TIRANA, March 7 – Over 65,000 Albanians applied for asylum in EU countries last year, according to the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat.
Its latest report revealed that Albanian citizens accounted for 5 percent of asylum claims filed last year out of a record total number of over 1.2 million asylum seekers registered in the EU.
Albania was the fifth main country of origin of asylum seekers in the European Union in 2015. Meanwhile, the top three nationalities of asylum applicants were Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Germany was the most attractive destination for Albanian asylum seekers with 53,805 asylum claims registered, or 12 percent of all asylum seekers in Germany, the second highest number after Syria. France and Sweden received the second and third highest number of applications from Albanian nationals with 3,220 and 2,565 pending applications respectively in 2015.
Last year, Germany witnessed a surge in asylum claims from Albanian nationals after rumors spread that the country needed workers. However, chances asylum will be granted for Albanian citizens are exceptionally low as the country has been designated as a safe country of origin by German authorities.
The number of Kosovars who sought asylum in Europe last year was also high. A total of 66,885 asylum seekers originated from Kosovo, a number slightly higher than that of Albania.
According to Eurostat, a record 1,255,000 migrants sought asylum in the EU last year, a number more than double compared to the previous year. The country which has received the highest number of first time applicants in 2015 was Germany with 441,800 asylum seekers registered or 35 percent of all asylum seekers in the EU last year.
