Albanian President Ilir Meta expressed his concern after a report that shows more than 60,000 children have left the country to seek asylum abroad. The President urged for a parliamentary investigation on the matter.

“According to data made public by EUROSTAT, more than 60,000 children have left Albania and sought asylum for the first time in an EU country in the last 10 years (2011-2020). Over 82 percent of them are under 14 years old”, Meta wrote.

“I am deeply concerned about this en-mass departure of children from Albania, especially for the fact that their final destination is unclear, I support the request of CRCA / ECPAT and encourage the establishment of a Parliamentary Investigation Commission, with the opening of the new Parliament, to investigate their conditions and locations, analyzing the reasons and those responsible, as well as recommending effective measures in order to build a concrete state strategy to stop this dangerous phenomenon.

We must do everything for Albanian children and youth, protect their lives and health, restore their trust and guarantee new opportunities and spaces for them to feel fully realized and build their safe European future in their homeland”.