Police detain more Syrian refugees crossing border illegally

TIRANA, Nov. 13 – Albanian border police said this week they are observing a growing trend of large number of refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern or African countries, trying to cross illegally from Greece to Albania as part of their journey to Western Europe.
Tens of Syrians, including women and children, have been detained this week alone.
On Tuesday, police also arrested a 30-year-old Sudanese man who served as guide helping refugees cross through Albania.
He was caught with 10 Syrian refugees in the southern city of Gjirokastra, and had previously been detained several times doing the same thing.
In another operation in Tirana, police arrested a Turkish driver of a truck, where he had hidden seven Syrian migrants.
He was arrested at Tirana customs offices after his truck coming from Turkey through Greece was planning to pass over to western European countries. His truck was transporting kitchen equipment, in which the refugees were hidden, authorities said.
Albania has turned into a transit point for refugees fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. Albanian authorities usually return them to the country from which they entered Albania, mostly Greece.
However, recently many Syrian refugees have said they would rather stay in Albania than go back to Greece, but Albanian officials counter that they simply lack the logistics and funds to take care of the refugees.