TIRANA, April 20 – Prime Minister Edi Rama said this week unspecified groups promising asylum to Albanians were criminal and would be punished.
He called on Albanians not to believe the scam, saying there would be no asylum granted to Albanian economic migrants.
“This is a big misunderstanding that is being exploited by criminal groups, in order to manipulate people. They take money from people, telling them that Germany is looking for a number of people of different professions. This is a scam, and people must not fall prey to this fraud,” said Rama, speaking from Vlora this week.
The Interior Ministry has increased controls at the border crossing points and has turned back about 4,000 of them traveling to the Schengen area countries without the proper means or documentation.
The ministry has appealed to its citizens respect the Schengen movement rules by traveling with regular documents and funding. The ministry said that it is absolutely impossible for the Albanian citizens to receive political asylum in the EU.
Despite this, thousands of rural Albanians have been flocking to the port city of Durres, aiming to reach Germany.
They had sold their livelihoods to pay for costs of the trip.
Germany has raised provisional shelter camps for these new arrivals, but has also started flying them back in, handing five-year bans.
