Over 11,200 Albanians applied for asylum in EU countries in 2021, including some 9000 first time applications, according to data from Eurostat.
Albania, an EU member state hopeful has been repeatedly told to curb asylum applications, yet the numbers remain high. Even more concerning is that hundreds are approved every year as people flee blood feuds, trafficking, organised crime, political persecution and domestic violence.
France was the most popular country for Albanian asylum seekers with some 4900 in 2021, or 54% of the total. Second place was Germany with 13.5%, followed by Greece with 12.6%, and Italy with 8.5%. The statistics do not include the UK where several thousand more Albanians seek asylum each year.
While the number of applications increased from 2020, mainly due to the easing of pandemic restrictions, they are not as high as they were in 2015 when over 69,000 Albanians applied for asylum.
Turkey sent the most asylum seekers to the EU in 2021, but Albania was in second place with 16% followed by Ukraine (10%), Moldova (9%) and Russia (8%).
