PERCEPTIONS Country Report – Kosovo

In Kosovo, the Department of Citizenship, Asylum and Migration, which operates within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration of the Republic of Kosovo, is the key for implementing the State Strategy on Migration and Action Plan (2013-2018)6, laws and policies dealing with migration. Kosovo citizens continue to seek asylum abroad, mainly in EU-member states. Data show that the number of asylum seekers from Kosovo nearly doubled between 2012 and 2013, increasing from 10,205 to 20,215 (Avdiu, 2015).

The number of Kosovar asylum seekers furthermore continued to increase in the following years. Kosovo is not only a country of origin of people migrating and seeking asylum in EU and beyond, but has also come to be considered a gateway to the European Union for migrants who arrive from other parts of the world. Indeed, regarding arrivals of migrants, Kosovo received a great number of migrants from 2016 until now however the country was not their final destination. In January 2020 there are 300 others registered as asylum seekers in Kosovo. Asylum seekers mostly come from Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine and other countries.