Albania

Featured Report

Not Available

Immigration detainees

2019

6

Detained children

2017

6,678

New asylum applications

2019

120

Refugees

2019

49,160

International migrants

2019

Featured Report

Overview

Albania has experienced significant flows of migrants and refugees crossing from Greece en route to Western Europe. With membership in the European Union a key national priority, the country cooperates closely with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to boost its border controls. Albania has operated a migrant detention centre in Karreç since 2010. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has noted numerous problems at the centre, including lack of access to legal assistance, complaints of mistreatment by detainees, and poor material conditions. The country has also been criticised for not operating separate facilities for unaccompanied minors.

Types of facilities used for migration-related detention
Administrative Ad Hoc Criminal Unknown

Related Reading

May 2020
Albania Immigration Detention Data Profile (2020)
Read more

15 May 2020

The Gates of the National Centre for Asylum Seekers in Babrru, Tirana, (Vladimir Karaj,
The Gates of the National Centre for Asylum Seekers in Babrru, Tirana, (Vladimir Karaj, "Violence and Hunger Stalk: Refugees and Migrants in Albania," Balkan Insight, 6 May 2020, https://balkaninsight.com/2020/05/06/violence-and-hunger-stalk-refugees-and-migrants-in-albania/)

The numbers of migrants and refugees in Albania have risen in recent years. According to the Department of Border and Migration, 11,344 people were detained at the border between January 2019 and February 2020.

The Euro-Med Monitor called on the government of Albania ‘’to immediately undertake necessary measures to provide adequate housing and sufficient food supplies to refugees and migrants in its custody, in addition to ensuring their safety from gang violence.’’

The imposition of a curfew on 16 March has impacted undocumented migrants across the country. Refugee centres have been closed, and migrants and asylum seekers left outside, looking for food.

There were 876 confirmed cases of Covid-19 as of 13 May in the country.

On 4 March, the Albanian government announced the temporary release of around 600 prisoners for 3 months. This measure concerns inmates held for minor offences, as well as the elderly and individuals suffering from chronic diseases. There is an estimate of 5,500 prisoners in Albania, whose penitentiaries are overcrowded.

On 10 April, a group of more than 30 human rights organisations issued an open letter to the government protesting a plan to imprison individuals who disobey quarantine orders. The penal code was indeed amended on 16 April to impose two to eight years of jail time for rule-breakers.

19 inmates tested positive to Covid-19 on 20 April, and were isolated immediately. The Tirana penitentiary hospital had been dedicated exclusively to inmates who tested positive to the coronavirus.

Last updated: October 2016

DETENTION, EXPULSION, AND INCARCERATION STATISTICS

Total number of immigration detainees by year
Not Available
2019
Total number of detained minors
6
2017
16
2016
8
2015
Criminal prison population
5,564
2017
5,201
2013
Percentage of foreign prisoners
1.4
2017
1.5
2012
Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population)
193
2017
181
2013

DEMOGRAPHICS AND IMMIGRATION-RELATED STATISTICS

Population
2,900,000
2020
2,873,460
2017
2,897,000
2015
International migrants
49,160
2019
52,000
2017
57,600
2015
International migrants as a percentage of the population
1.8
2017
2
2015
Refugees
120
2019
131
2018
119
2017
111
2016
104
2015
104
2014
Ratio of refugees per 1000 inhabitants
0.05
2016
0.04
2014
Total number of new asylum applications
6,678
2019
66
2019
2,161
2016
427
2014
Stateless persons
4,160
2018
4,460
2017
4,921
2016
7,443
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Gross Domestic Product per capita (in USD)
4,537.86
2017
4,564
2014
Remittances to the country
1,118,000
2015
Unemployment Rate
2017
2014
2013
Unemployment rate amongst migrants
80
2013
Net official development assistance (ODA) (in millions USD)
168,530,000
2016
280.1
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
68 (High)
2017
85 (High)
2015
World Bank Rule of Law Index
39 (-0.4)
2017

DOMESTIC LAWS AND POLICIES

Legal tradition
Civil law
2017
Core pieces of national legislation
Law on Asylum in the Republic of Albania. Law No. 8432. 1998. (1998)
1998
Is the detention of vulnerable persons provided in law? Are they detained in practice?
Asylum seekers (Provided) Yes
2015
Unaccompanied minors (Provided)
2015

INTERNATIONAL LAW

International treaties
Ratification Year
OP CRC Communications Procedure
2013
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2013
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2007
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
2007
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2003
CRSSP, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons
2003
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2002
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2002
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1994
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1994
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1994
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1992
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1992
PCRSR, Protocol to the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1992
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1991
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1991
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
1991
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 17/19
Individual complaints procedure
Acceptance Year
ICCPR, First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 2007
2007
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999 2003
2003
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, declaration under article 31 2007
2007
CRC, [Third] Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child establishing a communications procedure, 2011 2013
2013
Ratio of complaints procedures accepted
Observation Date
4/9
2017
Relevant recommendations issued by treaty bodies
Recommendation Year
Human Rights Committee 13. The Committee is concerned that the automatic detention until deportation of all persons entering the country irregularly, including minors, and the lack of adequate information and referral of asylum seekers among such persons to the asylum procedure, exposes persons in need of international protection to a high risk of refoulement. The Committee is also concerned at the poor living conditions in transit reception facilities for asylum seekers and refugees (arts. 6, 7, 9 and 10). The State party should ensure proper implementation of pre-screening procedures at the border and inside the country in order to ensure that persons in need of international protection are identified and referred to the asylum procedure, regardless of whether or not they entered the country in an irregular manner. It should refrain from detaining asylum seekers on the basis of the manner of entry into the country. It should improve living conditions in transit reception facilities. 2013
2013
Regional legal instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
CATHB, Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 2007
2007
CPCSE, Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse 2009
2009
ECHRP7, Protocol 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11) 1996
1996
ECHRP12, Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights 2004
2004
ECPT, European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment 1996
1996
ECHR, Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (commonly known as the European Convention on Human Rights 1996
1996
ECHRP1, Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11) 1996
1996
Bilateral/multilateral agreements linked to readmission
Year in Force
Observation Date
Austria 2007
2007
2017
Germany 2003
2003
2017
Belgium 2008
2008
2017
Bulgaria 2003
2003
2017
Denmark 2008
2008
2017
Greece 1995
1995
2017
Italy 2008
2008
2017
Hungary 2010
2010
2017
Luxembourg 2008
2008
2017
Malta 2011
2011
2017
Romania 2005
2005
2017
Spain 2011
2011
2017
Norway 2009
2009
2017
Slovakia 2010
2010
2017
Slovenia 2011
2011
2017
Netherlands 2008
2008
2017
United Kingdom 2005
2005
2017
Iceland 2010
2010
2017
Switzerland 2003
2003
2017
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2010
2010
2017
Croatia 2005
2005
2017
Macedonia 2005
2005
2017
Kosovo 2010
2010
2017
Moldova 2013
2013
2017
Montenegro 2011
2011
2017
Serbia 2011
2011
2017
Albania (EU agreement) 2006
2006
2006
Visits by special procedures of the Human Rights Council
Year of Visit
Observation Date
Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants 2011
2011
2011
Relevant recommendations of the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2010
2017
Yes 2014
2017

INSTITUTIONAL INDICATORS

Apprehending authorities
Border Patrol ()
2015
Police ()
2014
Types of detention facilities used in practice
Immigration detention centre (Administrative)
Border guard (Administrative)
2015
Immigration detention centre (Administrative)
Border guard (Administrative)
2015
Authorized monitoring institutions
Office of the People's Advocate (Avokati i Popullit) (National Human Rights Institution (or Ombudsperson) (NHRI))
2016
Office of the People's Advocate (Avokati i Popullit) (OPCAT National Preventive Mechanism (NPM))
2016
Is the national human rights institution (NHRI) recognized as independent?
Yes
2016
Does NHRI carry out visits?
Yes
2016
Does NHRI have capacity to receive complaints?
Yes
2016
Does NHRI publicly release reports on immigration detention?
Yes
2015
Does national preventive mechanism (NPM) carry out visits?
Yes
2015
Does NPM publicly release reports on immigration detention?
Yes
2015
Does the country receive external sources of funding?
Yes
2010
Description of foreign assistance
According to a EU Parliament question to the EU Commission (March 2013): During his visit to Albania in December 2011, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants expressed his concern about the closed detention centre in Kareç. The Kareç closed detention centre, which opened in 2010, was constructed primarily with funding from the European Union. The issues of accessibility, detention conditions, legal safeguards in law and practice and the treatment of detainees, which are explicitly mentioned in the UN Special Rapporteur’s report, are therefore particularly worrying. The report mentions, in particular: the ‘bad road conditions, which seriously obstruct the enjoyment of detainees’ right to legal defence and independent monitoring by national and international bodies’; the centre’s infrastructure and organisation; the poor living and hygienic conditions, such as cold and humidity and the lack of outdoor facilities or activities, which recall those of ‘a mid‐ to high-security prison’; the internal regulations, which contain provisions allowing the presence of ‘minors’ in the centre; and the lack of adequate information in a language commonly spoken by detainees about their rights and the reasons for their detention. Taking into account the readmission agreement between Albania and the EU, which entered into force on 1 May 2006 and presupposes full respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, on what basis was this detention centre funded by the EU? Did the Commission have any say in the architectural planning and internal regulation of the centre? Is the Commission aware of the situation described above? If so, what steps has it taken to remedy the situation? If not, what concrete steps will it take now?
2013