Albania Fears Joining New Refugee Route

A steady trickle of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa refugees make their way toward West Europe through Albania - now the former "Balkan route" through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary has all but closed.

Genc Merepeza, vice-director of Albania's Border and Migration police, told BIRN that Albanian police caught 691 foreign citizens in the first nine months of 2016 attempting to move through the country towards Montenegro or Kosovo.

"Around 96 per cent of those cases were identified in the border area while 4 per cent were inside the national territory. In August, we saw a slight increase in the numbers trying to enter Albania," he explained.

He added that the number remains low compared with the same period in 2015, when the police identified 1,950 such people.

But Erjona Canaj, an expert in migration issues and professor at the European University of Tirana, told BIRN that the number might well grow.

"With the winter coming, Albania might turn into a route for refugees ... Following the threats of some Balkan countries to close their borders, Albania could turn in a place hosting Syrian refugees," she said.

Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia closed their borders to refugees and migrants in March, leaving thousands of people stranded in neighbouring Greece.

Many of them still managed to reach Serbia, but then waited long periods to cross into Hungary, where, according to a recent Amnesty International report, they face detention and beatings.

After the tightening of the Balkan route raised worries that people smugglers would also reactivate the "Adriatic route" running from Albania to Italy, Italian and Albanian police vowed to work together to prevent this from happening.