Albania, the dilemma of the Chinese political emigrants
Uncategorized Tuesday, May 9th, 2006the Albanian government had to face the pressure from the Chinese government
regarding the issue of the five Chinese citizens of Uighur ethnicity, seeking
political asylum in Albania.
Their request came after being detained for five years and then freed from the
U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison as under suspected terrorism charges.
asked the Foreign Minister of Albania, Besnik Mustafaj, the extradition of the
five Chinese citizens, whom they claim were part of a violent separatist
movement in China.
Mr. Mustafaj responded by saying that the ‘Albanian government is
investigating their previous activity”.
Meanwhile, different opposition MPs have asked for their extradition,
while the Albanian government has not yet reached a final decission on the
issue.
“We want to go to Germany”
The five Chinese citizens are presently housed at an emigrants’ center
near Tirana. Interviewed by a local TV
station, they declared that their desire was to go to Germany, where
they hoped to be integrated into a Uighurs community there. Their lawyer
declared for the local TV stations news24 in Tirana, that he had received the assurance
of the Albanian government that the five Chinese emigrants would not be
extradited to China.
Albania is a
country whose third of the population has migrated to other European countries
or to the U.S.A.
In recent years a small number of mainly Chinese and Kurdish emigrants,
have moved to Albania
turning the country for the first time not only into an exporter of emigrants,
but also into a receiving one.
Till today, Albania
has not been affected by xenophobia towards emigrants; however the country is
sensitive about issues that may somehow contain the Islamic component. Despite
the fact that majority of international media considers Albania a
country with a Muslim majority, there are a large number of Albanians as well
as Albanian politicians who would much rather prefer to be referred otherwise.
Short URL: http://www.albanianeconomy.com/news/?p=151
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on May 9 2006. Filed under Uncategorized.
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