Albania Fears Becoming Part of ‘Refugee Route’

Refugees on the Balkan Route | Photo: BETA/AP

Albania fears becoming part of the Balkan “refugee route”, now that Macedonia has tightened border controls, leaving some 10,000 people trapped in Greece on their way to Western Europe.

Until now, the most-used route has run through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, avoiding Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania.

An Albanian Interior Ministry official told BIRN that a large-scale influx would be a real problem for the country, which lacks the capacities to host large numbers of refugees.

Officials fear people smugglers using inflatable boats to take people across the Adriatic to Italy could reactivate after governments for years struggled to block this path.

The Prime Minister, Edi Rama, one week ago said Albania had no intention of opening its borders to an influx of migrants. “We are not going to open the border for the refugees”, he said.

However, in practice, Albania cannot seal its long mountainous border with Greece, which has many accessible paths.

Refugees could easily make use of them to enter the country without actually crossing a single official border point.

The UNCHR representative in Albania, Marie-Helene Verney, told BIRN that if an influx occurs, Albania must be ready to handle the flow in a humane matter, in accordance with international and human rights standards.

“In light of recent developments along the Balkan route, it’s important that all states should be ready to cope with the possible influx in order to minimise humanitarian suffering,” Verney said.

“UNCHR stands ready to assist the Government in preparing for the possible arrival of migrants and refugees in its territory,” she added.

As the situation on the Greek-Macedonia border becomes ever more difficult, Albanian police have increased patrols in the east and south, near the Greek border.

Small groups of people who try to cross illegally into Albanian territory are being turned back to Greece.

Police deny Italian media reports that smugglers are again using inflatable boats to smuggle refugees in Italy.

Police sources told BIRN that in the first two months of this year only two abandoned inflatable boats had been found on Albanian shores, which police believe were likely used for drugs trafficking.