TIRANA, Oct. 5 – Germany has agreed to employ 250 Albanian nurses, featuring the legal employment opportunity as a contrast to about 40,000 Albanians who have sought political asylum in Germany since the start of the year, but who Berlin sees as unwanted economic migrants.
German Ambassador to Tirana Hellmut Hoffman said programs like the one set up for the nurses are the best way to get employment in Germany, while all asylum requests would be denied.
After being selected among more than 1,000 candidates, the 250 nurses will work to learn German for a year before heading to jobs in the northern European country.
Albanian Labor Minister Blendi Klosi said they may be followed by thousands of others in health-care and other areas, including the tourism industry.
Albanian authorities have planned or are in the process of opening different academies to help people to train for professions that are in demand in the new economy at home and abroad.
Klosi said next year the government will double the money to be spent on professional education in the country.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the legitimate way to employment in Germany was through education and professional accreditation. It is the only safe way to achieve a better life, he added.
A significant part of the population in Albania wants to migrate due to lack of employment and opportunities at home, according to research done by civil society experts and the Office of the Ombudsman.
Most of those who choose to leave the country live in deep poverty, are unemployed and come from vulnerable parts of society.
In September, the number of migrants in Germany from western Balkan countries fell, and they made up only seven percent of newly-registered asylum seekers, according to Germany’s interior ministry.
In the first eight months of this year, nearly 40,000 Albanians migrated to Germany. They will all be deported, according to authorities.
Out of about 138,151 migrants, only 9,774 had arrived from Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro in September, a decline from earlier months.
Authorities believe it is a sign the trend is ebbing due to the efficient public awareness campaign that the German authorities are holding in all western Balkan countries.
The sudden surge this year has left local German authorities scrambling to register as well as provide lodging, food and basic care for the new arrivals.
As Germany expects up to one million refugees this year, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s generosity towards migrants has sparked discord within her coalition.
Berlin is now stepping up action to deter economic migrants from trying to obtain asylum in the country, in a bid to free up resources to deal with applicants from war-torn countries like Syria.
Germany has added Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro to a list of so-called safe origin countries, which would result in swifter deportations of migrants from these states.
