Albanian migration and its effects in comparative perspective

Abstract

Albanian migration can be said to represent a unique profile not matched by any other country in the world. By assessing its scale, effects and wider implications, this paper takes stock of twenty years of mass migration which have profoundly changed the country and its citizens. Statistics are set in a regional and global comparative perspective, and the chronology and evolution of this phenomenon is outlined in detail. This is done by focusing on the way that the migration process has consolidated, changed and ‘matured’ over the past two decades. Particular attention is paid to remittances as the driving-force of migration's developmental impact on the country's economy. Policy implications are hereby outlined. The paper finally introduces the four articles of this special issue on the theme of Twenty Years of Albanian Migration, by summarizing their key findings and conclusions.

Notes

¹ World Bank, Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, World Bank, Washington DC, 2011, p. 54.

² See N. Mai and S. Schwandner-Sievers (eds), ‘Albanian migration and new transnationalisms’, special issue of Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 29(6), 2003, pp. 937–1096; R. King, N. Mai and S. Schwandner-Sievers (eds), The New Albanian Migration, Sussex Academic Press, Brighton, 2005.

³ R. King (ed.), ‘New perspectives on Albanian migration and development’, special issue of Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, 7(2), 2005, pp. 133–277.

⁴ This conference was organized with EU Framework Programme 6 (FP6) funding, enabling a twinning arrangement to be set up between SCMR Sussex and CESS Tirana as part of an overall Network of Excellence on Immigration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe (IMISCOE). The conference was co-organized by Ilir Gedeshi of CESS and Russell King of SCMR. Thanks are due to Naluwembe Binaisa and Jenny Money for further logistical support.

⁵ R. King, J. Vullnetari and I. Gedeshi (eds), ‘Migration and development in Albania and Kosovo’, special issue of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 9(4), 2009, pp. 385–588.

⁶ M. Piracha and R. King (eds), ‘Migration and development in transition economies of southeast Europe’, special issue of Eastern European Economics, 48(6), 2010, pp. 1–86.

⁷ This figure is only an estimate, since there are no annual data on emigration from Albania, only small pockets of statistics on specific migration events, such as the 25,000 ‘boat-migrants’ who landed in southern Italy in early 1991 and were given special leave to remain.

⁸ For a detailed regional analysis of migration in Albania see A. Zezza, G. Carletto and B. Davis, ‘Moving away from poverty: a spatial analysis of poverty and migration in Albania’, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, 7(2), 2005, pp. 175–93.

⁹ K. Barjaba and R. King, ‘Introducing and theorising Albanian migration’, in R. King et al. (eds), 2005, op. cit., pp. 1–28.

¹⁰ Pre-communist migrations, mainly from southern Albania to the United States and Australia during the early decades of the twentieth century are outlined in R. King and J. Vullnetari, Migration and development in Albania, Working Paper C5, Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, University of Sussex, Brighton, 2003.

¹¹ C. Azzarri and G. Carletto, ‘Modelling migration dynamics in Albania: a hazard function approach’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 9(4), 2009, pp. 407–33.

¹² Ample evidence for the continuation of seasonal migration is presented in J. Vullnetari and R. King, Remittances, Gender and Development: Albania's Society and Economy in Transition, I.B.Tauris, London, 2011.

¹³ See, for example, B. Nicholson, ‘Migrants as agents of development: Albanian return migrants and micro-entreprise’, in D. Pop (ed.), New Patterns of Labour Migration in Central and Eastern Europe, Public Policy Center, Cluj Napoca, 2004, pp. 94–110; L. Labrianidis and P. Hatziprokopiou, ‘The Albanian migration cycle: migrants tend to return to their country of origin after all’, in R. King et al. (eds), 2005, op. cit., pp. 93–117; L. Labrianidis and B. Kazazi, ‘Albanian return migrants from Greece and Italy: their impact on spatial disparities within Albania’, European Urban and Regional Studies, 13(1), 2006, pp. 59–74.

¹⁴ For two studies which examine the Albanian integration experience in detail, based on in-depth fieldwork in Greece and Italy respectively, see P. Hatziprokopiou, Globalisation, Migration and Socio-Economic Change in Contemporary Greece: Processes of Social Incorporation of Balkan Immigrants in Thessaloniki, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2006; R. King and N. Mai, Out of Albania: From Crisis Migration to Social Inclusion in Italy, Berghahn Books, Oxford, 2008.

¹⁵ D. L. Zinn, ‘Adriatic brethren or black sheep? Migration in Italy and the Albanian crisis, 1991’, European Urban and Regional Studies, 3(3), 1996, pp. 241–49.

¹⁶ R. King and N. Mai, ‘Italophilia meets Albanophobia: paradoxes of asymmetric assimilation and identity processes amongst Albanian immigrants in Italy’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32(1), 2009, pp. 117–38.

¹⁷ See D. L. Zinn, ‘The second generation of Albanians in Matera: the Italian experience and prospects for future ties to the homeland’, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, 7(2), 2005, pp. 259–77.

¹⁸ The 1999 figure is from K. Barjaba, ‘Contemporary patterns in Albanian emigration’, South-East Europe Review, 3(2), 2000, pp. 57–64; the 2004–2005 one is from the Government of Albania, National Strategy on Migration, Government of Albania and the International Organization for Migration, Tirana, 2005.

¹⁹ Azzarri and Carletto, op. cit., p. 409.

²⁰ Nevertheless the figures quoted in this paragraph should be treated with caution because of the quantity of irregular migration, especially during the first decade, and the continuing importance of to-and-fro movement, especially with Greece, which makes fixing the ‘stock’ total difficult.

²¹ See for instance R. King and J. Cornell (eds), Small Worlds, Global Lives: Islands and Migration, Pinter, London, 1999.

²² By focusing on the relative scale of emigration Table 1 leaves out all of the largest absolute emigrations as measured by the stock figures–countries like Mexico (11.9 million emigrants), India (11.4 million), China (8.3 million) and Bangladesh (5.4 million). Despite the scale of these numbers, these countries do not feature in Table 1 because their own huge populations make the percentage shares much lower (Mexico 10, Bangladesh 3, India and China < 1). World Bank, op. cit., pp. 68, 93, 138, 178.

²³ GDP figures are for 2007 and are taken from UN Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 2009, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke for UNDP, New York, 2009, pp. 195–98.

²⁴ For a fuller exposition of the Southern European model of migration see R. King, ‘Southern Europe in the changing global map of migration’, in R. King, G. Lazaridis and C. Tsardanidis (eds), Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2000, pp. 1–26; also R. King and M. Thomson, ‘The Southern European model of immigration: do the cases of Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia fit?’, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, 10(3), 2008, pp. 265–91.

²⁵ The World Bank Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011 gives different measures of remittances: gross remittances, which are ‘the sum of workers’ remittances, compensation of employees, and migrants' transfers'; and workers' remittances, which are ‘current private transfers from migrant workers who are considered residents of the host country to recipients in the workers’ countries of origin' (World Bank, op. cit., p. xvi). Table 1 uses the former definition, combined with GDP (gross domestic product), whereas Table 2 uses the latter definition combined with GNI (gross national income).

²⁶ Total global remittances are estimated by the World Bank at US$440 billion for the year 2010, of which US$325 billion accrued to developing countries. For both figures, this represents an increase of approximately 6 per cent over the 2009 figure, cancelling out the circa 6 per cent decrease registered between 2008 and 2009 at the onset of the global recession. The above figures are for recorded remittances and exclude remittances sent via informal means which, by their very nature, are unquantifiable but thought to be substantial. Source for the above figures: World Bank, op. cit., pp. x, 19.

²⁷ See, inter alia, H. de Haas, ‘International migration, remittances and development: myths and facts’, Third World Quarterly, 26(8), 2005, pp. 1269–84; J. Carling, ‘Integrating remittances: more questions for deeper insight and better policies’, in S. Castles and R. D. Wise (eds), Migration and Development: Perspectives from the South, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Geneva, 2008, pp. 43–64; R. Kunz, ‘Remittances are beautiful? Gender implications of the new global remittances trend’, Third World Quarterly, 29(7), 2008, pp. 1389–1409; N. G. Schiller and T. Faist, ‘Migration, development and social transformation’, Social Analysis, 53(3), 2009, pp. 1–13; H. de Haas, ‘Migration and development: a theoretical perspective’, International Migration Review, 44(1), 2010, pp. 227–64.

²⁸ This debate is summed up in the Albanian and Greek contexts by C. Nikas and R. King, ‘Economic growth through remittances: lessons from the Greek experience of the 1960s applicable to the Albanian case’, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, 7(2), 2005, pp. 235–57, especially pp. 241–45.

²⁹ Once again we note the discrepancies in the data between Table 2 (from the World Bank series) and Table 3 (from the Bank of Albania).

³⁰ On this point see E. Uruçi and I. Gedeshi, Remittances Management in Albania, CeSPI Working Paper 5/2003, Rome, 2003; N. de Zwager, I. Gedeshi, E. Germenji and C. Nikas, Competing for Remittances, IOM, Tirana, 2005.

³¹ H. de Soto, P. Gordon, I. Gedeshi and Z. Sinoimeri, Poverty in Albania: A Qualitative Assessment, World Bank Technical Paper 520, Washington DC, 2002, p. 26.

³² In addition to de Soto et al., op. cit., see I. Gedeshi ‘Role of remittances from Albanian emigrants and their influence on the country's economy’, Eastern European Economics, 40(5), 2002, pp. 49–72; D. Kule, A. Mançellari, H. Papapanagos, S. Qirici and P. Sanfey, ‘The causes and consequences of Albanian emigration during transition: evidence and mico-data’, International Migration Review, 36(1), 2002, pp. 229–39.

³³ Internal migration has proceeded alongside, and often intertwined with, external migration, and its scale has been comparable to emigration. The complex interrelationships between internal migration, emigration and return migration, and remittances and house-building, have been analysed by J. Vullnetari, The Dynamics between Internal and International Migration: A Development-Oriented Ethnographic Study in Albania, unpublished DPhil thesis, University of Sussex, Brighton, 2008. Apart from a few marginal references, internal migration is not dealt with in the present paper or in those that follow. It is undoubtedly an area where further research is required. For some existing perspectives see Zezza et al., op. cit; M. Agorastakis and G. Sidiropoulos, ‘Population change due to geographic mobility in Albania 1989–2001, and the repercussions of internal migration for the enlargement of Tirana’, Population, Space and Place, 13(6), 2007, pp. 471–81; J. Hagen-Zanker and C. Azzarri, ‘Are internal migrants in Albania leaving for the better?’, Eastern European Economics, 48(6), 2010, pp. 59–85.

³⁴ Interestingly, the important study on remittances by de Zwager et al., op. cit., which was completed before the current downturn in remittances, confidently forecast that remittances to Albania would soon decline precisely because of the ‘remittance cycle effect’. Survey research in Athens by Thanos Maroukis in late 2003 also recorded evidence of declining remittances to Albania amongst the 560 migrant households questioned, as well as worry about the job situation after the 2004 Olympic Games, which has been a major source of migrant employment, especially in the construction sector. See T. Maroukis, ‘Albanian migrants in Greece: transcending “borders” in development’, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, 7(2), 2005, pp. 213–33.

³⁵ There is an irony here since these new dwellings, an increasingly prominent sight in the Albanian landscape, will not be permanently lived in, at least for a while. They are built as symbols of attachment to the homeland (in the words of Dimitris Dalakoglou, as a kind of ‘proxy-presence’), as highly visible reminders to local people of the migrants' material success, and as holiday homes to return to for a few weeks a year. Only if the family returns to resettle will they be occupied permanently, which for most migrants is an unlikely prospect, at least until retirement. See D. Dalakoglou, ‘Building and ordering transnationalism: the “Greek house” in Albania as a material process’, in D. Miller (ed), Anthropology and the Individual: A Material Culture Perspective, Berg, Oxford, 2009, pp. 51–68; D. Dalakoglou, ‘Migrating-remitting-“building”-dwelling: house-making as a “proxy” presence in postsocialist Albania’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 16(3), 2010, pp. 761–77.

³⁶ For the full details see Vullnetari and King, op. cit.

³⁷ B. Nicholson, ‘From migrant to micro-entrepreneur: do-it-yourself development in Albania’, South-East Europe Review, 4(3), 2001, pp. 39–42; Nicholson, op. cit.; B. Nicholson, ‘The tractor, the shop and the filling-station: work migration as self-help development in Albania’, Europe-Asia Studies, 56(6), 2004, pp. 877–90.

³⁸ Maroukis, op. cit.

³⁹ For evidence of this in the fertile Korçë basin, see Vullnetari and King, op. cit.

⁴⁰ de Zwager et al., op. cit., p. 31.

⁴¹ de Zwager et al., op. cit., p. 31

⁴² de Zwager et al., op. cit.; Nikas and King, op. cit.; Vullnetari and King, op. cit.; also F. Piperno, ‘Albanian migrants’ remittances: a development opportunity?', in King et al. (eds), 2005, op. cit., pp. 118–38.

⁴³ See M. Geiger, ‘Migration management in Albania: mapping and evaluating outside intervention’, Migration Letters, 4(2), 2007, pp. 119–33; J. Chaloff, Albania and Italy Migration Policies and their Development Relevance: A Survey of Innovative and ‘Development Friendly’ Practices in Albania and Italy, CeSPI Working Paper 51, Rome, 2008.

⁴⁴ See World Bank, op. cit., p. 5, for a listing of the world's main migration corridors.

⁴⁵ de Zwager et al., op. cit.