Asylum: Albania

(asked on 24th July 2014) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in respect of how many Albanian asylum seekers claiming to be children, information was sought from the Albanian authorities leading to the identification of 23 individuals who were suspected of providing incorrect information about their age and the establishment of Operation Coldspell in December 2013.


This question was answered on 4th August 2014

The Government has a legal duty to endeavour to trace the families of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and to take into account their best interests. In response to safeguarding concerns arising from reports that Albanian adults were falsely claiming to be children, and in order to facilitate the family tracing process, the Home Office piloted a process in late 2013 whereby information relevant to family tracing and confirming identity was obtained from the Albanian authorities in respect of 215 individuals. In all of these cases, the asylum claims had been refused and the Albanian authorities had not been the alleged actor of persecution. The piloted process became business as usual with effect from 29 January 2014. Checks are only conducted under this process if such a step will not jeopardise the safety of the child and their family. The Albanian authorities are provided with the names, dates of birth, identity numbers, places of birth, addresses and contact numbers for the child and their parents. Published Home Office guidance stipulates that the child should be informed shortly after point of claim for asylum that the Home Office will take appropriate steps to endeavour to trace their families.

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