TIRANA, May 16 – Albanians continue to leave the country as asylum seekers in search of better fortunes elsewhere, despite standing little chances of having their asylum applications approved.
Albanian nationals lodged 1,328 asylum applications in April this year alone, according to figures released by the German Interior Ministry.
In total, 5,131 Albanian citizens sought asylum in Germany in the period between January and April 2016, out of which 4,615 first time applications.
Statistics show that the number of asylum seekers was more than halved from a previous year.
However, Albania still appeared as the country with most asylum seekers in the region.
Last year, Germany received 11,292 asylum applications from Albanian nationals in the same period.
Serbia was another EU aspirant to make the list of top ten countries of asylum seekers in Germany with 3,420 asylum requests filed.
The list was topped by Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who accounted for nearly 200,000 applications in the first four months of the year.
Faced with a record number of asylum seekers, German authorities have included Albania together with other Western Balkan countries in the safe countries of origin list, which makes it nearly impossible for citizens from these countries to obtain asylum.
However, despite repeated calls from authorities that citizens from these countries stand little chances of obtaining asylum in the Federal Republic, the number of migrants from the region looking for a brighter future abroad continues, although on a smaller scale from that witnessed last year.
German authorities have also started repatriating Albanians who have had their asylum requests rejected, but the practice appears to have had little deterrent effect.
Last year, Germany witnessed a record number of asylum seekers from Albania.
About 55,000 Albanian citizens sought asylum in Germany last year, the highest number of asylum seekers after Syrians.
While Germany remains a favorite destination for Albanian asylum hopefuls, other wealthy EU countries have witnessed a spike in asylum applications from Albanian citizens.
Dutch authorities announced earlier this year that the number of asylum seekers from Albania seeking refugee status in the kingdom skyrocketed to 750 in the last four months of 2015 from relatively insignificant numbers in the previous year.
The Netherlands, which has also included Albania as a safe country of origin, has also said that asylum seekers from Albania stand no chances of having their applications approved and will be repatriated.
Only 2.3% of Albanian asylum seekers in EU states were granted asylum in 2015, according to Eurostat.
