylum authorities in the European Union issued 46,100 first instance verdicts in October. 91% of applications from Afghan nationals were granted refugee status.
Euronews Albania sat down with Ilir Gedeshi, a migration expert, to learn more about the reasons that push citizens to seek asylum.
“There are two main factors. First, an economic one. People leave and seek asylum for economic reasons. Secondly, they do it to find a job in the EU. It is the easiest way possible”, explained Gedeshi.
He also underlined that asylum requests come mainly from people with lower education levels, but did not exclude the opposite.
“In the last decade, 40% of the migrant flow from Albania was from people who had completed tertiary education”, he said.
Among other factors listed by Gedeshi on why Albanians leave their country were aspirations for a better education for their children and lack of perspective for a better future.
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