Illegal migrants reaching UK will not be detained in Albania, pending the ruling on their asylum requests by the British authorities.
Endri Fuga, Albanian Prime Minister Spokesperson, called “absolutely untrue” claims made in the Sun newspaper that British and Albanian governments are in talks to establish in Albania a center for detaining all migrants seized in the Channel waters between France And the UK.
The Sun quoted an unnamed insider in the supposed talks saying that “the Home Secretary has made it clear she wants this to happen. Negotiations are at a technical stage. We are now down to the fine details such as precise location and numbers.”
But Fuga excluded the possibility that Albania will host migrants on behalf of any third country. He recalled that Albania has welcomed more than 4 thousand Afghans, adding that richer and bigger countries should take in their share of migrants.
The idea of migrant hubs established in the Balkans and North Africa to detain illegal migrants seized in international waters before reaching EU borders was proposed about 3 years ago, but it has remained on paper due to refusal of third countries host such enter. Every year tens of thousand of migrant mainly from north Africa and Asia reach EU Borders, mainly through sea routes.
