In a submission to the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) ahead of its adoption of its List of Issues Prior to Reporting during its 41st session, the Global Detention Project addressed concerns about the country’s migration-related detention policies and practices, including its collaboration with Italy in detaining third-country migrants deported by its neighbour. These concerns were also emphasised to the Committee in an in-person statement delivered during the CMW’s informal briefing on 1 December 2025.
Albania’s legal framework for immigration detention is primarily provided by Law No. 79/2021 “On Aliens,” which regulates the entry, stay, and exit of foreigners. Under this law, non-nationals can be detained in order to effect removal, for up to six months (extendable by an additional six months). Article 115(3) also provides that “the regional State authority responsible for dealing with aliens may hold an alien in a closed reception centre on grounds of public safety, identity or unclear motives of stay.”
Article 115(1) of the 2021 Law on Aliens provides that detention is to be a “last-resort administrative action” to be enforced only “after all possible alternative actions have been exhausted.” The “alternatives to detention” (ATDs) foreseen in law include reporting obligations, financial guarantees, the seizure of documents, and the designation of a specific residence/compulsory stay. However, in 2025 the IOM reported that across the Western Balkan region, “the use of these alternatives remains extremely limited. In practice, alternatives are not applied, and detention continues to be used in cases where non-custodial measures would suffice.”
The 2021 Law on Asylum also provides grounds for the detention of asylum seekers, with Article 45(2) permitting their detention a) for the purposes of checking identity; b) if they are not in possession of identification documents; c) if they have been found to possess counterfeit documents; d) where an international arrest warrant has been issued against them; and e) for the purposes of protecting national security and public order.
Albanian legislation does not protect vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors from detention. Instead, Article 119(1) and (2) of the Law on Aliens note that they can be subject to detention orders and placed in a closed reception centre.
