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Interior Ministry expels Albanian Helsinki Committee from Asylum Commission: No response to proposal

Politiko 2022-04-15 11:19:41
Interior Ministry expels Albanian Helsinki Committee from Asylum Commission: No

 

The Albanian Helsinki Committee has informed the public through a letter that it has been expelled from the National Commission for Asylum and Refugees, without their knowledge, reports BIRN.

The AHC letter states that the removal of the representation from the Ministry of Interior was done 6 months ago, but no information or notification about the decision was addressed to them.

"With concern, referring to point 2 of this decision, we note that AHC is no longer a member of the Commission, which now consists only of representatives of four Ministries as part of the Council of Ministers, and a representative of the State Intelligence Service. "We express through this open letter, our regret regarding this change, which is a regression towards the previous standards of transparency, accountability and accountability, for the representation of the civil society sector in the composition of this Commission," reads the letter. paper.

The Asylum Commission is an institution that decides which of the foreign refugees who have applied for protection in Albania deserves or not to be granted asylum. The institution examines the cases of foreign nationals who seek protection in Albania because they may be victims of persecution in their own country due to their political beliefs, religion, ethnicity and others.

The decision to expel comes at a time when the Interior Ministry and the State Police are facing growing charges of human rights abuses. The asylum commission itself is the institution accused of allowing the illegal extradition of Turkish citizen Harun Celik in January 2020.

State police were criticized in the latest State Department report on human rights for holding people detained after protests last December beyond legal deadlines.

Following the news, the Interior Ministry responded to BIRN's request for comment on the letter from the Albanian Helsinki Committee. The ministry in its response, says the exclusion was made after the committee did not respond to a request for comment regarding the membership proposal.

In the conditions when with the adoption of the new law "On asylum", the number of members of the National Commission for Asylum and Refugees from 7 members, which was with the repealed law, was reduced to 5. In the first draft (attached to the photo) , AHC was proposed to have a member, removing the MAS member. But AHC did not return comments to the Ministry of Interior, while the Ministry of Education and Sports in a letter dated 11.10.2021 requested to be represented by a member in the Commission, then the Council of Ministers proposed a draft decision that was approved on 10.11.2021. "Although with the new legislation in force, AHC is not represented by a member in the Commission, there will always be an invitation to express positions if there is in any case, despite the fact that he does not have the right to vote," said the ministry.

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