With refugee numbers on the rise, German political parties have been wrangling once again over which Balkan states to add to its list of "safe countries of origin." But whether there is any point to it is another matter.
Director of the EU Agency for cooperation in the field of Justice (Eurojust) Michelle Koninsx said that in the ships with the migrants that arrive into the Europe across the Mediterranean sea are located the fighters of the Islamic state.
Koninsx stated that it is not yet known which kind of a problem for European security services could present the alleged infiltration of Islamic militants, but added that groups such as the IS use the funds from trafficking people for financing the terrorism.
Kosovo's Interior Ministry has announced that around 7,500 migrants, most of whom were part of a wave of illegal migration into the EU from Kosovo in early 2015, have been returned from Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium and France.
"We have had 7,500 immigrants returned to Kosovo, and most of them have been in these countries since January. We can see a clear spike in the numbers. In these four months, more Kosovars were returned than in all of 2014 when we had a total of 4,600," said Valon Krasniqi, from the the Department for Repatriation at the Interior Ministry.
Germany on Tuesday will return about 280 migrants to Kosovo, who were part of the last wave of migration. Valon Krasniqi, migration official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo said that 209 people will return with force, while the rest are being returned voluntarily. Krasniqi also said that since 1 January this year, so far the number of persons returning from other western countries has reached 7500, 64% of them have returned voluntarily.
During this week the government of Kosovo will open a migration office in Germany, which will help migrants to return to Kosovo. The news site reports that the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development will participate in the process. "Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, Gerd Muller will visit Kosovo, among other things, for cooperation opportunities for the opening of an office for migration in Germany. This office would help citizens for information and their return,” the source said.
Despite numerous warnings from Brussels that they will not receive asylum, a number of citizens from Kosovo is still prepared to leave Kosovo, is conclusion of the research of the Group for Legal and Political Studies under the name “Profile of Kosovo migrant: Who emigrate in the EU?”
According to the research, usually young people emigrate and the reasons are socio-economic in nature. These are mostly people with low income and secondary education. For that situation they usually blame Kosovo government.
Readiness of the people of Kosovo to migrate remains high with 37.2 percent of respondents indicating they would leave Kosovo if an opportunity was to arise, claims a recent study from the Kosovo-based think tank Group for Legal and Political Studies (GSJP). The study was conducted in March 2015 and included 1,000 respondents. The aim of the study was to draw a profile of the potential Kosovo immigrant and analyze the factors that increase the readiness of the people to go abroad.
The number of Kosovars asking for asylum has fallen by 94 percent in the last two months, according to a German official. Berlin has said the vast majority of migrants are economic, and will not be allowed to stay. During early February, German officials would get up 1,500 asylum request from Kosovars every day. However, the daily number of applicants sunk below 100 in April, president of Federal Office for Migration and Refugees Manfred Schmidt said to German Rheinischen Post newspaper.
The Italian Ambassador to Kosovo, Andreas Ferrarese, said on Wednesday that it is not Europe who is being damaged by the migrants from Kosovo, but Kosovo itself, because it is losing its youths and talents. He also said that Italy would benefit from Kosovo migrants because, according to him, they are young, hard-workers, skillful, and most important, there “are no differences in mentality between Kosovo and Italian people.”
The Department for Citizenship, Asylum and Migration at the Ministry of Internal Affair announced that the number of the people from Kosovo repatriated in the first quarter of this year is many times higher compared to the same period last year. According to the Ministry of Interior, from January to March, around three thousand people were repatriated. The number of asylum seekers from Kosovo in the European Union countries is estimated to be over 50 thousand.