Administration without Frontiers?
European Migration Law
Albania
Migena Leskoviku
Professor of Law, Law Faculty, University of Tirana, Albania
Migration has become the subject of an increasing political debate in many European countries. Increased migration in Europe is part of a global trend. The Treaty of Amsterdam opens the way towards giving the notion of freedom of movement a meaning beyond the free movement of people across internal borders. It implies also the freedom to live in a law-abiding environment in the knowledge that public authorities are using everything in their individual and collective power to combat and contain those who seek to deny or abuse that freedom. All these policies must be completed by the full range of fundamental human rights, including protection from any form of discrimination as foreseen by the EU Treaty. The movement of people across borders is a phenomenon that recipient countries need to manage wisely. No country can address the challenges posed by migration in isolation. The emerging consensus amongst Member States is that European countries manage migration best when they work with the migrant’s country of origin on everything from border control to development issues; have well-advertised, easy to understand schemes for skilled migration; provide a clear and fair route to citizenship for newcomers; and adopt the necessary mechanisms for illegal immigrants to leave. Migration is one of the most important social and economic phenomena affecting Albania in the last decade. Since 1990, almost a quarter of the Albanian population has left the country and there has been also a significant rural-urban migration. Although Albania is still classified as a transit country for economic migrants, asylum seekers and trafficked persons, positive steps forward have been undertaken lately, especially focused on asylum, visa policy, migration and border control. In order to meet the EU standards, so as to accomplish this objective, all necessary efforts will be made for further reforms in the field of Justice and Home Affairs, in particular in relation to strengthening the law; fighting organized crime, corruption and illegal migration; and strengthening the administrative capacities for border control and documents’ security.
