The majority of them are high school students aged 15, 16, or 17. They must be in the “promised land” before they are no longer minors. More than 10,000 Albanian children have sought shelter, food, and care in Italy in the last seven years, citing the motivation “we have no family and relatives we can rely on.”
This trend continued in the first half of this year, according to data from Italy’s General Directorate for Immigration and Integration Policies, during which 372 requests for adoption by Albanian minors were registered.
While data on the number of Albanian children leaving the country for Italy can be found, little is known about their progress once they reach the age of maturity. Albania is the big loser in all circumstances.
Albanian children, after those from Ukraine and Egypt, have the highest number of requests for care in Italy, according to data from the Office for Unaccompanied Foreign Minors.