TIRANA, Sept. 5 – The suicide of an Albanian family man who was going to be deported from Germany on Wednesday attracted attention again to the alarming numbers of Albanians desperately seeking to leave the country – with 13,4 percent of the population having applied for the US lottery only last year.
The father of two, who name has not been made public, jumped off a bridge after being told only his oldest daughter, trained to be a nurse, was allowed to stay in Germany. The rest of his family, including his mentally ill wife and their youngest son, had to return to Albania.
According to local German media, the Albanian family had arrived in the country in July 2015 and had done all their “homework” to remain there. Through a last WhatsApp message towards his family, the victim wrote he felt “disappointed and humiliated.”
According to the information surrounding his story as an asylum-seeker, the victim had learned German and began working, while his employer described him as a hard-working and devoted employee.
Sylvia Olbrich from Germany’s Refugee Office is reported to have said the Albanian was worried about the wellbeing of his family.
“He was set to provide education and work for his children from the start. He kept asking if there is any chance for his youngest son to remain in Germany until the very last days. His daughter framed his action in this context. As an act of desperation,” Olbrich said.
Out of the 367,231 US lottery Albanian applications, 189,168 are primary applications, while 178,063 come from the family members of primary applicants. The number of Albanian applicants has increased by six percent in the last three years, with 168,000 more Albanian applying than in 2015.
Albanian ranks first globally and third in Europe in regards to the number of applicants. The country is only surpassed by Sierra Leone, with 14 percent of the population applying, and Liberia, with 15 percent of the population.
The data was made public by the United Nations’ Population Department in a report by the Pew Research Center, which analyzes the number of eligible immigrants. Through the American lottery, in 2017, around 83,000 foreign citizens were admitted to the United States, including family members of applicants.
Approximately 50,000 people from different countries in the world earn their Green Card through the US lottery. Visas are distributed among six geographical regions, in proportion to their population and number of immigrants accepted in the US within the last five years. Each country cannot receive more than seven percent of all the visas available.
Over a year, five percent of immigrants enter the US as American lottery winners.
Meanwhile, homage protests will reportedly take place in Germany on Saturday as a response to the Albanian man’s suicide by people who argue the migration offices should not be as hard on asylum-seekers.
