Eurostat releases residence permits statistics for Albanians

Tirana Times
By Tirana Times June 10, 2019 16:52

Eurostat releases residence permits statistics for Albanians

Story Highlights

  • Albanians are the first in the region for the highest number of individuals with a residence permit. For every 1000 inhabitants in Albania, about 302 residence permits are issued by European Union countries for various reasons.

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TIRANA, June 12- Almost a third of the Albanian population has chosen to live and work in one of the EU states. The European Union Statistical Office, Eurostat, published data on valid residence permits of non-European citizens, categorizing them according to the reason why this permit was granted. Over 867 thousand Albanians have been provided with such a permit in 2017, the latest year with updated data from all member states. Greece and Italy have issued 94 percent of the total permits. The rest are issued by Germany at 3 percent of the total, and Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, by 1 percent, respectively.

One of the biggest challenges faced by Western Balkans is migration, as population emigration is affecting the economic growth and productivity decline in these countries. But according to Eurostat data on residence permits issued by EU countries, Albanians are the first in the region for the highest number of individuals with a residence permit. For every 1000 inhabitants in Albania, about 302 residence permits are issued by European Union countries for various reasons. The second country in the Western Balkans with regard to those with a permit in one of the European countries is Kosovo, that for the same parameters 166 permits were granted to Kosovo citizens. While third place is Bosnia, where this ratio is 109 permits per 1000 inhabitants currently living in Bosnia.

About 53 percent of total permits or 461 thousand Albanians, received permanent residence for family reasons. Then employment permits follows suit, with over 185 thousand Albanians. Italy holds 75 percent of these permits, followed by Greece with 22 percent. Germany has granted only 2 percent of these permits in total, to approximately 3400 individuals in 2017. Compared to the previous year, the number of workers with work permits has more than doubled.

Eurostat has registered 6749 residence permits for education purposes. Residence permits for education prevail in Italy with 39 percent of total permits for this category, and 29 percent in Germany. The United Kingdom, Austria and France have respectively provided 7 percent of the total permits, while Greece, even though it has 44 percent of the total issued permits, accounts for only 2 percent of residence permits given for education.

A part of Albanians with a residence permit have been granted refugee status or have benefited from social protection. Eurostat estimated that 2533 individuals from Albania had been granted residence permits for this reason in 2017. About 45 percent of these permits were issued by France and 25 percent by Belgium, ranking as the two main countries to give more refugee status to Albanians. Italy follows suit with 11 percent, Germany with 9 percent, and 4 percent of them are provided by the United Kingdom.

Almost as many permits were granted to asylum seekers. According to Eurostat, 2478 permits were issued for social protection reasons. This permit is issued to all asylum seekers who have not yet received refugee status. France has issued about 2000 permits during 2017, while it granted 2500 in 2018. France is returning to one of the main destinations of asylum seekers from Albania after Germany, which has more strict policies. In Germany, only 262 Albanians were granted social protection allowance, nearly 10 times less than in France.

Yet, the European Union has also provided 208 thousand other Albanians with a residence permit, but has not classified the reason why that residence permit was issued. About 91 percent of these permits were issued in Greece, followed by Italy and Germany with 3 percent, respectively. Belgium and France on the other hand, provided only 1 percent of these permits each.  

 

Tirana Times
By Tirana Times June 10, 2019 16:52