15 May 2020
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.
- KPMG, "Government and institution measures in response to COVID-19", 11 May 2020, https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/04/albania-government-and-institution-measures-in-response-to-covid.html
- G. Erebara, "Albania to Free 600 Prisoners as Pandemic Precaution", Balkan Insight, 24 March 2020, https://balkaninsight.com/2020/03/24/albania-to-free-600-prisoners-as-pandemic-precaution/
- G. Erebara, "Albania’s Planned Jail Terms for Curfew Breakers Spark Protests," Balkan Insight, 10 April 2020, https://balkaninsight.com/2020/04/10/rights-organizations-protests-albanias-anti-covid-proposals/
- B. Koleka, "Albania To Impose 2-8 Year Jail Terms On Coronavirus Quarantine Rule-Breakers," Reuters, 16 April 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-albania-prison/albania-to-impose-2-8-year-jail-terms-on-coronavirus-quarantine-rule-breakers-idUSKBN21Y3BH
- V. 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/
- Relief Web, "Albania Should End Refugees’ Suffering of Hunger and Violence," 10 May 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/albania/albania-should-end-refugees-suffering-hunger-and-violence
- Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2019, Albania, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ALBANIA-2019-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf
- A. E. Taylor, "Refugees in Balkans at Higher Risk from Coronavirus," Exit News, 23 March 2020, https://exit.al/en/2020/03/23/refugees-in-balkans-at-higher-risk-from-coronavirus/
- 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/)
Last updated: October 2016
ENFORCEMENT DATA
POPULATION DATA
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS
B. Attitudes and Perceptions
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LENGTH OF MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION INSTITUTIONS
PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS
DETENTION MONITORS
TRANSPARENCY
READMISSION/RETURN/EXTRADITION AGREEMENTS
Bilateral/Multilateral Readmission Agreements
COVID-19
HEALTH CARE
COVID-19 DATA
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
2007
2007
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
2007
2007
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2003
2003
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2002
2002
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2002
2002
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1994
1994
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 17/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
Observation Date
ICCPR, First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966
2007
2007
2017
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999
2003
2003
2017
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, declaration under article 31
2007
2007
2017
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
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
2013
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§30. "The Committee urges the State party to:
(a) Strengthen its efforts in order to ensure that the principle of the best interests of the child is appropriately integrated and consistently applied in all legislative, administrative and judicial proceedings as well as in all policies, programmes and projects relevant to and with an impact on children;
(b) Provide judges with clear instructions on the application of the best interests principle in adoption procedures and ensure that decisions are effectively taken in a timely manner so that children do no longer remain for long period s of time in institutions; and
(c) Develop procedures and criteria to provide guidance for determining the best interests of the child in every area, and disseminate them to the public and private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities and legislative bodies. The legal reasoning of all judicial and administrative judgments and decisions should also be based on this principle."
2012
2012
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§ 73. "The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that children are properly identified and registered during pre-screening procedures at border points and no longer detained and that best interest s determination procedures are initiated to define how to best address the child’s immediate and long - term needs. This should include the appointment of legal custodians and the provision of comprehensive information to minors on their return prospects. The Committee encourages the State p arty to ensure that the Border Police do not detain unaccompanied minors and, in this regard , seek technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It also urges the State party to ensure that asylum-seeking and refugee children have access to education. It further recommends that the State party takes into account its general comment No. 6 (CRC/GC/2005/6)."... 75. "The Committee recommends that the State party study the impact of migration on children as previously recommended by the Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW/C/ALB/CO/1, para. 38, 2010) and to provide children with all the necessary social services for them to fully enjoy their rights under the Convention."
2012
2012
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§85. "The Committee recommends that the State party bring the juvenile justice system fully in to line with the Convention, in particular articles 37, 39 and 40, and with other relevant standards, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines), the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (the Havana Rules), the Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal Justice System and the Committee’s general comment No. 10 (CRC/C/GC/10 , 2007 ) . In particular, the Committee urges the State party to:
(a) Establish specialized juvenile courts with adequate human, technical and financial resources throughout the country , introduce specialized judges for children in all the regions and ensure that such specialized judges receive appropriate education and training;
(b) Ensure that children are no longer detained in police stations together with adults and without access to a lawyer and that all cases of mistreatment are properly investigated and punished;
(c) Organize regular training for law enforcement personnel, including police and prison administration staff, in order to ensure that they all have a thorough understanding of provisions of the Convention and are aware that violations are not acceptable and will be investigated, and that perpetrators are liable to prosecution;
(d) Provide children, both victims and accused, with effective and adequate legal and other assistance at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings in conformity with the Code of Penal Procedure;
(e) Ensure that detention is a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, and that it is reviewed on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing it;
(f) Promote alternative measures to detention, such as diversion, probation, counselling, community service or suspended sentences, wherever possible;
(g) Take urgent measures to address the conditions of detention in pretrial detention centres for juveniles;
(h) Ensure that all children deprived of liberty have effective access to education and health services, including mental health care; and
(i) Make use, if relevant, of the technical assistance tools developed by the Interagency Panel on Juvenile Justice and its members, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime , the United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and NGOs, and seek technical assistance in the area of juvenile justice from members of the Panel."
2012
2012
NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
CPCSE, Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
2009
2009
2017
ECHRP7, Protocol 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11)
1996
1996
2017
ECPT, European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment
1996
1996
2017
ECHR, Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (commonly known as the European Convention on Human Rights
1996
1996
2017
DETENTION COSTS
OUTSOURCING
FOREIGN SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DETENTION OPERATIONS
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?
Government Agencies
Prime Minister´s Office: http://www.kryeministria.al/en/
Ministry of Justice: http://www.drejtesia.gov.al (in Albanian)
Avokati i Popullit (Ombudsman): http://www.avokatipopullit.gov.al/en/rreth-nesh-0
International Organisations
UNHCR Albania: http://www.unhcr.org/albania.html
IOM Albania: http://www.albania.iom.int/index.php/en/
Media
Albanian Daily News: http://www.albaniannews.com/index.php
Tirana Times: http://www.tiranatimes.com/
NGOs and Research Institutions
Children’s Human Rights Centre of Albania (CRCA): http://www.crca.al/
Albanian Human Rights Group: http://www.ahrg-al.org
