A migrant's story: From Albania to Athens

Abstract

This article uses a brief autobiographical account of one migrant's journey from Albania to Athens as a heuristic device to open up a series of debates about key features of Albanian emigration to Greece. Since 1990 Albania has witnessed the exodus of around a tenth of its population, mostly to Greece. By picking out key phrases from the story of Christos, the migrant, the following themes are discussed: Albania's selective memory of earlier migrations; the circumstances surrounding the mass departures of the early 1990s; migration and the question of ethnic Greeks in southern Albania; the logistics of crossing the Greek‐Albanian border clandestinely; the ‘image’ of Albanian immigrants held by Greeks; Greek policies of border control and deportation; the alleged tendency of Albanians towards criminality in Greece; Albanians’ reaction to Greek life; employment and related issues of pay, working conditions and discrimination; Albanians’ illegal status in Greece; and finally Greek policy, or rather non‐policy, towards immigration.