TIRANA, March 2 – The escalation of the refugee crisis in the Greek-Macedonian border is increasingly giving rise to new fears that Albania will soon be facing a massive wave of migrants as the latter attempt to find new routes to reach the wealthy countries of northern Europe.
At a time when the possibility that Albania will be entangled in the refugee crisis becomes more real after each passing day, authorities have stepped up security measures at all border crossing points with Greece.
It is reported that 450 forces from the rapid intervention unit specialized in crowd management were dispatched this week at 5 border crossing points in order to better manage the situation ahead of an imminent influx of refugees.
The International Organization for Migration reports that irregular migrant and refugee arrivals are now approaching 130,000 in the Mediterranean for 2016 with close to 2,000 seaborne arrivals per day in Greece.
Albania has also set up three former military bases that will serve as reception centers for refugees in case the country becomes the new route for migrants attempting to reach northern Europe with a hosting capacity of up to 10,000 refugees.
Italian media in particular fear that human traffickers could exploit the opportunity to transport the refugees to Italy through the Strait of Otranto, a route used by Albanian refugees in the tumultuous years following the collapse of the communist regime.
For Italy’s La Stampa the seizure of several speedboats by Albanian police in recent weeks is a sign that drug traffickers are ready to jump on the opportunity to reap huge profits by smuggling people across the Adriatic Sea. Unconfirmed sources quoted by local media say Albanian criminal gangs have also been negotiating to buy speedboats in neighbouring Italy to use them for possible migrant smuggling.
The media across the Adriatic write that Italian authorities are so concerned the crisis will soon affect Italy that they are moving troops and equipment to the heel of Italy’s boot. Authorities are not only worried about the management of a potential migrant flow, but are also wary of the possible infiltration of Islamic State terrorists amidst refugees.
The unfolding of the refugee crisis at the border between Macedonia and Greece is believed to be the reason behind a request of Italy’s Interior Minister Angelino Alfano to meet with his Albanian counterpart Saimir Tahiri in Rome.
Such fears are nothing new since the Albania route was seen as a possibility as winter approached, nevertheless they never materialized.
However, Macedonia’s decision to close the border with Greece, where thousands of migrants headed north are stationed has managed to bring once again the issue into the spotlight.
The head of the State Police Haki à‡ako met on Wednesday with Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri at the agency’s headquarters in Warsaw, Poland to review the operational cooperation between Frontex and Albania in the light of new developments.
Albanian authorities are increasingly worried about the implications the arrival of a massive wave of immigrants could have for a small and impoverished country like Albania.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Edi Rama during an interview for Top Channel TV said that Albania will not open the borders for refugees since the country lacks the resources to do so.
“We will not open the borders, we neither have the conditions nor do we feed illusions that we can save the world, while others seal their borders. I hope that by closing its borders, Europe understands that it cannot keep fooling itself,” Rama said.
The Prime Minister’s declarations contradicted his integration minister Klajda Gjosha who had previously stated that “Albania will not turn into a wall for immigrants,” suggesting it would not pose barriers to the potential arrival of refugees.
Rama’s statements have received wide coverage in the foreign media, Greek ones in particular.
Greece’s Ekathimerini citing refugee and migration expert Evangelos Venetis writes that Albania will be unable to stop the migration flow since the Greek- Albanian border due to its mountainous terrain with many accessible paths cannot be controlled, despite verbal opposition to the idea that Albania will turn into the new migration route.
The article considers it as just a matter of time before the migrants trapped in Greece begin to head north towards Albania and views it as a relief provider for Greece helping it to buying time in dealing with the influx of immigrants coming from Turkey.
Cases of migrants using Albania to travel northwards have so far been sporadic, but as the refugee crisis takes new dimensions with countries becoming more reluctant to accept more immigrants, the risk that the domino effect could affect Albania and Italy is more real than ever.
