December 19, 2024
Migrants and Albania

 

Once a migrant enters national territory, even if they are denied asylum, it becomes extremely difficult to repatriate them. Generally, they disappear, going underground, working off the books. Meanwhile, we must provide them with assistance if they fall ill, we cannot deny schooling to their children, and so forth. In the end, it is often more practical to regularize their status: at least they pay taxes.

This is the reasoning behind the attempted, albeit seemingly failed, effort to transfer migrants to Albania: if their asylum application is rejected, they are not immediately integrated into the national system.