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NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD
MIGRATION SURVEY
IN ALBANIA
NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD
MIGRATION SURVEY
IN ALBANIA
CESS
Institute of Statistics
Republic of Albania
v
PART II
Albanian returned asylum seekers:
Reintegration or re-emigration?
Ilir Gëdeshi and Russell King
51
PART II – Albanian Returned Asylum Seekers: Reintegration or Re-emigration?
CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Contents
Figures 53
Table 53
Acknowledgments 54
Abbreviations 55
Executive summary 56
1. Introduction 58
2. The albanian migration background 60
3. Objective and methodology 63
4. Prole of returnees participating in focus groups 64
5. Findings from focus groups and interviews 66
5.1 Migration from Albania 66
5.2 Why asylum? 66
5.3 Reasons for migration 67
5.4 Who migrates? 70
5.5 Household decisions 73
5.6 Host countries 74
5.7 Routes 75
6. Experience in the host country 78
6.1 Accommodation 78
6.2 Income 78
6.3 Savings 79
6.4 Remittances 80
6.5 Employment 82
6.6 Health care 84
6.7 Education 84
6.8 New social capital 85
7. Return and reintegration in the country of origin 87
7.1 Reasons for returning 87
7.2 Return to home country 89
52 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
7.3 Reintegration 90
7.4 Employment 90
7.5 Housing 93
7.6 Social protection 95
7.7 Health care and psychosocial assistance 96
7.8 Education 99
8. Intentions for the Future 101
8.1 Forms of emigration 103
8.2 Where to? 104
9. Conclusions and recommendations 106
Bibliography 109
53
PART II – Albanian Returned Asylum Seekers: Reintegration or Re-emigration?
CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Figures
Figure 1: Top emigration countries (share of the resident population). 60
Figure 2: Curve of rst-time asylum seekers and general trend, 2010–2019. 61
Figure 3: Distribution of Albanian asylum seekers by destination countries, 2008–2018. 75
Table
Table 1: Number of Asylum Applicants and Share of Roma (Germany), 2015–2016. 59
54 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Acknowledgments
Our sincere thanks go to the many individuals who helped us carry out this study. First and foremost, special thanks to
the hundreds of returned asylum seekers who aorded their time and commitment during the survey and interview
processes. We hope that this study will contribute to solutions that will help both to improve their lives and enhance
the economic and social development of Albania.
This research report is made possible with the nancial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
GmbH and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). We would also like to show our gratitude to Alma Jani,
Genci Pjetri and Ermal Nazi (IOM), and to Florenc Qosja and Luan Dervishaj (GIZ), for their extensive support and
insightful comments during various phases of the study.
In addition, we are grateful to the team who worked together with the Centre for Economic and Social Studies for
their assistance in this study: Ardiana Paca, Artan Gjollesha, Denisa Bogdani, Andia Haxhi, Eriona Bezatlliu, Elisabeta
Shatri, Vasilika Kura, Olsi Sheri and many others. They collected the quantitative and qualitative data without which
this study would not have been possible. A special contribution was made by Stela Suloti, who worked tirelessly with
the eldwork team. The survey databases and transcripts of interviews were made possible through the assistance of
Ramadan Sopoti, Nadire Xhaxho and Rejhana Mucaj. We would also like to thank Mr. Gentjan Suli for providing the
translation of the study into English and for useful suggestions. Our thanks also go to Jenny Money for editorial and
formatting input and checking the references used in this study.
The authors
Ilir Gëdeshi is Director of the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Tirana, Albania.
Rusell King is Professor of Geography at the University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
55
PART II – Albanian Returned Asylum Seekers: Reintegration or Re-emigration?
CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Abbreviations
CESS Centre for Economic and Social Studies
EASO European Asylum Support Oce
EU European Union
EVS European Values Study
GDP Gross domestic product
GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
INSTAT Albanian Institute of Statistics
IOM International Organization for Migration
NGO Non-governmental organization
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
56 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Executive summary
Since the early 1990s, international migration and its economic, political and social impact remains a fundamental
issue in Albania. Albania is among the top countries in the world for the scale and intensity of international migration.
Meanwhile, asylum seeking is a relatively new phenomenon for the country and has been reported in European
statistics from the start of the visa-free travel in the Schengen area. Between 2010 and September 2019, around
193,000 Albanian citizens were recorded as rst-time asylum seekers in EU countries. The phenomenon peaked in
2015, when around 67,000 Albanian citizens applied for asylum, but later went down as a result of expedited asylum
procedures, stricter migration regulations and lower acceptance rates.
The report that has primarily made use of qualitative techniques (focus group discussions and key informant interviews)
covering all the regions of Albania attempts to oer a better understanding of return and reintegration dynamics that
migrants face upon return and during reintegration in terms of health, education, housing, employment and other
services. It analyses the prole of Albanian asylum seekers, drivers, history and experience of migration, return and
reintegration, and provides some policy recommendations.
The study shows that this segment of the migration population is among the poorest in Albania, ranked at the bottom
of the household income ladder, but in contrast to some other Western Balkan countries, it is not prominently a
characteristic of the Roma minority.1 The socio-demographic structure of this group shows clearly that its members
are mainly youth, unemployed, with a lower education and professional level than the general population, in search for
better prospects for themselves and particularly for their children.
This study indicates that the economic conditions – including poverty, unemployment and underemployment,
low income from formal and informal sectors, dicult living conditions, limited social protection and debts – are
the main push factors for Albanian asylum seekers. In addition to these underlying factors, another driver is the
future of their children. Besides, there are other factors such as shortage and poor quality of healthcare services,
housing, conicts and physical security that generate constant psychological stress, including the low quality of
education (to mention just a few). For certain subgroups (e.g. Roma and Egyptians), discrimination is an additional
factor.
The return of Albanian asylum seekers - in terms of size and intensity over certain years (2015-2017), Albania was
topping the list of countries for the number of returnees from EU States,2 - has led to their reintegration in terms
of employment, health, housing, education and social services. The report indicates that, for many households and
individuals, such reintegration has not been sustainable, especially in the social and economic aspect, and their situation
did not change (on the contrary, in some cases it has deteriorated) compared the pre-migration period. As a result,
faced with the lack of sustainable reintegration assistance, many returnees see re-emigration or second emigration to
EU countries, primarily Germany, as the only available alternative.
The study shows that most returnees look for regular migration through a work contract and visa. Only a small share
arm they will reapply for asylum. In this case, local authorities and various NGOs providing services, in addition to
increasing their support for reintegration, should work to raise awareness that reapplying for asylum is not the solution
to their problems and that all it does is deteriorate their economic conditions.
Improvement of services in education, healthcare, social protection, housing, security, etc. would require time, more
investments and at least a doubling of their share in the country’s GDP. This objective, which would diminish some push
1 World Bank Group (2019) Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development/The World Bank.
2 World Bank Group (2019) Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development/The World Bank; Morrica, V. and Stavrou, S. (2018) PowerPoint presentation at the Inception Workshop ‘Supporting the Eective Reintegration
of (Roma) Returnees in the Western Balkans.’ Vienna, 15 January.
57
PART II – Albanian Returned Asylum Seekers: Reintegration or Re-emigration?
CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
factors for the Albanian migration, may be achieved only in the long term. Subsequently, the study presents only a few
short and medium-term recommendations as follows.
First, registration of returning asylum seekers and data collection. In order to do that, a management information
system can be established, which collects electronic data, connects returnees to the relevant institutions that provide
services and follows up on their reintegration progress. This system that should transmit electronic data simultaneously
at the central and local level will enable the monitoring and measuring of the eectiveness of reintegration policies and
programmes.
Strengthening local capacities to provide services, especially in the municipalities with a high number of returnees, is
another aspect. This can be achieved through continued sta training for local service providers, development of local
reintegration plans and allocation of funds in the respective budgets, and improved top-bottom coordination (with the
central government) and horizontal coordination (with international organizations and NGOs working with returnees).
In some cases (especially in municipalities with a high number of returnees), cross-cutting teams may be set up with
people from employment oces, economic aid, social care, education oces, police, local and international NGOs,
social workers and psychologists to help with the reintegration of returnees.
From the economic perspective, reintegration in Albania would require improvement and expansion of the employment
structure and small business opportunities, in order to provide employment for the returnees in the formal sector
and higher income. Creating cooperatives or social enterprises for returnees (for other citizens, as well) would be an
eective way to create new jobs mainly in manufacturing and processing. Another opportunity for employment and
higher income would be the assistance to start up and expand small and medium-sized enterprises (through training
on management, securing nancial resources, professional training, etc.).
Returning children should receive assistance for reintegration into the school system. This includes, rst and foremost,
their immediate enrolment, to prevent from being disqualied for that school year. Simplied procedures should be
applied to minimise expenses for returning families on translation and notarization of school documents for children. In
those cases when returning children do not possess any school documents, they should be assisted with supplementary
classes by experienced teachers prior to their assessment/placement test, in order for these children to avoid losing a
school year. Children who do not have an adequate mastery of the Albanian language should be assisted by experienced
teachers after normal classes, either at school or on other premises. School psychologist and head teachers should
pay additional attention to child returnees in relation to potential concerns they may have. Regular contact with their
parents, either at school or at home, should be a common practice. Many returned children who have attended
language courses or school for one or two years in host countries (Germany, France) speak uent German or French.
It is important for them to retain and further develop the acquired language skills through additional courses at school
or elsewhere. Local and international NGOs may have a role to play in this regard.
In the area of healthcare, returnees who received treatment in the host country or have health issues should be able
to continue their medication in specialised public or private hospitals. Financial aid in this case should be provided by
public health institutions or NGOs that provide services to returnees. In some municipalities, where there is a shortage
of healthcare sta, specialised teams of doctors from Tirana may be deployed for specic cases. Special assistance
should be provided for the mental health of returnees (especially women, children, people with disabilities, discriminated
groups), who may have experienced constant psychological stress, anxiety and trauma during their stay in the host
country and upon return.
In terms of housing, returnees could be helped nancially for a certain period of time by the municipality or NGOs
working on reintegration issues to cover the rent or repair their houses. In other cases, returnees who are homeless or
live in dicult conditions should be assisted to prepare the relevant documents to qualify for social housing.
58 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
1. Introduction
This study is based on the analysis of interviews and focus group discussions conducted with Albanian asylum seekers
returned from EU countries who live in the 12 regions across Albania, and on key informant interviews in the regions
of Shkodra, Kukës and Elbasan, these being the regions that, according to IOM, have the highest number of asylum-
seeking returnees.
In the ever-growing Albanian migration literature, asylum is a relatively new phenomenon that has not been extensively
studied. Reported in European statistics since when Albanians started to travel visa-free in the Schengen area,3 the
phenomenon became more evident in 2012, reaching its peak in 2015, with nearly 67,000 Albanian nationals applying
for asylum, mainly in Germany. The trend went down later, as a result of expedited application procedures, stricter
migration rules and lower acceptance rates.4 Despite uctuations between 2010 and September 2019, a total of
193,000 Albanian citizens5 applied for asylum for the rst time in EU countries. In 2015, Albania was among the top
countries (fourth after Syrian Arab Republic, Afghanistan and Iraq) as regards the number of asylum seekers.6 However,
EU statistics show that, in 2018, only 2.1 per cent of asylum applications from Albanian nationals were accepted by
the host countries. The rest have either returned or presumably will return to Albania in the near future.7 For three
years, 2015–2017, Albania was at the top of the list of countries for the number of returnees from EU States.8 Some
Albanian asylum seekers, reapplied two or three times for asylum in various EU countries upon return to their home
country (mainly Roma and the group of so-called Egyptians), becoming, therefore, a group that is neither reintegrated
in the home country, nor accepted in the host country.
Some of the Albanian asylum seekers are from the Roma and Egyptian communities. It is dicult to have accurate
gures for them and their share in the total number of Albanian asylum seekers as data on the ethnicity of returnees
is not collected at the border crossing points and upon arrival.9 Germany, the only EU country providing data on the
ethnicity of asylum seekers, reported in 2011 that around 11 per cent of Albanian asylum seekers were Roma and
Egyptians, and 84 per cent were from the Albanian majority population.10 In a previous publication, the European
Asylum Support Oce (EASO) estimated that Roma represented 6–10 per cent of asylum seeker ows into Germany,
which shows that the dimensions and intensity of migration of Roma and Egyptians from Albania had increased and
were over represented in the population of migrants from Albania.11 The per centage of Roma and Egyptian asylum
seeker ows from Albania is clearly higher than their share of the total population of the country (less than 2 %).12 This
3 Since the end of December 2008, Albanian citizens must hold a biometric passport to be able to travel visa-free in the Schengen area. Moreover, under the visa-free
regime, a citizen may stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days within a 180-day period, imposing limitations and pressure on migrants who would prefer to stay
longer in the host country. For more information see ‘Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Albania on the facilitation of the issuance
of visas’ at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:22007A1219(05)&qid=1395933714988.
4 Schuring, E., Pearson, C., Castro, A., Mathebula, B ., Kronenberg, V., Becker, M. and Horneber, J. (2017) Social Protection as an Alternative to Migration? An Assessment of
the Role of Social Protection in Reducing Push Factors for Migration in Dierent Country Contexts. Berlin: Gesellschaft für Versicherungswissenschaft und -Gestaltung e.v.
5 E ASO (2019) Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union 2018. Valletta: European Asylum Support Oce.
6 OECD (2019) International Migration Outlook 2019. Paris: OECD Publishing.
7 World Data info (www.worlddata.info/europe/albania/asylum.php).
8 World Bank Group (2019) Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development/The World Bank; Morrica, V. and Stavrou, S. (201) PowerPoint presentation at the Inception Work shop ‘Supporting the Eective Reintegration of (Roma)
Returnees in the Western Balkans’. Vienna, 15 January.
9 World Bank Group (2019) Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development/The World Bank.
10 EASO (2015a) Asylum Applicants from the Western Balkans. Comparative Analysis of Trends, Push -Pull Factors and Responses – Update. Brussels, European Asylum
Support Oce.
11 EASO (2013) Asylum Applicants from the Western Balkans. Comparative Analysis of Trends, Push-Pull Factors and Responses. Brussels, European Asylum Support Oce.
12 There are no accurate data on the number of Roma and Egyptians in Albania. In October 2011, the census in Albania included for the rst time a question on
ethnicity. Data from the 2011 census show that the Roma population in Albania was 8,301 people or 0.3 per cent of the majority population, and the Egyptian
population was 3,368 people or 0.12 per cent of the majority population (INSTAT (2012a) Albania. Preliminary Results of the Census of Population and Housing 2011,
Tirana. INSTAT (2015a) Roma and Egyptians in Albania: A Socio -Demographic and Economic Prole based on the 2011 Census, Tirana.
Roma and Egyptian associations and some experts argued that such data are unreliable. A UNICEF project (2011) implemented almost simultaneously with
the census showed that about 14,564 Roma (0.5 per cent of the majority population) lived in Albania, in 3,139 households across 108 settlements (for more
information, see: Gëdeshi, I. and Jorgoni, E (2012) Mapping Roma Children in Albania. New York: UNICEF ). In 2014, a study of the Open Society Foundation Albania
59
PART II – Albanian Returned Asylum Seekers: Reintegration or Re-emigration?
CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
shows stronger push factors regarding their migration, which will be elaborated on in the following sections. However, in
spite of the high share of the Roma and Egyptian population in the total number of asylum seekers from Albania, these
ows do not have a marked Roma/Egyptian nature like in other Western Balkan countries (Serbia, North Macedonia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina), where they represent over 50 per cent of the asylum seekers.13 Table 1 presents the share
of Roma among the asylum seekers from the Western Balkans in Germany in 2015 and 2016 that were peak years.
Numerous questions surround the Albanian asylum-seeking phenomenon, which we will try to answer in the following
sections of the study. Some of these questions are: Why do Albanians seek asylum instead of regular migration in EU
countries? What is the prole of Albanian asylum seekers and how do they dier from regular migrants? What are
the causes and history of migration and return? Does reintegration work and (in its absence) what is the alternative
the returnees choose? Answers to these questions should underpin ecient policies in order for the reintegration of
returnees to be sustainable.
Table 1. Number of Asylum Seekers and Share of Roma (Germany), 2015–2016
Countries Year All Asylum Seekers Roma Asylum Seekers
Number Per centage
Albania 2015 54,762 3,118 5.7
2016 17,236 1,116 6.5
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2015 7,473 3,979 53.2
2016 3,190 1,827 57.3
Kosovo14 2015 37,095 4,758 12.8
2016 6,490 1,744 26.9
North Macedonia 2015 14,131 8,284 58.6
2016 7,015 4,334 61.8
Montenegro 2015 3,635 735 20.2
2016 1,630 431 26.4
Serbia 2015 26,945 23,338 86.6
2016 10,273 8,484 82.6
Source: World Bank Group (2019). Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. Washington
DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank.
The study is organised in sections and subsections. There are three preliminary sections. After this introduction (Section
1) and a general overview of the Albanian migration background that underlies asylum ows (Section 2), we explain the
research methodology and the qualitative techniques we have used (Section 3). Section 4 provides a social-economic
and demographic proling of Albanian asylum seekers. In Section 5, we focus especially on the push factors, causes,
history and ways of arriving in the host country. Section 6 addresses the experience in the host country. In Section
7, the main focus is on the return and reintegration of returnees in Albania, tackling employment/unemployment,
vocational training, education, health care, accommodation, social protection, ocial documents, etc. Section 8 deals
with the key dilemma of returnees, on the fence between reintegration and re-emigration. Section 9 presents the main
ndings and conclusions, and some recommendations for policymakers.
assessed that approximately 18,276 Roma lived in Albania (for more information see, Open Society Foundation for Albania (2014) Census of Roma Housing and
Population in Albania. Tirana: Open Society Foundation for Albania). In spite of the diering data, the Roma and Egyptian population in Albania is no larger than 2
per cent of the majority population.
13 The ethnic composition of asylum seekers from Serbia and, to a lesser extent, from North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina show that they are mainly
from the Roma community (for more information see: World Bank Group (2019) Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western
Balkans. Washington DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank; EASO (2013) Asylum Applicants from the Western Balkans.
Comparative Analysis of Trends, Push-Pull Factors and Responses. Brussels: European Asylum Support Oce, pp. 21–25).
14 References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
60 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
2. The Albanian migration background
Nearly three decades after the beginning of the post-socialist transition, international migration, and its economic,
political and social consequences, remain a fundamental issue in Albania. Presently, more than 1.5 million Albanian
citizens, equivalent to more than half the current population of the country, have emigrated, mostly to Italy and Greece
and, to a lesser extent, to the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.15 These gures rank Albania among the
top countries in the world for the scale (as a per centage of the current population) and intensity of international
migration. In its periodic publication Migration and Remittances Factbook, the World Bank places Albania among the top
20 countries in the world (9th place in 201116 and 17th place in 201617).18
Figure 1: Top emigration countries (per centage of the resident population)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Monaco
Dominica
West Bank and Gaza
Antigua and Barbuda
Guyana
Samoa
Sint Maarten
(
the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Saint V
incent and the Grenadines
Grenada
Tonga
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Curaçao
Suriname
Puerto Rico
Montenegro
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Albania
Jamaica
Tuvalu
Barbados
Source: World Bank (2016a) Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016. Washington DC: The World Bank.
Each of the three decades of the Albanian migration has had a specic intensity and distinct characteristics. In the rst
decade, the Albanian migration was highly intensive, spontaneous, and irregular. It consisted mainly of young males in
search of a job and trying to escape the consequences of drastic transition reforms and the political and social chaos
during these years in Albania. At the turn of this decade, regularization schemes, rst in Italy and later in Greece, allowed
many migrants to formalize their situation and bring their family members to the host country. At the end of the 1990s,
around 800,000 Albanians were estimated to be living and working abroad, mainly in neighbouring Greece and Italy.19
The second decade of the Albanian migration was characterized by a maturation of the migration cycle. The process of
the legalization of Albanian immigrants in the main host countries, which started at the end of the 1990s, was followed
by family unication, integration and improvement of the immigrants’ economic and social status. The ows continued,
but, as a result of greater economic stability in Albania and due to the large scale of the already departed in the 1990s,
15 Republic of Albania, Council of Ministers (2018) National Strategy on Diaspora and Migration 2018–2024 and Action Plan, Tirana, Council of Ministers.
16 World Bank (2011) Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, Washington DC, The World Bank.
17 World Bank (2016a) Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016, Washington DC, The World Bank.
18 A closer look at these rank ings shows that most of the countries ranking above Albania in the 2016 World Bank publication (Monaco, Dominica, Antigua-Barbuda,
Guyana, Samoa, Sint Maarten, St Vincent and Grenadines, Grenada, Tonga, St Kitts-Nevis, Curacao, Suriname), except for two places (West Bank and Gaza, 4
million and Puerto Rico, 3.2 million), had a smaller population size (less than 1 million) and a long-standing history of migration. While two countries of the Western
Balkans – Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro – rank above Albania because, for those countries, part of the international migration may be also considered as
internal migration within the former Yugoslavia.
19 Barjaba, K. (2000) Contemporary patterns in Albanian migration. South- East Europe Review, 3(2): 57–64.
61
PART II – Albanian Returned Asylum Seekers: Reintegration or Re-emigration?
CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
at a lower intensity, without extreme episodes, and were mainly legal. While Greece and Italy remained the two main
host countries for Albanian migrants, the destination geography also diversied, to include other European countries
and North America.20
The third emigration decade was characterized by a renewed intensity and diversication of the international migration
ows, which took on new features and new destinations. These ows peaked in 2015 when around 67,000 Albanians
were recorded as seeking asylum in EU countries (primarily in Germany), to decrease later with fewer applications
accepted (Figure 2).21 The return of Albanian migrants, whose return curve peaked twice in 2010–2013 (the Greek
crisis) and in 2016–2017 (rejected applications from Germany), was another characteristic of this decade. In the
meantime, some degree of refugee ows has also been noted (Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans, etc.), trying to use Albania
as a transit route toward EU countries.22 Hence, the third decade of the Albanian migration is characterized by a
combination of these three ows (emigration, return, immigration).
Figure 2: Curve of rst-time asylum seekers and general trend (2010–2019)
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Asylum Applicants
First time Asylum Applicant
s
Source: EASO (2019).
Note: The gure shows that the number of Albanian asylums seekers, especially after 2016, is slightly higher than that of rst-time
asylum seekers, suggesting that some of them have applied two or three times.
Such renewed migration ows are an expression of the high migration potential of the Albanian population that has
increased in recent years. In 2018, a study on potential migration revealed that 52 per cent of Albanians aged 18–40
years wished to emigrate from Albania. Compared to an earlier similar survey conducted by the European Training
Foundation (ETF) in 2007,23 the 2018 study showed that the desire to migrate among the Albanian population has
increased by 8 per centage points in 11 years and that its characteristics have changed completely. In 2007, the majority
of those who wished to migrate were unemployed, unskilled and had little education and low income.24 By contrast,
those who wish to migrate now have a job, are skilled, educated and have, by Albanian standards, middle and higher
income.
In addition to these characteristics, the geography of desired destinations has also changed. While in 2007 Albanians
were mostly inclined to emigrate to neighbouring Italy and Greece, now they wish to emigrate to Germany and the
US. Economy continued to dominate push factors in 2018 (56 %), although to a lesser degree than in 2007 (65 %). In
addition, new factors have emerged such as a ‘desire to educate children’ (12 %) and there being ‘no future‘ in Albania
(11 %).25 These data is also conrmed by the Gallup World Poll which estimated potential migration from Albania
at 56 per cent for the 2013–2016 period. Moreover, looking at the two periods (2013–2016 versus 2010–2012)
20 King, R. (2003) Across the sea and over the mountains: documenting Albanian migration. Scottish Geographical Journal, 119(3): 283–309.
21 Eurostat News release (2016) Asylum in the EU member states: record number of over 1.2 million rst-time asylum seekers registered in 2015, Eurostat News
release, 4 March.
22 Republic of Albania, Council of Ministers (2018) National Strategy on Diaspora and Migration 2018–2024 and Action Plan. Tirana: Council of Ministers.
23 European Training Foundation (2017) The Contribution of Human Resources Development to Migration Policy in Albania. Turin: ETF.
24 Sabadie, J. A., Avato, J., Bardak, U., Panzica, F. and Popova, N. (2010) Migration and Skills. The Experience of Migrant Workers from Albania, Egypt, Moldova, and Tunisia.
Washington DC: The World Bank; European Training Foundation (2007) The Contribution of Human Resources Development to Migration Policy in Albania. Turin: ETF.
25 Gëdeshi, I. and King R. (2018) New Trends in Potential Migration from Albania. Tirana: F. Ebert Foundation; King, R. and Gëdeshi, I. (2019) New trends in
potential migration from Albania: the migration transition postponed? Migration and Development. Retrieved January 2020 from www.tandfonline.com/doi/
abs/10.1080/21632324.2019.1608099?journalCode=rmad20.
62 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
and compared to the other top 20 countries globally, Albania has seen the highest increase potential migration (+20
points).26
Such quantitative and qualitative shifts of real and potential migration from Albania over the last decade raise important
questions about the underlying causes of resurgence of this phenomenon. They may be explained mainly by external
factors (Greek economic crisis, labour force demand from Germany), but a thorough analysis of domestic factors is
also required. To that end, we present some overarching economic trends that may support at the macro level the
enhanced migration ows. In our study, we also show other causes that push Albanians to migrate.
In the set of domestic factors, economic conditions have been certainly the main ones over the three decades of
the Albanian migration. The global economic crisis that started in the second half of 2008 had both a direct and an
indirect impact on the Albanian economy.27 The rst consequence was a slowdown of economic growth and increased
unemployment. According to World Bank data, the average annual GDP growth of Albania fell to 2.6 per cent during
the period 2009–2017 from 5.7 % in 2000–2008.28 Meanwhile, the ocial unemployment rate rose to 17.5 per cent in
2014 (32.5 per cent for those of age 15–29 years)29 from 13 per cent in 2008, and fell again to 12.3 per cent in 2018
(28.3 % for the segment 15–24 years old).30
In addition, the global economic crisis reduced by more than one-third the remittances sent home by Albanian emigrants;
these had been one of the main contributors to mitigating the situation of poverty in many Albanian households.
Whereas in 2007, remittances peaked at Euro 952 million, accounting for 12.3 per cent of GDP, in 2015 they fell to
Euro 597 million, or 5.8 per cent of GDP.31 This, in turn, contributed to an increase in the incidence of poverty among
Albanian households, a phenomenon that had been almost halved in the period 2000–2008.32
In the meantime, the seasonal and long-term international emigration, primarily to Greece and Italy, that had been a key
mechanism enabling Albanian households to cope with poverty in the rst two decades, could no longer play such a
role. The high levels of unemployment among Albanian emigrants in these two main host countries (24.7 % in Greece
and 12.1 % in Italy in 2010) slowed down new migration ows.33 Therefore, a new paradoxical situation arose. On
the one hand, the Albanian emigration drivers increased, while on the other, the traditional channels of the emigration
decreased. Subsequently, the migration potential of the Albanian population, under the eect of the global economic
crisis, in the absence of internal solutions and given the people’s perception of their future, went upward.
Economic factors and the large income gap with advanced economies in the EU and North America are not the only
factors that explain the desire of the people to migrate from Albania. The EVS survey34 data for Albania show that
people in general, and potential migrants, are dissatised with the education system, social security, healthcare, civil
service, justice system and political parties (to name but a few).
26 Esipova, N ., Ray, J. and Pugliese, A. (2017) Number of potential migrants worldwide tops 700 million, Gallup News, 8 June.
27 Gëdeshi, I. and de Zwager, N. (2012) Eect s of the global crisis on migration and remittances in Albania, in: Sirkeci, I., Cohen, J.H. and Ratha , D. (eds) Migration and
Remittances during the Global Financial Crisis and Beyond. Washington DC: The World Bank, pp. 237–254.
28 World Bank (2018) Higher but Fragile Growth: Western Balkans Regular Economic Report No. 14. Washington DC: The World Bank.
29 INSTAT (2015b) Labour Market 2014. Tirana: INSTAT.
30 INSTAT (2018) Tregu i Punës 2018. Retrieved January 2020 from www.instat.gov.al/media/5576/tregu-i-punes-2018-njoftim-per-media.pdf.
31 Data from the Bank of Albania.
32 According to World Bank data from 2002–2008, poverty in Albania was halved to 12.4 per cent but, in 2012, it rose again to 14.3 per cent. See: World Bank (2016b)
South-East Europe Regular Economic Report, Resilient Grow th and Rising Risks. Washington DC: The World Bank.
33 Arslan, C., Dumont , J.-C., Kone, Z., Moulan, Y., Ozden, C., Parsons, Ch. and Xenogiani, T. (2014) A New Prole of Migrants in the Aftermath of the Recent Economic
Crisis. Paris: OECD, Social, Employment and Migration Working Paper No. 160.
34 The European Values Study is conducted once in ten years in all European countries . The EVS is a large-scale, cross-national, longitudinal survey research programme
on basic human values like life, family, work, religion, politics and society. It provides insights into the ideas, beliefs, preferences, attitudes, values and opinions of
citizens all over Europe.
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PART II – Albanian Returned Asylum Seekers: Reintegration or Re-emigration?
CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
3. Objective and methodology
The key objective of this research is to better understand return and reintegration dynamics, including not only the
challenges that individual migrants face upon return and during reintegration in terms of health, education, housing,
employment and other services but also the challenges which receiving communities face when a large number of
returning migrants need access to the labour market, nancial support, education, health and social services.
The research for this study included primary and secondary data analysis. It consists of a desktop review of the relevant
literature on returnees who had sought asylum, as well as qualitative methods (interviews and focus group discussions).
The qualitative methods included: a) 12 focus group discussions with returnees (one in each prefecture of the country);
b) 30 semi-structured Key informant interviews (mainly in Shkodra, Kukes and Elbasan) with representatives of education,
health, labour, social assistance organizations, migration counters, vocational training schemes and local government
institutions and experts; and c) 45 semi structured interviews with returned asylum seekers (mainly from Germany,
France and the Netherlands).
In some prefectures, focus groups were realized in regional capitals (Gjirokastra, Vlora, Fier, Berat, Shkodra, Kukës,
Peshkopi) while in others a smaller town was selected (Kamza in Tirana, Belsh in Elbasan, Maliq in Korça, Fushe-Kruja in
Durres, and Laç in Lezha). Each focus group was composed of 7–12 participants of dierent ages, gender and socio-
economic levels. Two focus groups in Fushë-Kruja (Durrës Region) and Berat were organized with representatives from
Roma and Egyptian communities. No single family or individual participated in more than one research method. All
focus group discussions and interviews were recorded, and a verbatim transcription was prepared. The names cited in
the reported interviews and focus groups have been changed, and standard procedures were applied to help preserve
the anonymity of the participants.
Returnee households and individuals were identied from the information obtained through visits/meetings in schools,
healthcare centres, oces of economic aid, various NGOs working with returnees, as well as persons encountered
randomly (in bars, shops, etc.). Many senior ocials and employees of these institutions or other random persons
helped with initial information on returnees and their addresses, who were then contacted by the survey team and
were interviewed. We also used the so-called ‘snowball sampling’ technique, whereby the initially selected individuals
recommended relatives, friends, and neighbours who had applied for asylum in EU countries and had returned to
Albania.
In general, the returning asylum seekers were willing to be interviewed and participate in the focus groups. From the
interviews and focus group sessions we collected and analysed qualitative information relating to the causes and history
of migration, returnees’ experiences in the host country, and to their return and reintegration into Albania and future
plans.
Meanwhile, representatives of the main local institutions concerned with reintegration were interviewed as key
stakeholders and experts. In general, those who had a long-standing experience in the respective institution were
selected and interviewed. Key informant interviews were designed to allow for a comprehensive understanding of the
main issues, constraints and opportunities to improve the reintegration of asylum-seeking returnees. Based on these
interviews, information was collected and then analysed.
64 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
4. Prole of returnees participating
in focus groups
During the interviews and focus groups organized in the framework of this study, we met and talked to many returnees
who had previously sought asylum, representing various ethnic groups (including a large number of Roma and Egyptians)
who, by responding to a variety of semi-structured and open questions, provided information and stated their opinions
on issues that concern their daily lives.
But what are the main characteristics of this group? Notwithstanding some internal dierences, the group shares some
common characteristics that distinguish it from the general prole of Albanian society.
Above all, this is the poorest segment of Albanian society, ranked at the bottom of the household
income ladder.35
Almost 24 per cent of households say they receive ‘economic aid’ and 61 per cent say that they purchase ‘by list’36 in
one or more grocery stores. Almost 65 per cent of them say that the nancial situation of the household is ‘insucient’
or ‘very insucient’ to meet the needs of daily life.37 The two main sources of living for returnee households are the
work of family members, and social assistance – economic aid, pensions and disability payments.38 There are also some
households whose only source of income is ‘economic aid’ or their parents’ pension. This is the case reported by Endrit
from a village in Peshkopia:
We are ve members in our family and we live only on our father’s pension that is 16,000
Albanian lek per month. My wife and I are unemployed (...).
Since returning from the host country where they had applied for asylum, the nancial situation for
most asylum-seeking households ‘has not changed’ or ‘has worsened’.39
The main factor explaining this situation is the high unemployment rate, underemployment and low income from any
work done in the formal and informal sectors. Almost 36 per cent of the population in this group are often long-
term unemployed. Unemployment is higher among youth and markedly higher than the ocial unemployment rate in
Albania.40 Of those working, 34 per cent carry out unskilled work in the informal sector, which is not only low-paid,
casual and precarious but also generates emotional stress and uncertainties about the future.
The education level of returnees is notably lower than the average of the general population. While some members
belonging to this group have high school or university education, the majority have completed only the compulsory
nine-year education. Their professional skill are also poor. Almost 53 per cent of them do not have a profession and
carry out unqualied jobs. Some of the returnees have had some previous migration experience, mainly in Greece.
35 Respondents were asked: Here is a list of incomes and we would like to know in what group your household is, counting all wages, salaries, pensions and other
income that comes in. Just give the letter of the group your household falls into, after taxes and other deductions.
36 The ‘list’ is an interest-free credit system kept by store owners, usually grocers, that allows customers to ‘buy now, but pay later’.
37 Respondents were asked: In general, is the nancial situation of your household sucient to cover main needs? Each respondent could choose one of the following
alternatives: more than sucient; sucient; sometimes sucient, sometimes not; insucient; very insucient .
38 Respondents were asked: Do you have any income or prot generated through the following sources: rented property, agriculture, interest earned on bank savings,
social assistance/pension, work of family members in Albania, remittances, and other. Each of them could choose one or more options from these alternatives.
39 Respondents were asked: Compared to the period prior to applying for asylum, after the return, would you consider the situation of your household as better or
worse? The alternatives were: much better than before asylum; better than before asylum; the same; worse than before asylum; much worse than before asylum.
40 In 2019 Q2, the ocial unemployment rate in Albania for the population aged 15 years and older was 11.5 per cent, but it was 20.9 per cent for the group age
15-29 (for more information see: INSTAT (2019) Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Tirana: INSTAT).
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CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
The returned asylum-seeker group is characterized by a younger age, on average, than the general population, because
young families with young children or young males have primarily sought asylum in Germany or other EU countries.41
Many of them have left elderly parents in the home country because these older people could not cope with the travel
and harsh living conditions in camps. Most of them are married; only a few were unmarried and migrated alone and
unaccompanied. There are also cases when the nuclear family has split –mainly owing to the lack of nancial means for
the trip – so that men went rst to the host country, leaving their wives and children in Albania or vice versa. In many
cases, such family separation causes strong emotional stress, especially among children and women.
From the ethnic point of view, the majority belong to the ethnic Albanian group, with a considerable number of
Roma and Egyptians as well. In a very few cases (in Shishtavec, Kukës) there are also families or individuals from other
ethnicities.
41 Some partial data published by Pew Research Centre shows the demographic characteristics of Albanian asylum seekers that entered EU countries in 2015. Almost
half (46 per cent) were aged 18–34 years old, and about 34 per cent were children under 18. Males dominated (61 %) and were mostly young (almost half of
them were 18–34 years old). For more information see: Connor, P. (2016) Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015. Washington DC: Pew
Research Centre.
66 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
5. Findings from focus groups and interviews
5.1 Migration from Albania
For many Albanian households, over almost three decades, international migration has been a gateway to a better life
through employment abroad, a higher income, a better future for the children and better career opportunities. Even
in cases when a part of the household (mainly older parents and, in fewer cases, the wife and children) stayed back in
Albania, they beneted from remittances to improve the quality of their material life or to invest in small family-run
businesses.
5.2 Why asylum?
International migration has been and remains the main coping mechanism against poverty and social exclusion in Albania.
When unemployment goes up, and income from the informal sector drops, international migration ows surge. The
question then arises as to why Albanians are seeking asylum in EU countries. The answer from the interviews and focus
group discussions is clear. During the rst two decades after the beginning of the post-socialist transition, migration
ows from Albania were mainly focused on two neighbouring countries –Greece and Italy. The existence of quickly
formed social networks, in the early years, propelled mass-scale migration and reduced migration costs and risks. New
arrivals were often given food and accommodation and help to nd a job. The informal sector, especially in Greece,
required unskilled workers (in construction, services, and agriculture) who were disposed to work for low pay. Thus, a
large number of migrants managed to nd work. Since the nancial and economic crisis in 2008, the unemployment of
migrants in both countries has been high and many Albanians began to return to Albania.42
Consequently, Albanians tend to target other countries where employment opportunities and income-earning potential
are higher. In addition, when applying for asylum, the Albanian asylum seekers expect that they will nd accommodation,
food, professional training, work contracts and residence permits in the host country. Ndriçim, who lives in Kukes,
explains:
…because we are not entitled to work in Germany, and the rules to be employed in Germany
are very strict. Moreover, the chances to work informally are almost zero. (...) You would be
penalized if you were caught working when you were not entitled to (...) Greece, on the other
hand, was more liberal; we had the possibility to work ‘in black’ [i.e. informally]. I know from my
experience, when I worked there. In Germany, this is impossible.
42 A joint study undertaken by INSTAT and IOM showed that, during the period 2009–2013, 133,544 Albanian emigrants aged 18 years and above returned to
Albania, driven mainly by the loss of their jobs in Greece and Italy (for more information see: INSTAT and IOM (2014) Return Migration and Reintegration in Albania.
Tirana: INSTAT/IOM).
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Arjan, a former asylum seeker from Peshkopi, shares a similar opinion:
In Greece, hiring is very easy. The country is also closer and the trip is less costly. In Germany,
one cannot nd a job without proper documents. Germany has its own laws. It is easier for us
to integrate in Greece.
These asylum-seeker ows which, like those from other Western Balkan countries, peaked in 2015, joining the massive
asylum-seeker ows from the Middle East, were encouraged and facilitated by a combination of factors. The rst factor
was that, since the end of December 2008, Albanians could travel without visas to EU countries. This enabled low travel
costs (a saving of some hundreds of euros per person) and facilitated travelling to the host country. The second factor
was the rumours that were spread by personal social networks regarding the chances for employment in Germany or
in other EU countries.43 In addition, individual success stories transmitted by communication channels often served as
a catalyst for the process. The lengthy procedural timeline, material and nancial gains and better social services (e.g.
healthcare, education for children) oered in the host country also had a strong impact.
5.3 Reasons for migration
Diverse factors encourage Albanians to apply for asylum in EU countries. Among others, we may mention factors such
as the dire economic situation, health, education, family, accommodation, social protection, security and the pessimistic
perception of their own and their children’s future in the home country. Let us explore each of these in more detail.
Economic conditions – including poverty, unemployment and underemployment, low income from the formal and
informal sectors, dicult living conditions, limited social protection and debts – are the main push factors for Albanian
asylum seekers. In addition to these underlying factors, the future of their children is another driver. Many participants
in interviews and focus groups see this prospect in the light of the quality of education and employment opportunities.
Genc, an unemployed father from Kamza, says:
The main reason why we went to Germany was the economic condition. Both my wife and I are
unemployed. We also went there for a better future for our children. A man thinks about what is
best for the children. (...) All these drives you. Unemployment and a better future. When you see
that the prospects here are zero, you want to do what is best. We tried for better.
Mimoza, a mother from Kukes, says:
There are no jobs, you cannot nd a job. Even if you hold a university diploma, you cannot nd
a job. For example, in my family, three persons have a university diploma and none of them have
a job.
Others state that wages in both the formal and the informal sectors are low, do not motivate people to seek work and
do not ensure minimum daily living needs. Enrieta, a woman from Belsh, says:
A new factory has opened in town and you could say that is an employment opportunity. But
you have to consider the wage. There [in the factory] people work 8–9 hours a day and they are
only paid half of the proper rate. Working all day for 400–500 Albanian lek [around 3–4 euros]
is not having a job, it is not worth it.
43 Barjaba, K. and Barjaba, J . (2015) Embracing Emigration: The Migration-Development Nexus in Albania. Brussels and New York: Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved
November 2019 from www.migrationpolicy.org/article/embracing-emigration-migration- development-nexus-albania.
68 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
The lack of social infrastructure and dicult working conditions are further reasons that demotivate people to work.
Majlinda, an employee at the Municipality of Cërrik, says:
In our town, there are no jobs for women. There are some opportunities in [nearby] Elbasan. But
it is dicult for the women to go there, because we have no nurseries and kindergartens do not
oer full-day care in Cërrik. In addition, they are often obliged to work overtime and spend a lot
of time travelling. Who, then, will take care of the children?
Limited social protection is another push factor encouraging poor families to apply for asylum in EU countries. What is
called in Albania ‘economic aid’ does not cover all members of the poor population and its amount is very little. Hence,
it cannot signicantly reduce poverty, inequality, and other migration drivers. Mira, a divorced woman from Puka living
with her two daughters, recounts her experience:
Before going to Germany, I used to get 5,000 Albanian lek in economic aid. Now it has been cut
to 2,500 Albanian lek. What can I do with 2,500 Albanian lek?! I have two daughters, one in high
school and the other in the nine-year school. I don’t know what we are going to do.
Other individuals in discussions and interviews emphasize that debts or long ‘lists’ in grocery stores and outstanding
obligations for electrical energy have pushed them to seek asylum in EU countries. Entela, a woman from Maliq,
describes her case:
I owed 50,000 Albanian lek for the electricity bill and they cut the electricity. Without electricity,
debts for the electricity bill, a long list of debts in the grocery stores (...). This is a reason to leave.
In all the interviews and group discussions, the returnee asylum seekers pointed out that, if they had a stable job in the
formal sector and adequate income, none of them would want to leave the country. Fatmir from Kamza, a returnee
from Germany, says:
Only economic conditions pushed me to seek asylum. Nothing else. (...) I am unemployed (...)
all the family is unemployed. My children are young; they go to school. We will have to leave
again, to emigrate. We have no other way out. This is my rst and last reason. I have no other
reasons. Our country is very beautiful, and we like to live in Albania, with our people (...) But, in
this economic situation, we have no other option, no other way out.
Another participant in a focus group discussion, Luan from Laç, says:
We do not expect Germany’s standards in Albania. Albanians want the minimum living conditions.
At least, each household should have one person employed, to ensure minimum living. (...) We
are asking for employment. If each Albanian citizen is given the possibility to nd a job here, I do
not think people would want to leave. But here there is no hope at all for employment. (...) We
are in miserable conditions. Hope is lost.
Other returnee asylum seekers revealed that health problems and the lack of proper healthcare in Albania constituted
a push factor. Ervehe, a mother from Kukes, says:
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PART II – Albanian Returned Asylum Seekers: Reintegration or Re-emigration?
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I have an autistic child, with mental disabilities and epilepsy. I had the child treated here for eight
years and saw no changes; instead his situation became increasingly worse. For this reason, I left
Albania. I had no nancial means to aord leaving with the documents and visa. I saw everyone
else was leaving, so I left too. There [in Germany] I declared I came only for my child, and upon
having done all examinations, I would return to Albania.44
A signicant number of households participating in the focus groups and interviews, especially in the north of Albania,
point to the lack of specialized doctors and the poor quality of the healthcare services. Avni, a 50-year-old man from
Kukes, described his particular case:
I had a child suering from a form of cancer, and I was, therefore, obliged, due to my inability to
get adequate medication in Albania, to leave and go to Germany. There, I was able to obtain all
the necessary medicines.
Often, to fund the trip for sick individuals to host countries for medical care, the whole family and social network is
engaged. There are also cases when the trip for sick asylum seekers is not only expensive, but also dicult. Naim, a
father from Kamza with two sick children, conrms the above:
I have two paralysed children, paraplegic and tetraplegic. One is 29 years old, the other is 20
years old. They are both bedridden. I borrowed money, I left Albania for Greece, from Greece
to Germany. The trip cost Euro 1,600. I had to y my children there, because they would not be
able to endure a trip by bus or by car.
Some returnees, mainly Roma and Egyptians, cited the problem of housing or of the demolition of their homes.45
This was the case for Seit, a Roma from the settlement known as “Pallati me Shigjeta” in Tirana, whose house was
demolished for a road that would be constructed there.46 He said: ‘We had many reasons to seek asylum in Germany.
But, the greatest push factor for migration was the house issue.’
Other Roma and Egyptians said that they live in overcrowded homes, which has pushed many of them to leave Albania
and migrate. Mimoza, a young Roma mother from Tirana, said:
The housing conditions are very dicult, and I live in a large family. Because of the poor conditions,
we argue a lot. I have been married for several years and I am very stressed out (...). If I had my
own house, perhaps I would not have gone to Germany.
Lack of physical safety for family members, and the constant psychological stress that arises from this dangerous
situation, is another factor pushing some Albanians to seek asylum in EU countries.
44 The lack of treatment for autistic children, according to interviews and focus group discussions, is a cause for parents to try to nd a solution by seeking asylum in
Germany.
45 According to a UNDP study, over 38 per cent of Roma and 45 per cent of Egyptian families live in old decrepit dwellings and a further 21 per cent of Roma and
11 per cent of Egyptian families live in shacks (for more information see: Gëdeshi, I. and Miluka, J. (2013) Needs Assessment Study. New York: UNDP).
46 According to interviews, for the construction of this road, the dwellings of 53 Roma and Egyptians had to be demolished. Many of them applied for asylum in
Germany or France.
70 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Lindita, a mother from the Tirana suburbs, shared her dramatic story:
I applied for asylum in Germany due to the blood feud. My husband is in prison, sentenced for
murder. I have two kids; my son is 14 years old. Sooner or later, my son will leave the country to
escape the blood feud. I ask for protection for my son. (...) My husband is sentenced for murder,
but the victim’s family has not forgiven us. I am forced to emigrate, sooner or later. To the end
of the world, if not in Germany or Europe, I will leave, to the end of the world. I live in a rented
home, I have no income, nothing. I work part-time, three hours here, three hours there, as a
cleaning lady. I have completed high school, but I can’t nd a job.
The dicult living conditions, unemployment, extreme poverty and increasing segregation in suburban neighbourhoods
undoubtedly produce conicts (intrafamily, interfamily, divorce, failure to repay debts, etc.). These conditions, combined,
are a strong migration push factor for some families.
In the meantime, Roma and Egyptians in Albania, the poorest of the poor, characterized by signicantly lower socio-
economic indicators than the majority population,47 underline another push factor: discrimination. Skënder, a Roma
from Korca region, said:
It is not only economic reasons that made me leave the country. There is also discrimination.
Nobody hears the voice of us Roma.
Arjan, an Egyptian returnee from Shkodra, who had sought asylum in Germany, conrmed a similar situation:
I went to Germany and the Netherlands to build a better life, because here there is discrimination.
When we face security problems, the police do not intervene; when we have health emergencies,
the ambulance does not come.
5.4 Who migrates?
Despite the high rate and intensity of migration in Albania, not all those who wish to migrate are able to do so. Focus
group discussions and interviews show that only families and individuals who have sucient human, nancial and social
capital for such an initiative are able to migrate. Families and individuals who do not have such capital (or only partially)
nd it dicult to migrate. Thus, the Roma households that we surveyed in Shkodra nd it very dicult to migrate, given
their very high level of poverty and limited human and social capital. Myrvete, a poor Roma woman from the northern
city, said:
We need money to leave Albania. But we do not have even enough money to buy our passports.
Four passports cost 24,000 lek (about Euro 190) plus travel expenses. (...) But I do not have
enough money to eat. We buy by list at the shops.
Given the importance of the dierent types of capital to enable migration to take place, we will address them individually
below, starting with nancial capital.
47 Robayo-Abril, M. and Millán, N. (2019) Breaking the Cycle of Roma Exclusion in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: The World Bank.
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5.4.1 Households with disposable income
The initial migration costs are high for many Albanian households, with only a few of them able to aord them. Money
must be found to obtain a biometric travel passport, to pay for travel to the destination country and to cover incidental
costs. In her interview, Mariola explained:
We sold the car, not for the travel expenses, because we had them already, but for some extra
money, on the side. Dad said that, in addition to the travel expenses, we needed some extra
money, just in case; you never know what happens and he did not want us to be left without
money in the middle of nowhere.
Some Albanian households accumulated funds to pay for their trip from previous savings or the earlier work of family
members in emigration (mainly in Greece). This is the case of Agron, the head of a family from Peshkopi, who said:
I worked in Greece and had a well-paid job. In addition, until just before I left for Germany, I was
working. Therefore, I had enough money for the trip.
Many other households compensate for their own lack of money by relying on kinship solidarity. They borrow money
from their relatives, as well as from migrant family members in Greece and Italy. Short of nancial resources, many
households rely on the extensive family networks to obtain the necessary money. Luan, a returnee in Kukës, borrowed
the required amount of money from his brother. Many others borrow money from their in-laws, and this phenomenon
is observed both in the south and north of the country. Other households rely on the relationships and trust which
they have previously established. Often this is a business relationship. Thus, some households borrowed money but at
interest rates of up to 10 per cent per month. Sanija, a mother from Korça, says:
We borrowed the money for my son’s travel from an acquaintance. Interest on the debt was as
much as 10 per cent per month. (...) My son then sent me money from Germany and I paid both
the debt and the interest.
In many cases, borrowing at high interest rates causes stress for the borrower regarding repayment on time. In addition,
not all may benet from this type of business relationship. Skënder, a Roma from Fushë-Kruja, explains:
Some people who had a good friend among the ‘white’ borrowed for an interest rate and left.
Then from Germany in two–three months sent the money they borrowed. (...) We had to send
the money, otherwise, the interest would go up. Roma people do not lend money at interest,
therefore, we borrowed only from the ‘white’.
Other households have taken loans from commercial banks under the guise that they need it to fund their small
business. Arben, a Roma from Korça region, explained:
Many asylum seekers took loans from banks (...) No one lends you Euro 1,000 knowing that you
will migrate for asylum purposes and there is no certainty whether you will come back to repay
the debt. Many people sent the money via money transfer agencies from Germany to clear the
bank loans, otherwise the bank would take their houses.
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In the absence of savings, to cover their travel to the destination country, some households sold part of their arable
land, cattle, household appliances, work tools, or their spot in the second-hand clothes open market. This is what Luan,
from a village in Malesia e Madhe, did:
The trip to Germany cost me Euro 1,500 but I did not borrow money. I had some goats and I
sold them to make the money. Another man from our village, who came with me to Germany,
sold his cattle.
In some cases, to raise the money some people even sold their houses. This was the case for Shpresa, a Roma mother
from Tirana, who returned from France:
Our family needed Euro 3,000 to go to France. For this amount, we sold all we had and even
borrowed some money (...) Now that we are back, we are living at my mother-in-law’s home. We
are living ten persons in one room.
A few families in Tirana used the rent reimbursement for the demolition of their homes by the municipality to fund
their trip to Germany.48 Astrit, a Roma from the ‘Pallati me Shigjeta’ settlement, explained:
In the rst year, the government gave us 240,000lek [around Euro 1,800] for the rent. But, seeing
no hope, we decided together with my son to use the money to emigrate. We paid for the
passports of the children, paid for the tickets and left. We used the 240,000 Albanian lek that the
government gave us for the trip to Germany.
5.4.2 Households with human capital
Households whose members have a certain level of education nd it easier to discover the route to emigration and
stay in the host country. Some of them have had previous migration experience, mainly in Greece, which helps them
to adapt more easily to the new destination. Genci, a returnee in Gjirokastra, said:
I worked as a truck driver transporting goods from Albania to EU countries. I worked in Greece
for several years. It was, therefore, very easy for me to adapt in Germany.
Migration to an EU country is also perceived by most of them as a chance to obtain training and learn a new profession.
Agron, a villager from Rrëshen a former asylum seeker in Germany, shared his aspirations:
I did not go there for asylum, in Germany. I went there in the hope that it would be somewhat
better, that I would be able to benet from some entitlements, learn a profession, work and live
there.
The young age and good health of family members are preconditions for migration, except for those cases noted
earlier where the treatment of sick children was a key motivation. Not everyone can cope with the dicult travel and
asylum camp conditions. Many asylum seekers left behind their elderly and sick parents in the home country, as well as
someone from the family to take care of them.
48 This refers to the Roma settlement destroyed to make way for a new highway; see Note 41 above. The municipality paid the occupants rent in three instalments
for a certain period of time. Some households used the rst instalment to nance their trip to Germany.
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This is the case for Ermira from Tirana, who said:
I live with my parents and my brother. Both my sisters are married, and they were with their
families in Germany. (...) But we could not go because my parents were sick and my brother
suers from depression.
5.4.3 Households with social capital
Having a network of friends and relatives helps in a number of ways, from covering the cost of travel, to providing
necessary information with regard to migration conditions, procedures and prospects. Social capital is important
throughout all stages of international migration, from departure, through living and working abroad and sending money
home, to returning home.
First, potential asylum seekers rely on social capital to obtain relevant information on the cost of travel, the best route
to the destination, the institutions they need to address and the asylum reception camp to choose based on conditions
(e.g. overcrowding, food, the possibility for accommodation in separate dwellings, amount of allowances paid and the
chances for long-term stay). Arben, who lives in Pogradec, explained:
In Germany, there were also camps where conditions were bad, such as for instance people could
not wash, there was only a sandwich to eat (...). There were also camps with good conditions
such as those near Berlin, near Frankfurt and Hanover (...). We received this information since we
communicated with our friends in dierent camps.
Such social capital is necessary to help them during the trip and when they arrive in the destination country. These social
networks reduce risks and lower migration-related material and psychological costs. In many cases, sending remittances
home to repay debts or help the family is done based on social capital.
Drini from Gjirokastra says:
‘I sent the money home with a friend of mine from Elbasan, who transported goods with a truck
from Germany to Albania.’
There are also cases when asylum seekers do not have social capital and are completely lost. This is the case of Alma,
a young mother from Belsh who travelled alone with her children. She said:
I left with my four kids and had no place where to go, or where to stay (...). Some Albanians on
the same bus were going to Frankfurt. That is where I also stayed then.
Many asylum seekers rely on contributions from their extended family to provide for elderly parents or other family
members in the home country while they are in the asylum country. Elderly family members who remain at home often
rely on the trust of local businesses to allow them to purchase goods and have their debts recorded on the shop’s list
while the youngest family members are abroad.
Households that do not have such social capital are less likely to migrate or return soon from the host country, without
waiting to receive the application outcome. Myrvete, a mother from Kukes who had migrated to Germany to have her
sick son cured, says: ‘We returned because we had nobody to help my husband, who was home alone’.
74 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
5.5 Household decisions
The decision to apply for asylum in an EU country is usually the result of a long and in-depth family discussion, with
nances being the most dicult and argued aspect. Sonila, a Roma girl from Tirana who applied, together with her
family, for asylum in Luxembourg, said:
‘We discussed it with our family (...) Discussed for about two months and then we decided to go’.
In general, the initiative to apply for asylum in an EU country is taken by the men, but they discuss it with their wives and
other family members. The trip and living conditions in the host country may be tough and full of surprises, therefore
a broad family consensus is needed. Edi, head of a family from Puka, says:
I discussed the issue rst with my wife alone, without the children. We talked to the children later. We told them
about the dicult conditions, the limited chances we had [in Albania] to nance their education (...) and so we decided
together and departed.
Family consensus is also needed for young people who migrate alone. Fatmir, a young man who lives with his parents
in Kukes, says:
When I decided to emigrate, I discussed it rst with my family. They simply said they did not see
a better alternative in Albania and gave their consent. ‘Try whatever you like’, they said.
There are also cases when women are the ones to take the initiative. Majlinda, a girl from Tirana, says:
The idea to apply for asylum in Germany came from my aunt. She talked to my mum and dad.
(...) The son of my uncle, encouraged by us going, joined us and came with us.
In other cases, the decision is also a long-term strategy of the extended family for its members to be able to migrate
taking turns, one after the other, joining the rest of the family in the host country. Ervehe, a mother from Maliq, says:
First, my older son, whose family has ve members, left. We had some money and borrowed
some more at interest from an acquaintance. We did not have enough money for all to go at
once. In Germany, the older son began to receive some money and sent it to us. In this way, all
the other children left one after the other.
Petrit from Dibra relates a similar story:
We are ve members in our family, but we left our 77-year-old father in Albania, because he
could not withstand the long car drive and the dicult camp conditions. I went there with the
idea to settle myself rst and then bring our father.
Many families jointly organize the travel, share the costs, exchange information and stay together in the asylum country,
enhancing security and support for themselves. Anila, who lives in Tirana, described it as follows:
We discussed it widely with our family and then decided to go. (...) We left with the family of my
uncle’s son. My aunt and my uncle’s sons’ families were composed of four members each. There
were 12 of us in a minivan.
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5.6 Host countries
According to OECD data, most Albanian asylum seekers have gone to Germany and France; fewer to the United
Kingdom, Greece, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Luxembourg, Austria and other EU countries.49
Although scattered throughout more than 15 EU countries, almost 70 per cent during the period 2010–2018 were in
Germany (47 %) and France (23 %). According to the respondents, Germany and France were favourite destinations,
for their better accommodation and services (healthcare, schooling for children, language training, professional training,
etc.), higher allowances per capita each month, and lengthy application processes.
Figure 3: Distribution of Albanian asylum seekers by destination countries, 2008–2018
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands (the)
Norway
Sweden
United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland (the
)
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
90000
Source: OECD (2019) International Migration Outlook 2019. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Depending on the conditions, the preference of asylum seekers for Germany or France would change. Luan, a Roma
from Fushe-Kruja, explained:
Roma families from Fushe-Kruja migrated at the beginning of 2014 to France. (...) Initially, the
monthly allowance was Euro 350 per person, but later it was halved. Meanwhile, 4 or 5 Roma
families who went to Germany in May 2014 told us they were paid Euro 310–330 per person
monthly and the children were paid around Euro 200 a month. Moreover, the housing and living
conditions were better (...). Then most of the people left for Germany.
Also, after returning from one country, some asylum seekers (mainly Roma and Egyptian) migrate to another. Artan, a
Roma from Berat, after returning from Germany went to France to seek asylum. He said:
Many families in our town have returned from Germany and then left for France. Or vice versa,
returned from France and then left for Germany. Here [in Albania] there is nothing they can do.
49 OECD (2019) International Migration Outlook 2019. Paris: OECD Publishing.
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5.7 Routes
Asylum-seeker households have taken dierent routes to reach Germany or France based on where they live in Albania,
the information they obtain from social networking and the cost of travel. Those from Tirana, Durres, Fieri, Vlora and,
to a lesser extent, from Berat (all in western Albania) took the ferry to Italy (Bari, Brindisi or Trieste) and then continued
by bus or train to Milan and then onto Germany.
Dhurata, a mother of three from Tirana, says:
We were ve persons. We left from Vlora. We took the ferry to Bari, Italy, and then a bus to
Germany. (...) The cost of the trip was about Euro 1,600, which we had borrowed.
Households from Shkodra and, to a lesser extent, from Lezha in the north have generally taken a taxi or minibus
through Montenegro, Croatia and Hungary to Germany. In many cases, the journey is tough and the cost is high,
especially when small children are involved. This was the case for Shpresa, a young mother from a village in the
hinterland of Shkodra, who says:
The trip to Germany took us three days. We took a taxi from Shkodra. It cost Euro 2,000. We
had our three children with us and the younger one was less than one year old. On the way we
had to stop often, every two–three hours, because the little one was crying and hungry. (...) We
had taken food with us and spent the night in the car. We arrived in Berlin on the third day, late
at night, and then we went to the police station.
Most asylum-seeking families from Korca, in the southeast of Albania, and some from Berat and Elbasan, travelled by
bus to Thessaloniki in Greece and from there ied to Germany – mainly to Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hanover and
Dortmund. Meanwhile, asylum seekers from Gjirokastra, in the southwest, took a plane via Athens. Flights are cheaper
from Thessaloniki and Athens, but it requires spending a night there. Having rich social capital (relatives or acquaintances
who have migrated to Greece) meant that they would be housed for one or two days in their homes. Ermira, a young
mother from Elbasan, conrmed:
We spent one night at my brother’s home, an emigrant in Thessaloniki. Then we took the plane
from Thessaloniki to Berlin, where we went to the police and applied for asylum.
Many asylum seekers from Kukes and Dibra, in north-east Albania, have travelled via Kosovo50 to North Macedonia and
Serbia and then on to Hungary. This trip was longer and more expensive, reecting the remoteness of this mountainous
region. This was what Pranvera, a young mother from Peshkopi, said:
The trip in total for our family cost around Euro 1,400. We went by bus, but purchased a return
ticket, otherwise they would not let us through. We travelled from Kosovo to Macedonia and
Serbia and then to Hungary. (...) We had to pay ‘some money’ at the customs.
Artur, a 25-year-old university graduate from Kukes, followed the same route:
At the border crossing in Hungary we paid Euro 50 each. Otherwise, none of us on the bus
would be allowed to cross. If you want to proceed, pay the money, or else you stay. So, we had
to pay the money.
50 References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
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Some families were able to y directly from Tirana. Travel by air means fewer surprises, but the cost from Tirana airport
is higher and often a return ticket must be purchased. Petrit, who travelled with his family, tells a similar story:
‘We travelled by air from Tirana, but we had to purchase a return ticket. Otherwise, they would
not let us pass’.
In other cases, some Roma and Egyptians have been required to show that they had a certain amount of money with
them, otherwise they would face diculties at border crossing points. This is the story of Fatmir, a Roma leader from
Korça:
A family (...) was returned at Tirana airport, because the authorities requested them to show Euro
600 as proof for his wife and himself. He had a guarantee paper that had been sent to him and
the return tickets. But their departure must have raised some suspicions at Rinas [airport] and
–Roma are easy to recognize, given th eir darker complexion –they were returned. Of the 30–40
persons waiting at the control line, none but the Roma couple were returned.
Other asylum seekers y from Pristina or Skopje, where the prices are cheaper.
Overall, the average cost of travel was about Euro 1,050 per family, depending on the number of household members,
the itinerary, the destination country and the means of transport.51
51 Respondents were asked: How much did the travel cost, in approximate gures, from your residence to the host country?
78 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
6. Experience in the host country
According to the interviews and focus group discussions, many of the returnees felt satised with their experience in EU
countries (mainly in Germany, but also in France) in terms of accommodation, fullment of material needs, healthcare
and education for their children. Their time in these countries contributed to enriching their lives with new values and
changing their way of thinking.
6.1 Accommodation
Albanian asylum seekers can be divided into two large groups regarding their experience in the main hosting countries.
The rst group includes those who migrated mainly during the period January 2014 to October 2015.52 After staying in
camps for a few days or weeks, they were then transferred to homes, hotels, schools and other public facilities adapted
for the purpose. All dwellings had the necessary household appliances. The electricity, water and heating bills were paid
by the German government. Luljeta, a young mother from Tirana, said:
We stayed in the camp for ten days and were then transferred to a home that was fabulous
to me. (...) Everything was brand new, the TV set, the fridge, the washing machine, the beds... I
opened the boxes myself. Brand new. The children were happy.
The second group consists of households that migrated to Germany after October 2015. Respondents said they stayed
mainly in camps and for a shorter period of time.
Such accommodation conditions were often dierent from those in France. Isuf, a Roma from Fushe-Kruja, said: ‘Living
standards in Germany were much higher but in France they left you in a tent’. Fatmir, an Egyptian from Berat, shared
a similar story:
When I went to France, I stayed in the open for three months. I was not the only one, others as
well. We stayed in an empty apartment. Then, after three months they gave us a home.
6.2 Income
Many Albanian asylum seekers in Germany were paid an allowance for their daily expenses. The allowance varied
depending on the location and the period of application for asylum. Overall, the monthly allowance ranged from Euro
300–400 per person for adults (18 years old and above); less for children. The income was adequate to satisfy daily
needs (food, clothes, transport and medication). Those who lived in camps received less but food was provided for free.
Thus, Endri, who stayed in the camp, was paid much less. He said:
At the camp, they gave us food and a small allowance in cash, Euro 3–4 euros daily, enough to
buy cigarettes. Nothing else.
52 In 2015, the EU categorized Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro as ‘safe countries of origin’. The asylum laws passed by the German government in October 2015
and February 2016 reduced the benets that Albanian migrants were receiving and shortened the duration of the procedure for asylum. References to Kosovo shall
be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
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Whether or not a household beneted in terms of money from the asylum-seeking venture was determined by
whether they stayed in a camp or were transferred to a home, and by the duration of their stay in the host country.
Income increased when family members worked in the formal or informal sectors. Some asylum seekers have worked
on contracts in Germany but there were only a few of them. Others worked in the informal sector (collecting second-
hand clothes, recycling, construction, loading and unloading, cleaning, assorted jobs on farms) and earned supplementary
income. This was the case for Besim, who was an asylum seeker in Marseille, France. He related:
I worked on the black market, in waste containers. I collected used clothes. I would take something
and sell it. I made around 700 euros per month plus the 510-euro allowance for the family from
the French government. The economic situation of the family improved.
In these circumstances, a portion of the income was used for daily expenses, such as food, clothing, medication and
transport. The rest was saved and sent to Albania.
6.3 Savings
The majority of the respondents said that they saved money in the host country. Saving is one of the migration goals
for asylum-seeking households, enabling them to repay the debts and solve some problems upon return to Albania.
Linda, a woman from Tirana, says:
In Germany, I wanted to save because we had a debt to repay in Albania. Therefore, we ate
mostly in places where asylum seekers ate, because food was expensive. We could buy food,
but in this way, we would be able to save only a small amount of money. In Albania, I had a debt
to repay. I thought that someday I would return and had to repay a large amount of debt here.
Savings took up a signicant share of the daily discussions among asylum seekers. Kujtim, a Roma from Fushe-Kruja,
recalled:
‘We talked every day with our relatives in other camps in Germany and told them to save because
one day they would return’.
Saving is also an essential element that distinguishes the families that have and have not beneted from asylum seeking
in the host country. This is the case of Anila, a woman from Durres, who said:
In Germany, we stayed for three months in a camp and were then sent back. I do not know why,
but we were sent back hastily. We had no opportunity to save. We were unlucky.
The amount of savings depends on migrants’ income, number of family members, period of stay in the host country,
possibility for nding a job in the formal or informal sectors, saving behaviour and whether their return was forced or
voluntary. Arben, a returnee from Germany, says:
In Germany, we received Euro 300 a month per person and a family of ve received Euro 1
200–1 300 a month. The family would spend monthly Euro 400–500 and the rest was saved to
be sent back home to Albania.
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Most of the migrant respondents mentioned that they saved around half of their total income. However, some of the
savings were sent back to Albania as remittances to repay their debts or were used to pay a lawyer in Germany.
In general, Albanian households saved on average about Euro 2,000 if they stayed one year in Germany. Savings
increased the longer the stay and from knowing the host country and its system better. Skënder, a returnee from
Germany, explained:
Some Roma and Egyptian households also beneted from charity institutions. Those who stayed
three years in Germany knew where these charity institutions were, such as Caritas or the Red
Cross, and received food. Therefore, they have saved more money. Those who stayed for a year
could not possibly know.
There are, however, exceptions. The family of Mimoza, an asylum seeker from Maliq, was able to save around Euro
10,000 during her stay in Germany. She said:
My husband worked in a car repair service and earned Euro 60 a day. As asylum seekers, we
were not entitled to employment, but he worked informally. During the 11 months we stayed
in Germany, he worked (...). In addition, we received Euro 600 monthly as economic assistance.
This saving behaviour was very high among the Roma and Egyptian asylum seekers. Artan, a young Roma man from
Tirana, said:
Germany was a great country and had many cultural and sports events and many party
celebrations I could spend money on. But, aware of the poverty of the family, we saved and sent
the money back to Albania.
The consumption of cigarettes, coee, and alcohol was thus an additional determinant of the savings amount of a
household. Artan continued his story:
‘Those who smoked saved less because cigarettes were expensive in Germany’. Others, to save
more, prepared their coee at home or baked their own bread.
6.4 Remittances
Remittances are one of the most widely researched aspects of post-1990 migration in Albania. Based on estimates
provided by the Bank of Albania, remittances from Albanian migrants saw a rapid growth in the period 1991–2007
and then decreased, starting from 2008, as a result of the eects of the global economic crisis and the maturation
of the remittances cycle.53 Since 2014, the remittance ows from Albanian migrants have edged up again slightly and
remittances from asylum seekers have certainly played a role in this increase, according to data from the Bank of
Albania. However, what are considered as asylum seeker remittances are, in most cases, repayments of debt and bank
loans that the migrants took out in Albania to nance their trip to the host country.
53 Gëdeshi, I. and de Zwager, N. (2012) Eect s of the global crisis on migration and remittances in Albania, in: Sirkeci, I., Cohen, J.H. and Ratha , D. (eds) Migration and
Remittances during the Global Financial Crisis and Beyond. Washington DC: The World Bank, pp. 237–254.
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Donika, a woman from Belsh, says:
The money we were given was meant to be used only for consumption, only in the host country.
We were not supposed to send it elsewhere. But we sent money to Albania, we had to, we had
debts to repay. We sent small amounts every now and then to repay debts and save something
because we knew that we would come back to Albania.
Failure to repay the debt, especially to banks or acquaintances, was a constant source of stress and concern for
individuals and their families. Edvin, an Egyptian from Shkodra, said:
After I returned from Germany, I went to Pristina to collect cans. I had to earn the money to
repay the debt. I could not return to Albania because I was indebted. I stayed in Pristina for six
months, until I made the money.
There are also cases of Albanian households being unable to repay their debts. Gent, a father from Kamza, says:
‘I have a 1,000-euro debt to repay in Albania. If and when I will be able to repay it, I do not know.’
Another reason for sending remittances was to help family members (mainly elderly or sick people) back home. Besim,
a young man from Tirana who had been an asylum seeker in Germany together with his parents, says:
My brother was in Albania, as he could not come with us, he was sick. We helped my brother.
We sent the money via MoneyGram.
Others sent their savings in small amounts, fearing losses in the case of police searches. Monika, a young mother from
Belsh, says:
They [other asylum seekers] said that, if the police came for a control in our house and found a
certain amount of money, they could take it. So, we sent the money in small amounts to Albania.
Remittances were sent mainly through formal channels (banks and money transfer agencies) but also sometimes
through informal ones. Through formal channels, remittances were transferred via third persons who had fully legal
identication documents. Merita, a woman from Belsh, related her experience:
We sent the money with an intermediary, in most cases Kosovars. We did this to prevent having
any trouble. In Germany we lived on social assistance and, if the authorities found out that we
sent money, they could think that the money we had was ‘more than enough’, since we sent
some to Albania.
The remittance intermediaries oered these services for free or for a small fee. Edlira, a woman from Tirana, says:
We sent the money through some Kosovars who had proper documents. They sent the money
via banks but wanted a gratuity for that. (...) We sent the money to my father-in-law, who then
gave it to the person we had borrowed it from.
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Sometimes the money was sent via informal channels, such as with asylum seekers who returned voluntarily to Albania,
people who went as visitors to see their relatives, or bus drivers. Arben, a father from Permet, sent his money to
Albania through a friend who was a truck driver. He says:
‘I had a friend from Berat, who purchased construction materials and transported them to
Albania. I sent the money with him’.
Ervin, from Gjirokastra, relates a rather dierent tactic:
I sent the money through the postal service. Once in a while, I sent home a small package with
clothes for my daughter. Inside the clothes, I would slip in Euro 200–300.
Others brought the money with them upon voluntarily returning to Albania. There are also households that lost their
savings when they were forced to return by the police. This was the case for Altin, a returnee from Tirana:
We were sent back by the police (...). We had saved Euro 1,000, but I do not know why they took
our savings. They searched us and found the money.
6.5 Employment
To nd employment in the host country is the main objective of Albanian asylum seekers. Artur, head of a family in
Kamza, conrms it:
‘We applied for asylum (...) in the hope that we could… work and live there’.
During their stay in the host country, some Albanian asylum seekers worked, either in the formal or informal sectors, or
did some social work. In addition to income, they also gained new work experience, social capital and a new mindset.
The new social and human capital they gained, as we will see, has helped many of them obtain work contracts and
potentially migrate legally in the future.
Very few of the Albanian returned asylum seekers worked in the formal sector in the host country.54 Those who did
had regular work contracts and worked in the construction industry and in services. Flamur, head of a household from
Kukes, said:
In Germany, I worked in construction and earned Euro 1,800 a month. I paid taxes, insurance,
school for my children and rent.
In many cases, people found joy in working because they were able to earn their own living. This is the case of Ervin,
an Egyptian from Berat, who says:
I got the work permit late and worked for six months in a factory that produced beverages (...)
I packaged the beverages and was paid Euro 1,400 a month. But I was happy because I worked
and sustained my living there.
54 Hackaj and Shehaj (2017) point out that , although the ‘German federal government has created 100,000 new low-skilled mini-jobs in the public sector for asylum
seekers’, none of the Albanians whom they interviewed ‘were aware of this opportunity’ (for more information, see: Hackaj, A. and Shehaj, A. (2017) Disconnected:
Return from Germany and Reintegration Challenges of Albanian Asylum Seekers. Tirana: Cooperation and Development Institute, Working Paper ‘Berlin Process Series’).
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In other cases, their jobs related to the profession and education they had received in Albania, to which they added new
experience by working abroad. Gëzim, a young man from Pogradec, described his work in Germany:
I worked for almost a year in the profession that I studied for, a car mechanic. I worked part-time.
My wife was also working as an assistant cook in a restaurant, because this was her training, too.
Some others did social work in the camps or in public institutions, such as cleaning common areas and maintaining the
gardens. Donika, a young mother from Belsh, described her work:
I worked at the kindergarten. A German neighbour helped me (...). He took me to a kindergarten,
and I worked there as a volunteer. I worked there about two hours in the afternoons to clean
the kindergarten.
In many cases, these jobs were for very little pay, often 1 euro per hour, yet still adding something to family income and
savings. Elvira, another woman from Belsh, shares her experience:
‘I worked as a helper in an elderly home in Germany and received around Euro 200 a month’.
Others worked in the informal sector (e.g. in construction, loading and unloading in warehouses, recycling, gardening,
agriculture, services) but the risks were high if they were caught by the authorities. Luan, a resident of a municipality in
Tirana, said:
I worked every now and then; for example, I washed glasses and was paid Euro 40 a day. I worked
in construction and got paid well. When available, I also worked in gardening.
Others performed random jobs, such as recycling plastic bottles. Petrit, a middle-aged man from Gjirokastra, said:
Whenever there was a party celebration, we collected plastic bottles, all of us, whoever could.
They cost 25 cents each so four of them made 1 euro. It is not insignicant. A full load would
earn us around Euro 100. (...) Germans drank and threw the bottles away (...). However, it was
mostly the Roma who collected the bottles.
Other asylum seekers, mainly youngsters, worked in construction, painting walls or in bars and restaurants. Artur, a
young man from Vlora, says about his acquaintances:
Close to my place there were some Greek bars and restaurants and an Italian one. Each had hired
Albanian asylum seekers to wash the dishes. They paid them Euro 1,000 per month. The owner
beneted and they beneted. They worked in black, irregularly.
Some asylum-seekers revealed that they had attended vocational training courses and did some internships in the host
country. Artan from Korça said:
My wife attended a language course. She learned some German. It was like a vocational training
school, they oered courses for cooking, hairdressing and so on.
84 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Emin, a Roma from Tirana, went twice a week to learn about working in a restaurant in France:
‘I was an apprentice in a restaurant. I worked twice a week, morning until noon and it was free’.
6.6 Health care
Healthcare was the main push factor for some Albanian asylum seekers. Many of them beneted from healthcare
services oered in the host country. In interviews and focus group discussions, almost all returnees spoke about the
quality and eciency of and free healthcare services in Germany and France. Majlinda, a dedicated mother from Kukës,
tells us about her son:
I had my son treated in Albania for eight years, and we saw no change. He became worse. We
had no nancial means to have him treated abroad. For that reason, we applied for asylum. (...) In
Germany, he was treated, operated on and sent to a school for children with disabilities. (...) There
he made notable progress, made a development leap and learned German. (...) After a year and
a half, when we returned to Albania, people could not recognize him. He had changed so much.
Persons who migrated to Germany for health reasons were admitted to and treated in hospitals. Some of them
continue their treatment and are allowed to stay in the host country even after the return of their families to Albania.
Florent, a father from a village in Kukes, shares his story:
When we went to Germany, we immediately contacted the family doctor and received all the
necessary services for our son, for a period of around three years. Now he is better and continues
to receive medication. We have returned but he remains in Germany (...) and goes to school.
Now he is attending the rst year in a higher education college, studying information technology.
Others who became seriously ill during their stay in Germany were also treated in hospitals. This was the case for
Agron, from Fushe-Kruja:
Unfortunately, I got sick in Germany. But I was hospitalized and underwent surgery. The rst time
I stayed in the hospital for 18 days and the second time for 21 days. The doctors gave me all the
papers and told me to see the specialist doctor in Albania every six months.
In other cases, German doctors recommended hospitals in Albania where they could continue therapy.
To a large extent, Albanian asylum seekers were young and some of them became parents while in Germany. Vjollca, a
26-year-old Roma mother, shared her experience:
When I gave birth to my daughter, I stayed for two days in the hospital. The doctors and nurses
showed maximum care. (...) In addition, at home, I was visited by Caritas and they brought clothes
for the baby and myself.
Interviewees were particularly impressed with the healthcare for their children. Many of them emphasized that their
children were vaccinated in Germany and provided with the relevant documentation.
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6.7 Education
Education and a better future perspective for the children is another push factor for many Albanian households that
have applied for asylum or wish to migrate to EU countries. According to interviews and the group discussions, almost
all the children of Albanian asylum seekers children were immediately enrolled in schools or on language courses in
Germany and France. Schoolbooks, materials and transport were free.
The younger children started school immediately, without having to study the foreign language rst. However, the
German teachers helped them more during class. Avni, a father from Berat, spoke about his children:
My three daughters started school immediately, according to their age. The older one started in
Grade 4, the middle one in Grade 2 and the youngest one in Grade 1. The oldest daughter did
not attend a German language course but picked up the language very quickly. The teachers were
very kind to the children and taught them well. They kept the children for two additional hours
in class and helped them out. As the children made progress, they stayed less after class. (...) The
children stayed for 17 months in school. They speak and write well in German.
The care of the German teachers impressed many asylum-seeking parents, who sent their small children to kindergarten,
where they learned ‘together with the German kids’.
Students attending higher grades of public education were rst enrolled in language classes and then continued to
attend regular classes. Agron, a young Roma from Tirana, told of his experience:
School was free for me. Transportation to school was also free. I did not start school immediately,
because I had to start German language courses rst (...). I learned the language well and started
in Grade 10. In Albania, I had completed Grade 9 and there I continued Grade 10, after learning
German for one year.
Learning a foreign language (German, French) was highly appreciated by the parents, the young people and the children
themselves. Some of the youngsters attended vocational training schools where, in addition to lessons, they learned a
trade. Mondi said:
It was a vocational training school, but rst I had to learn the language and then attend school.
The trade I would learn was car painting.
6.8 New social capital
Like all migrants, mobile Albanians have the potential to benet from their social capital, which they can utilize in all
stages of migration. In the host country, they gained new social capital. In the camps and apartments where they stayed,
on language or vocational training courses, in the places where they worked or in the various institutions where they
received services, they made friends with other Albanians and migrants from Kosovo55 and other countries, as well
as with people from the host country. Ermiona, a woman from Belsh, says: ‘When transferred from a camp to an
apartment, sometimes the neighbours were Germans. We were in daily contact with them’. According to interviews
and focus group data, these new connections established during the stay in the host country are maintained and
nourished through social networks (Facebook, Skype, e-mail).
55 References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
86 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Afërdita, a kindergarten teacher from Elbasan, relates a similar experience:
When I was in Germany, I made friends with my daughter’s teacher and a kindergarten teacher,
where I worked as an assistant. I have been back [in Albania] for a number of years now but I still
keep in touch with them. We speak often on Skype.
The question that arises eventually is, ‘how is this new social capital useful?’ Certainly, for many Albanian returnees, the
main interest is employment in the host country. Agim from Peshkopi used this social capital to land a work contract
in Germany. He says:
I have got many German friends. I was in Germany and came back only two days ago. I went
there as a tourist, to visit my friends. I was also able to obtain a work contract and have now
applied for a work visa.
Arben, a Roma from Tirana, shares a similar experience:
After I returned, I went again to Germany and worked in the black market, in the warehouse of
a Turkish man. I was oered the job by the Turkish man and I loaded and unloaded stu. I met
him when I went to Germany the rst time. (...) Besides him, I also know other Germans, Turks
and Albanians and communicate with them via social media.
Others consider using these connections in the future, after learning a trade in Albania. Subsequently, information on
the labour market, employment opportunities and obtaining a work contract in Germany are necessary for potential
migrants. Arshi, a Roma from a village in Fier district, hopes to emigrate using these new connections:
I want to migrate again to Germany but not seek asylum this time. I have some friends from
Kosovo56 who have lived and worked in Germany for years. (...) They tell me to just go and they
will provide a work contract for me. I established the connections in Germany. I communicate
with them through social media networks.
Other returnees use the connections created in Germany to carry out small-scale retail trade. Petrit, who is head of a
Roma organization in Tirana, explained:
‘Some Roma have made connections with some individuals in Germany and they send the items
to be sold with the busses.’
In interviews and focus groups, the returnees say that they have also used their social contacts to obtain important
documents from Germany (school reports, etc.) or to nd medicines that are not available in Albania.
56 References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
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7. Return and reintegration
in the country of origin
The chances for an asylum seeker from Albania to be given a positive response to his or her application are very small.
In 2015 and 2016 only one out of 50 asylum seekers from Albania were given a positive response.57 This is explained
by the fact that both Albania and other Western Balkan countries, as of the end of 2015, were considered by the EU
as ‘safe countries of origin’, which made it even more dicult to be granted asylum.58
7.1 Reasons for returning
Albanian asylum seekers can be divided into two groups regarding their return to Albania. The rst group consists of
those households or individuals who returned independently to Albania without notifying or getting instruction from
the host country authorities. This is a small group (less than 10 %) and they give various reasons for their return. Some
of them could not cope with the dicult living conditions and food in the camps and family members wanted to return.
Ermira, a student who applied for asylum together with her family in Luxembourg, told her story:
We stayed in a tent and we did not like the food at the camp. This made us return. We could
not bear living in such conditions.
Others returned to Albania because of family misfortunes (e.g. the loss of a family member, sickness). Drita from Korça
shared her experience:
We returned in April 2016, because my dad got sick. We had not been given feedback yet [on
our asylum application]. We paid for the trip ourselves with the allowance for that month.
There were also cases where the departure of some of family members created uncertainty and concern about staying
longer. Shpresa, a single mother from Korça, described her particular situation:
I was in Germany with my daughter and the family of my sister. We lived in the same house. I had
one bedroom and one kitchen; my sister the same. My sister’s family was given the decision to
leave; they let me stay because I needed treatment... I asked to leave Germany voluntarily. After
my sister and the other Albanians who lived in the same house left, I was told they would bring
in Syrians and I was scared. (...) I returned because I was scared.
The second group (more than 90 %) consists of those households or individuals who returned to Albania after receiving
a negative decision from the host country authorities. Some of them challenged the decision and hired a lawyer but the
57 World Bank Group (2019) Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development/The World Bank.
58 The European Commission considers a country to be safe if it is a democracy and if there is no general or consistent persecution, torture, inhuman treatment or
punishment, threat of violence or armed conict.
88 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
result remained the same. The only benet was prolonging the stay, but the lawyer’s fees were not insignicant given
their budget. Gjergj, a returned asylum seeker from Tirana, said of his experience:
‘After the negative feedback on the asylum application, we kept ghting. We had heard that we
had to hire a lawyer and we had to pay. (...) The lawyer was hopeful and said that, because we
were from the Roma community, we had a good chance of winning. He asked for 400 euros. We
used all the money we had saved to pay him. We were hoping the lawyer would help the case,
but he did not succeed either. After two months, we received a letter and the lawyer said there
was nothing he could do because the laws were like that.’
Within this group are two subgroups. The rst subgroup consists of those households or individuals who returned
voluntarily after the refusal of their application. They were aware that they could no longer stay legally in the host
country and did not want to be subject to penalties (for fear that their passport would be taken away). Artan, a father
who lives in the suburb of Peshkopia, says:
I tried everything to stay in Germany; I did not want to return. I went there for the future of
my children (...). However, I came to understand that my plans could not be realized. I returned
voluntarily. I came back to Albania.
Some of the families who returned voluntarily also received material and nancial aid upon their departure. Such aid
was aimed to incentivize voluntary return, promote a sustainable return for asylum seekers and prevent re-emigration.59
EU countries provide such aid either on their own or in cooperation with international organizations such as the
International Organization for Migration (IOM). Meanwhile, many NGOs that operate in these countries provide return
assistance. A number of participants in focus group discussions and interviews reported such return assistance, the
eectiveness of which is yet to be evaluated. Marjeta, a young mother from Kamza, says:
In Germany, before we left, we were given new clothes for all family members. We were also
given Euro 300–400 to my husband, Euro 300–400 to me and Euro 200 to the children.
Others say that they have received around 250 euro, plus the fare back to Albania. In some particular cases, the family
may have beneted after return to Albania, receiving nancial aid for a few more months. Nazmi, from Kamza, who
has two paralysed children, says:
After we returned to Albania, I was given nancial aid for four more months. One month, they
sent Euro 250, another month 300, the next month 150 and one month 100 Euro. I got the
money while in Albania and sent an e-mail to conrm receipt.
The second group, which is certainly a smaller one, consists of those whose return was enforced by the police. In this
case, the authorities of EU countries may undertake some sanctions or disincentivising measures, such as banning a
person from entry into the EU for a certain period of time, not granting the return assistance, etc. Many families and
individuals in this group were hoping to the very end to be able to prolong their stay in the host country. Bledar from
Gjirokastra, who knows many families who were forced to return, says: ‘We were hoping to the very end (...). Perhaps
to earn some more money or obtain a work contract’. Others were hoping that the lawyer they had hired could
manage to have the decision revised or extend the stay in the host country but usually without success, as we saw with
the case of Gjergji, above.
59 The amount of aid diers across countries and in accordance with the denition they assign to vulnerable groups. In general, these groups include unaccompanied
minors, victims of human tracking, female heads of households, etc. Germany and France, for example, cover travel costs and provide an allowance. In particular
cases, an amount of nancial aid is also provided.
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Experiences of forced return by the police are varied. Rajmonda, a mother from a village in Belsh, tells of her experience:
The police came at six in the morning and told us to get ready. They waited until we got ready
and then we left for the airport. The kids were a bit scared but there was no violence by the
police.
However, some interviewees had traumatic experiences, especially for the children, from forced return to Albania.
Drita, a teacher from Durres who works in a social centre, relates her experience:
‘In the case of forced returns, children have experienced a traumatic situation and they have
found it dicult to recover because they were very scared. They were scared when they saw
police ocers at 4 a.m. at their door, the way they have been taken out of their home....’
7.2 Return to home country
The return to the home country for Albanian asylum seekers – who may have spent months or even years in the host
country – is accompanied by strong emotional stress.
The rst contact for migrants returned forcibly is with the border police at the country’s points of entry (the airport
or the land border-crossing points). Participants said that their interactions with the border police were all quite
appropriate. Avni, a head of household from Berat, described it in simple words:
When I came to the airport, the [Albanian] police had taken our passports. They called my name
and I got my passport and with it returned to Berat with my family.
Others highlighted that they had not been given any assistance. Valbona, an old woman from Korça, shared her
experience:
When I came to Tirana, I had no money. I told the police that, in Germany, they returned us
with only our clothes on and we have nothing with us. I even left my ID card and money back in
Germany. All they gave us were the passports and nothing else. To return to Korça, I went to a
relative in Tirana and borrowed some money to pay the driver.
Meanwhile, those migrants who returned voluntarily entered as normal citizens.
Most respondents have returned to their previous dwellings, where they were generally welcomed by relatives,
neighbours and the community. According to the focus group participants, social relations were quickly re-established
and many of the community members showed an interest in the experience of the returnees in the host country.
Andra, a young woman from Belsh, describes her return experience:
Relations with the neighbours when we arrived were even better. Having returned from abroad,
they were curious and wanted to know more. (...) They asked whether we were able to make or
save any money (...). But we came back just as we had left.
90 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Such good relations also exist among the Roma and Egyptian communities. Elona, an informal leader in a Roma
settlement in Tirana, described it as:
You see them together over a coee or visiting each other (...). Many of the community residents
are interested in hearing about their experience abroad.
The rapid reintegration of the returnee households in the community may be explained both by the short stay in the
host country and because they maintained communication and friendly relations with community members back home.
In some cases, however, jealousy resurfaces (due to nancial savings) or a resurgence of old conicts can be observed.
The solidarity and assistance given by community members to returnee families in need is notable. Fuat from Fushe-
Kruja, who had surgery in Germany and who, due to his illness, is unable to work, receives nancial support from
other community members. In another case, Enver from Tirana, whose house was demolished to make space for the
construction of a road, said that, for several weeks after returning from Germany, his family was accommodated by his
relatives. However, this social capital is exhaustible, and the eventual intervention of institutions is required in order for
such problems to be resolved in a sustainable manner.
7.3 Reintegration
Albanians have a multidimensional understanding of reintegration into the home country. They agreed that their
reintegration is related to employment in the formal sector and market opportunities, the provision of social protection,
education for their children, eective healthcare, housing, the improvement of living conditions and infrastructure, safety
and security, the absence of discrimination and participation in social life. They emphasize that the local and central
government, international organizations and civil society should all engage in the constant campaign to improve their
living conditions.
For many returnees, the concept of reintegration is dynamic and enriched (i.e. made more demanding) after their return
from the asylum country. They compare various elements of the economic and social life of the two countries and seek
essential changes. Ismail, a Roma from Korça, put this into simple words:
‘In the rst place, we want to have a job, a more cultured life. Let us take what the Germans do
and apply it here. This is integration for me.’
7.4 Employment
Unemployment and a lack of income are the key challenges faced by most returned Albanian asylum seekers. More than
half of them are unemployed, while many others nd only occasional and unskilled jobs in the informal sector. Mimoza,
an experienced employee of the employment oce in Kukes, said:
When they return, they come to the employment oce and register themselves as unemployed.
They re-inscribe themselves into economic aid schemes. First, they request employment, but we
do not have a lot of employment opportunities to oer (...) The unemployment rate in our town
is very high.
Such impressions are conrmed by ocial data showing that, in spite of minor improvements in recent years, youth
unemployment (aged 15–24 years old) in Albania is 27.3 per cent.60
60 World Bank (2019) Western Balkans Labour Market Trends 2019. Washington DC: The World Bank.
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Amid such high unemployment rate, many returnees have registered with employment oces to nd a job, but
results have been discouraging, due to the lack of job openings. For those jobs that are available, the wage rates are
discouragingly low. Ndriçim, head of a household from Berat, described his experience at the employment oce:
The rst problem I faced upon my return was nding a job. I have no prospect of employment.
I went to the employment oce but there are no jobs. My wife and I went there together, and
we were told that, for the moment, there were no jobs, but they would call us. It has been seven
months now but no phone call so far. When I asked about economic assistance, they told me
I was a young man and had to work. (...) What kind of reasoning is this?! There are no jobs and
they do not give you economic assistance.
Gent, who had been an asylum seeker in Germany, related to a similar experience:
After I returned, I went to the employment oce and they told me they would call me. I went
there ve more times but no call so far. They do not give me economic assistance because they
say I can work. However, I have four children to feed. The only source of income for me is
occasional work in the informal sector. If I nd work, I bring bread home; if I don’t nd work, I
have nothing to bring home.
Many returnees from asylum are unhappy with the ineciency and poor behaviour of the civil-service bureaucracy,
notably in employment oces. They cite examples from similar institutions in Germany, comparing the two. Edlira, a
mother from Kukes, says indignantly:
Why should I go to the employment oce? My name is already registered in their system as an
unemployed person. They invite me to register again as an unemployed person. I have to go there
every month. In Germany it was dierent. For example, when you are unemployed, in Germany,
the system generates the data. (...) When you register with the unemployment oce, within a
week they call you and you start a job. (...) Here, the employment oce is like a theatre.
Disillusioned by formal employment institutions, many returned asylum seekers turn to social networks (family members
and acquaintances) to nd a job. These networks are more ecient, although often the outcome is the same. Reshit,
head of a family from Berat, described his experience:
It has been a month and a half since I returned from Germany and I cannot nd a job. I ask
people around, but they oer me only very low-paid jobs. They say they can pay me no more
than 15,000 lek a month [Euro about 120]. It is worse than before. Even my wife is unemployed.
Other returnees try to nd employment through advertisements or direct visits to potential employers, usually with
limited success.
Self-employed returnees also face signicant diculties. Many of them have lost their spot in the market, their clients
and their suppliers and have diculty adapting to new market conditions. Entela, a young girl from Tirana, told her story:
When we returned to Albania, we were in a very dicult economic situation. My parents, who
used to sell clothes in the market, had lost all their connections. It took time to re-establish them.
92 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Meanwhile, other returnees, depending also on the country and duration of migration, want to set up small businesses,
mainly in services and agriculture. Having no adequate funds to start up their business, funding through bank credit or
international donors would be a welcome development.
This situation is much more dicult for Roma and Egyptians – the poorest of the poor61 – because of their generally
low educational and professional levels, limited social capital with the majority population and discrimination. Artur, a
young Roma from Tirana, asserts:
‘When we returned from Germany, my family stayed jobless for eight months, until dad found
a job’.
Of total returnees, unemployment among Roma and Egyptians is notably higher and they are more vulnerable than
the majority population.62
The reasons why returned asylum seekers are unable to nd a job vary. First, there is an overall shortage of job
opportunities in Albania and this is conrmed by most returnees. Edlira, a mother from Kukes, states:
It is impossible to nd a job here (…). Even if you have a university diploma, you can’t nd a job.
For example, three people in my family hold a university diploma, and none of them have ever
had a job.
In the meantime, others emphasize that they nd it dicult to adapt to the demands of the labour market in Albania
because they lack many of the required educational and vocational qualications and expertise. An additional factor is
that low salaries and dicult working conditions (long hours, distance from home, hard work, etc.) demotivate many
people and keep them from working in the dominant textile and footwear re-exporting industry or in services. Avni,
who lives in Belsh, says:
In our town, you have only two opportunities for a job: either work in one of these factories or
as a waiter in a bar or restaurant. But they only pay you 500 Albanian lek a day (approximately
Euro 4). What can you buy with that?!
A lack of social infrastructure (nurseries, kindergartens, etc.) is another factor that prevents many women and young
mothers from participating in production processes. Merita, an ocial in the small town of Cerrik, says:
In the territory under our municipality it is dicult to nd a job. Many women and young mothers
may go to neighbouring Elbasan city, where some factories are asking for new workers. (...) But
there are no nurseries or kindergartens in town. As a result, there is no one to care for the little
ones while their mothers are o at work.
Finding themselves jobless, many young Albanians migrate to EU countries for short periods, making use of Schengen
visas and work in the informal sector. These visas, as it was pointed out before, allow passport holders from Albania to
move within the Schengen area for 90 days in any 180-day period. In some cases, this is a cyclical migration (migrate for
90 days, return to Albania, migrate again), which may turn into long-term migration in the future (see Section 8). There
are cases where such cyclical migrations are well organized and coordinated.
61 De Soto, H ., Gordon, P., Gëdeshi, I. and Sinoimeri, Z. (2002) Poverty in Albania: A Qualitative Assessment. Washington DC: World Bank Technical Paper No. 520; De
Soto, H., Beddies, S. and Gëdeshi, I. (2005) Roma and Egyptians in Albania: From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion. Wa shington DC: The World Bank.
62 A World Bank study showed that unemployment among the Roma and Egyptian populations (aged 15–64 years old) in 2017 was 56 per cent, against 38 per cent
for the surrounding majority population. Compared to 2011, unemployment for these minority groups was 34 per centage points higher. For further information,
see: Robayo-Abril, M. and Millán, N. (2019) Breaking the Cycle of Roma Exclusion in the Western Balkans. Washing ton DC: The World Bank.
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Altin, a local government employee in a city in the north of Albania, says:
In our city, some women work as babysitters in Kosovar families in an EU country. They came to
know these families during the period in which they were applying for asylum. At the end of the
90-day period, one returns and another one goes to this family. They alternate.
Other returnees (mainly Egyptians) go to Istanbul, where they work under hard conditions (long hours, no social
insurance, etc.) in the manufacturing industry (textiles, footwear, bag and suitcase production, etc.) as well as in
construction, services, etc.63 Yet, they get paid more than in Albania and their wages satisfy minimum living conditions.
In many cases, children aged 8–15 years old work long hours along with their parents, which obviously keeps them
away from school. Fatmira, a divorced Egyptian woman from Korça, who lives with her daughter at her parents’ home,
described it as follows:
When I returned from Germany, I could not nd a job. (…) I stayed for a while in Albania and
then migrated to Turkey. (…) I had to work for 12 hours (…). My daughter worked together with
me. (…) I went to Turkey only with my daughter and wanted to work.
There are also more positive experiences. For young returnees who attended school and vocational training courses,
participated in internships, learned a new language and changed their mentality in the country of migration, it is easier
to nd a job in the formal sector. Fatos, a young man from Tirana, said:
When I returned, I went to the employment oce to seek a job. (...) But I found it myself, through
Facebook. (...) I work in a call centre in German.
These new skills are noted among those young people who have spent long periods of time abroad and who were able
to benet from training and learning opportunities in the EU.
Professional training and assistance from international organizations have also enabled some returnees to nd jobs in
the formal sector. This was the case with Altin, who described his experience:
An international organization supported me to nd a job. I rst sought vocational training, which
is free of charge for us. When I nished the course, the international organization helped me to
nd a job within two weeks. I work in a restaurant.
Many respondents said that they wanted to attend vocational training courses in Albania. They think this could help
them to nd a job in their country of origin or abroad. However, it should be noted that vocational training courses
often do not match labour market needs. Shpresa, a local ocial from north Albania, said:
In our city, two vocational courses are oered, tailoring and plumbing. However, even if you
complete the course, there is no chance of employment. Here there are no tailoring enterprises.
63 Gëdeshi, I., Mykerezi, P. and Danaj, E. (2016) Mapping of Skills, Employment and Entrepreneurship Opportunities of Roma and Egyptians in the Project Sites of Tirana, Durres,
Berat and Shkodra. Tirana: UNDP.
94 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
7.5 Housing
The socio-economic situation is even harder for returnee families who sold their houses and other assets to nance
their trip to the destination country. Upon return, they have been accommodated by their relatives, but their situation
is dire, nonetheless. This is the case for Zana, a Roma woman from Tirana, who returned from France:
Our family expenses to go to France were €3,000. In order to secure this amount of money, we
sold everything we had and also borrowed money. (...) After return, we live in the house of my
mother-in-law. We live 10 people in a room.
The situation is also dicult for Roma households who live in the area known as ‘Pallati me Shigjeta’ in Tirana, whose
houses have been demolished. Avni, a Roma head of family who has returned from Germany, said:
When we were in Germany, our home was demolished, together with the furniture. My brother
was in the city and could not save anything except a TV set. All the other furniture was destroyed
together with the house. (...) When we returned to Albania, we had no place to stay. In the rst
three months, we suered; we moved from one place to another, our relatives helped, we stayed
in each place for some time. Our son was accommodated somewhere else, as we could not
stay seven people together in one place. This went on until we got the second instalment for the
rent. Then, we rented a place. (...) So far, the state has paid the rent. However, [soon], they will no
longer pay the rent and we do not know what will happen to us. The situation is getting worse.
Some other families have found their homes in ruins or heavily damaged upon return and they do not have enough
nancial resources for the necessary reconstruction work. A few of them, especially those returning after a long stay
in the EU, have used their savings to renovate their homes. Ermira, a single mother from Rrëshen, tells us about her
experience:
When we got back to Albania, the house was a disaster. Every item we had was ruined. We tried
to somehow x the situation, using up around Euro 2,000 we had saved.
Having no home at all, or a deteriorated one, may serve as a push factor for some families to re-emigrate. This is the
case of Hamdi, a returnee who lives in the municipality of Kamza, who states:
I do not receive any social aid, my home is destroyed, almost uninhabitable. I am left with no
option. What can we do here?
Other returnee families have been faced with electricity or water bills for the time they had been in the host country. In
the absence of nancial resources, these families live under considerable stress. Hasani, head of a household in Kamza,
describes his situation:
When I got back to Albania, the electricity had been cut o. I had been mistakenly billed 30,000
Albanian lek (...). That had been an error. I had to go from one oce to another to solve the
problem.
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Fiqiri, another resident in Kamza, told a similar story:
When I came back to Albania, I found out my water bill was 40,000 Albanian lek. I had paid my
bills before leaving. However, I was billed 40,000 lek, although I had not consumed a single drop
of water. I went several times to the city, but the bill is yet to be paid. I went again, I found the
money, I paid my bill and, because it was overdue, I had to pay higher fees.
Housing is particularly an issue for many Roma and Egyptian returnees in Albania. Many of them live in huts or
dilapidated and overcrowded houses in segregated peri-urban or rural areas with inadequate infrastructure (lack of
water supply, sanitation and roads).64 Sonila, a young Roma mother from Tirana, lamented: ‘We live like we used to, 10
people in one home. But the children are now grown up and it is very dicult for us...’.
There are also cases where the returnees, with the money saved during their stay in the host country, have renovated
or built a house or purchased a small apartment. In the Roma settlement of Fushë-Kruja, some families are building
homes with the money saved in Germany. Emin, an informal community leader from Fushë-Kruja, says:
The savings in Germany were so good (...) that we managed to build a home. Our families stayed
three years, and some even four years (...). When they started to return, the economy recovered,
because they are making construction works.
7.6 Social Protection
The state’s social security fund comprises four components: (i) state economic assistance; (ii) retirement benets; (iii)
unemployment assistance; and (iv) disability payments. Due to a new evaluation system implemented since the beginning
of 2018, some returnee households have been excluded from the state economic assistance scheme. Moreover, many
of the returned asylum seekers stated that the state economic assistance which their families receive is too little to
cover daily living expenses. Valbona, an older woman from Korça, stated:
With the money I get from state economic assistance I buy our and make bread myself. But I
am sick and I also need some fruit. In Germany I had proper food; here I don’t.
In the absence of adequate economic assistance, many returnees do occasional jobs in the informal sector (construction,
scrap-metal collection, etc.). Some of them (mainly Roma and Egyptians) have tricycle pickup trucks and old cars for
transporting scrap iron. However, that is often used as a justication to exclude them from state economic assistance.
Sonja from Korça spoke of her experience:
My family does not benet from economic assistance. When we got back from Germany, we
bought an old car with some money we had saved there, with which my husband collects scrap
iron in the villages. The car is old but, in the registration papers, it is a car, which therefore
excludes us from economic assistance entitlement. But they should come and see the situation
we live in rst and then cut o the economic assistance.
Some other returnee families do not receive state economic assistance because the law stipulates that households that
are not registered in the municipality are ineligible to receive it.
64 Robayo-Abril, M. and Millán, N. (2019) Breaking the Cycle of Roma Exclusion in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: The World Bank.
96 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Many returnee families said that they have faced bureaucratic obstacles to receiving state economic assistance. Sokol, a
Roma association leader in Tirana, said:
In relation to economic assistance there is a lot of bureaucracy regarding the documentation.
Some associations have helped the Roma with documentation. (...) But, even when they go to
the civil status oces, they send them away, saying: ‘Go away, you are not eligible!’ Some Roma
did not even go to apply.
Fatmir, an Egyptian from Shkodra, also stated:
When we go to the economic assistance oce, they tell us to: ‘Go get a job!’ But where do we
nd a job? They only send us from one oce to another.
7.7 Healthcare and psychosocial assistance
According to the interviews and focus group discussions, many returned asylum seekers beneted from free healthcare
in the migration country (mainly in Germany). In the meantime, returnees from asylum are faced with two main
challenges.
The rst one is access to and the quality of healthcare services. Some of the returnees who are unemployed or work
in the informal sector do not have health cards or are not entitled to free healthcare services. According to Albanian
legislation, children under 18 years old, pregnant women, people with disabilities, pensioners, employees in the formal
sector and unemployed people registered in employment oces are all entitled to health cards. All other groups have
to pay for them. Skënder, a returnee from Berat, said:
They do not give you a health card, because you have to work. Neither my wife nor me have a
health card. The problem is, if one gets sick, where are we supposed to go? We need the health
card.
For unemployed people and those working on low incomes in the informal sector, medical treatment can be unaordable,
and this is certainly the case for most returned asylum seekers, who are one of the poorest groups in Albania. Arben,
a returnee in Berat, related his experience:
My daughter should see a doctor every three months. But I have to pay here; in Germany, visits
were free. (...) When you go to the doctor, you have to pay out of your pocket, but I have no
money because I am unemployed.
The quality of healthcare services is often low and there are cases when the doctors are unable to determine the
diagnosis and respective treatment. This pushes many poor families to seek a solution in EU countries by applying for
asylum. This is what Majlinda, a young mother from Korça, said:
My sister emigrated to Germany because of the unemployment here. But she must go there
again, because of her sick son (...) and doctors here cannot establish his diagnosis. She wants to
go back to Germany only to have her son treated but she has no money for the trip. We are
very much in diculty here.
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Some other returnees who had been treated in EU countries would have to continue their medical treatment, according
to the doctors’ recommendation, in private hospitals. However, the impossibility of receiving specialized healthcare in
private hospitals, because of the high costs, continues to be of great concern for some returned asylum-seeking families.
Elvira, a returned asylum seeker, said:
Me and my son were sick and were cured in the hospital in Germany. Now we have to go every
month for a check-up at the American Hospital in Tirana. But I cannot take my boy there. The
economic assistance that we receive is insucient to cover even the travelling expenses.
The second challenge is about the psychological stress experienced by returnees, especially those who live under
inadequate conditions or have been returned by police.65 Such psychological stress, according to interviews and focus
group discussions, is more notable among women and children. There are a number of reasons for such a psychosocial
situation, some of which are listed below.
The living conditions and education in the host country are in deep contrast with the poverty and dicult circumstances
which they nd back in the home country, producing a negative impact on the social and economic conditions for many
returnee children. According to interviews with schoolteachers and psychologists, those children who live in the worst
conditions generally have the worst emotional experience upon return to the home country. This is what Mimoza, a
social worker in Fushë-Kruja, witnesses:
I believe that what aects the children the most is the dierence in the economic conditions.
They were used to having everything available there: a safe home, food, welfare benets that
parents received each month. When they come here, none of these are available. This is a kind
of shock both to the parents and to the children. (...) It particularly aects the emotional situation
of the children, who nd it dicult to adjust. As a result, they are no longer so open, do not say
much and do not immediately socialize with friends at school.
The lack of social, cultural or sports events and activities is another factor that deepens the contrast between the host
and home countries. Entela, a psychologist in a school in Durres, says:
There is a very great contrast because they talk about the many activities they had there, both
at school and outside school. For example, in addition to school, they had many activities they
could do in the afternoons. Here they don’t even have a playground, let alone amusement parks.
For this reason, in all interviews and focus groups, the children emphasize that they hope to migrate again with their
families.
However, there are also cases when the diculties and some negative aspects of daily life in the host country, especially
among those households that had to stay throughout the entire asylum procedure in reception facilities, have traumatized
the children. Staying in a camp for a long time or frequently changing the domicile often causes more stress and fewer
integration opportunities, especially for younger children. Teuta, a teacher from Durres, said:
Even some of the children that I asked did not like the life there [in camps]. They had to share
the kitchen, the toilets (...).
65 For an overview of this problem, see Vathi, Z. and King, R., eds. (2017) Return Migration and Psychosocial Wellbeing: Discourses, Policymaking and Outcomes for Migrants
and their Families. London: Routledge.
98 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
They live in an insecure environment and have established fewer social relations. Elvira, a social worker in Durres,
describes her experience with a Roma student:
Mimoza, a 10-year-old Roma student who comes to our centre, is often scared (...). While living
in a camp in Germany, her mother would accompany her wherever she went, even to the toilet.
At the camp, there had been cases of violence against children by adults. Her parents were afraid
that something bad could happen to Mimoza.
Children who have lived for a long time under inadequate conditions in the host country are more likely to develop
mental health problems. Therefore, many of the children who have lived in camps or in inadequate conditions do not
wish to re-migrate.
In other cases, children have been detached from one parent or have experienced the divorce of their parents, causing
inevitable stress and anxiety. Fatmir, a parent of two from Korça, reported his case:
When people started to migrate to Germany, we thought we could migrate as well. But we did
not have the money for the trip. So, initially my wife and my 10-year-old son left rst, and I stayed
in Albania with the younger boy. But the younger son was worried and constantly wanting his
mother. (...) So we borrowed some money and left together with the 8-year-old son. (...) But in
Germany I was not put in the same place where my wife was. I stayed for over a month, unable
to join my wife and the other son. The younger son was constantly crying, I was also crying (...).
Only after a month was I able to join my wife.
In the meantime, the parents ‘divorce in the host country may cause even more problematic situations for the children.
Rovena, a teacher from Durres who works in a social centre, says:
The parents of another child who attends our centre are divorced and that happened during
their stay in the host country. The father returned with the son, whereas the mother has a
daughter with another man and lives in Germany. The child experienced the divorce very badly
and has not yet overcome the trauma. He holds it inside, is closed in on himself.
Some children have had traumatic experiences from their family’s forced return to Albania. Traumatized behaviours of
children returned by force from the host country are noted in dierent regions. Drita, a teacher from Durres, shares
her experience:
When they came to our centre, the children shared their stories of how their mum and dad had
been taken by force; they left home with no belongings, just what they had on (...). They felt very
bad; they had experienced it as psychological violence. Upon return here, they have been helped
a lot by their teachers to overcome that experience. We have also worked closely with them, we
have talked to them, we have been like a psychologist to them.
In many cases, poorly educated parents are unable to understand the psychological stress of their children and the
relevant interventions.
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7.8 Education
The sustainable reintegration of returnee children in Albania is a complex process that involves a number of elements,
such as the improvement of economic conditions for their households (parents’ employment and income), housing,
healthcare, access to education and social protection. Diculties in reintegration may cause social and emotional as
well as psychological problems for children, which may lead them to drop out of school. This again may serve as a
push factor for parents to emigrate. In this subsection, we will focus only on the reintegration of children in schools,
addressing their knowledge of the Albanian language, enrolment in schools, segregation and bullying by peers, etc.
There are several problems related to the integration of returnee children in schools. The rst is the enrolment
and certication of diplomas or degrees. Some returnee children do not have any school documents (transcripts,
certicates, etc.) from the destination country and have, therefore, been enrolled in lower grades upon return. The lack
of school documents is the most evident in the case of children from families subject to forced return by host country
authorities. In this case, they lack all the necessary school documents.
In those cases where returnee children do have school certicates that indicate their level of education, they are in the
language of the EU host country. They need, therefore, to be translated and notarized, which is an additional cost for
many returnee families. Edvin, a parent from Dibra, states:
I registered my children in school through many diculties. (...) They asked for the German
documents to be translated, school records translated, but all that was costly (...). And yet, they
still wanted to register them in a lower-level class.
Other children have returned mid-year and could lose a school year.
According to our data, around 20 per cent of returned children have lost one or more school years and this is
perceived negatively by many parents. Ervin, a father from Kamza, complains about the school enrolment of his children:
We went to Germany without documents (...). Still, three teams came to us, for my three children.
‘Your child is this age and we will take him/her to such and such a school’. Immediately, they took
the younger child, who was of school age, to school by car, until we got these tickets (...). They
were organized, for 15 days arrangements were made for my children to be able to attend school
in Germany. (...) When I got back, I was faced with a thousand problems, to the point that I had
a heated argument with those at the education oce. My kids lost one school year.
The registration of children in lower grades often generates stress and isolates them vis-à-vis their previous classmates.
In many cases, this is an underlying factor behind dropouts. This is what Anila, a psychologist in a school in Durres,
points out:
There are children, for example, who are 12 years old, and they still attend the second grade.
They feel bad because they are older than the rest of the pupils. They nd it dicult to adapt: the
teacher is new, the other pupils are younger, it depends on how the class receives them (...) This
may be a push factor for dropping out.
Some children who have spent a long time abroad, including those who have completed several years of schooling in
the host country, have problems with the Albanian language. Dritan, a father from Rrëshen, explained:
My daughter started her rst grade in Germany, and when we returned, she had nished the
third grade. When we came to Albania, she had problems because she did not know the letters
of the alphabet, she mixed them up. But she could speak the Albanian language uently.
100 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Shpëtim, a young parent from Berat, voiced a similar concern:
My daughter left in the middle of her rst class in Germany, and here she started from the
beginning. But she has diculties with the Albanian language.
Some problems were also noted with science-related subjects, as the curriculum in Albania diers notably from that in
the host country. Elvira, a school principal in Fieri, stated:
The curriculum of maths and some other science-related subjects is dierent from the one in
Germany. Subsequently, some returnee students are facing diculties. Together with a group of
teachers, we have been working hard with the returnee students.
Bullying is another factor that negatively aects the children. Miranda, a youth activist from Kamza, says:
There are cases when returned children are subject to bullying by their classmates. They are
told that those who seek asylum in EU countries are ‘stony broke’. This causes isolation for the
returned children and generates emotional stress.
However, the general picture gleaned from the interview and focus group material is that many children have beneted
from staying and studying in an EU country, thus enhancing their human and social capital. They have a changed
mentality, speak a foreign language, use new technologies, are more active in class and enjoy free discussions. This is
what Denisa, an experienced school principal in Fieri, arms:
The returned children have faced no diculties at all. They are integrated. They participate
actively in school activities (...), they are familiar with the new technologies, they speak up very
freely, because they have been educated in such a way.
Certain donors and international organizations – such as Terre des Hommes, Save the Children, World Vision, etc.–
have provided signicant assistance for the reintegration of returnee children. They have assisted with the applicable
documentation, after-school classes, homework and the organization of various activities.
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8. Intentions for the future
The returnees’ desire and planning to migrate again in future is an indicator of the sustainability of the reintegration
process in Albania. In the absence of mechanisms to support the reintegration of returnees, many of them may nd
themselves even worse o than prior to migration. As a result, re-emigration may be an alternative for many returned
asylum seekers. A study on potential migration, realized in 2018, showed that those migrants aged 18–40 returning due
to the global economic crisis (mainly returning from Italy and Greece) had a higher inclination to migrate (71 %) than
those who had never migrated before (48 %).66 Among the underlying factors for this phenomenon is their failure to
reintegrate in the home country. So, what happens with the group of returned asylum seekers in Albania?
In the focus group discussions and interviews, we asked returnees whether they planned to emigrate from Albania again
in the future. Most of them responded that they plan to migrate ‘within the year’, ‘in the next two years’ or ‘at a later
stage’.67 Some interlocutors said that they had obtained a work contract and were waiting on the visa to be issued by
the embassy of the respective country. Altin, a returnee who now lives in Gjirokastra, says:
I am going to work in Dresden, Germany. I will work in construction, for an Albanian entrepreneur
who owns his company in Germany. (...) I will go alone rst, and my family will join me later.
Other returnees have beneted from visa-free travel in the Schengen area. They work for three months in the informal
sector in Germany, mainly in construction, services and agriculture. They learn a trade, they have work experience, they
have social networks in the host country, they know the language and are waiting on a long-term employment contract.
In general, such short-term individual migration precedes and prepares the ground for a longer-term family migration.
This is what Ismail, an unemployed man from Peshkopi, says:
I returned only two days ago from Germany, where I obtained a work contract with a rm that
sells construction materials. (...) When I eventually get the visa, I will leave, together with my family,
for Germany.
The desire to migrate is related to how the returnees imagine their future, especially the future of their children. This
perception of the future is related to many of the elements of the quality of life analysed earlier, namely employment,
wages, social protection, the quality of education and healthcare, housing, security, infrastructure, environment, etc.
66 Gëdeshi, I. and King, R. (2018) New Trends in Potential Migration from Albania. Tirana: F. Ebert Foundation; King, R. and Gëdeshi, I. (2019) New trends in
potential migration from Albania: the migration transition postponed? Migration and Development. Retrieved January 2020 from www.tandfonline.com/doi/
abs/10.1080/21632324.2019.1608099?journalCode=rmad20.
67 This is emphasized by other studies conducted with the returnees in Albania. See: Hackaj, A. and Shehaj, A. (2017) Disconnected: Return from Germany and
Reintegration Challenges of Albanian Asylum Seekers. Tirana: Cooperation and Development Institute, Working Paper ‘Berlin Process Series’; Gëdeshi, I. and Xhaferaj,
E. (2016) Social and Economic Prole of the Return Migrants in Albania. Tirana: IOM; INSTAT and IOM (2014) Return Migration and Reintegration in Albania. Tirana:
INSTAT/IOM.
102 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Nermin, a mother from Kamza, says:
The future here is very gloomy. It is dicult. Our family is composed of seven members. I am the
only one who has a job. I have ve children and a daughter-in-law. For at least two more years,
my daughter-in-law will not be able to go to work, because the baby is only two months old. The
other children go to school (...) and we need to invest in them. Regardless of how much I work,
I earn only 35,000–40,000 lek per month. Seven persons living on 40,000 lek per month, having
to pay the bills, let alone hospital expenses (...). I am thinking to emigrate. If an opportunity arises,
I will emigrate.
As also shown from this interview, economic factors prevail. However, the reality and the outlook are even gloomier for
those returnees who have remained unemployed for a long time. Having no jobs in the formal sector, many households
say they try to survive and live on ‘economic aid’, the tiny retirement pension of their parent(s), remittances from
relatives, disability payments or earnings from occasional work in the informal sector. In the meantime, the amount of
‘economic aid’ and of the other mentioned sources is small –insucient to take returned families out of poverty – and
does not narrow the inequality gap. Mira, a woman from Kukes, explains:
We live on ‘economic aid’ from the state. (...) But is 5000 lek of economic aid enough? (...) We are
not asking for money without working, we do not want ‘economic aid’ at all. We want a job, we
want to work, a job for my husband.
As a result, unemployment/underemployment and, to a lesser extent, low wages and the need for the improvement of
living conditions are the main factors driving returnees to re-emigrate to EU countries.
This nding of the study may also be viewed (and reinforced) from another perspective. Statistics show that, in 2018,
the average GDP per capita in Albania amounted to 31 per cent of the EU’s average. Compared to countries like the
Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, etc., this indicator was much lower.68 The question to ask is then: Do Albanian
returnees or the poorest segment of the population migrate to these countries due to their much higher economic
and social level, or is their potential migration a reection of the inability to full basic needs in the home country?
Although push and pull factors interact and may not be separated, in almost all focus group discussions and interviews,
the participants point out that they migrate because of dicult economic conditions in Albania. In the words of Burim,
an unemployed returnee from Kukes:
We want employment. If Albanians have a chance to work, even one person per family, in
Albania, I do not think people would want to migrate. We do not claim to be Germany, or
Switzerland or France. We want minimum living conditions. (...) But here there is no prospect of
employment, at all.
Faced with unemployment, some of the returned families live on the savings they accumulated during their stay in the
host country as an asylum seeker. However, their savings are limited and will soon come to an end, which creates stress
and insecurity about the future of their families. Fatmir, a returned asylum seeker from Korça, said: ‘We live on savings
from Germany. But until when?!’
The comparison of push factors before and after the application for asylum reveals that the reintegration process,
at least for some of its essential components (such as employment, social protection, healthcare and security) has
not been as expected. Many asylum seekers who have returned to Albania stress that the situation of their families,
compared to the period before they applied for asylum ‘has not changed’ or is ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’.69 As a result,
68 Eurostat (2019) GDP per capita, consumption per capita and price level indices. Retrieved December 2019 from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/
index.php/GDP_per_capita,_consumption_per_capita_and_price_level_indices#Relative_volumes_of_GDP_per_capita.
69 Respondents were asked: Compared to the period prior to applying for asylum, after the return, would you consider the situation of your household as better or
worse?
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migration remains the main coping mechanism enabling them to take the family out of poverty or a dicult economic
situation such as recurring debt. Most returnees say that, under the current circumstances, emigration to an EU country
would greatly improve the nancial situation of their families and provide a clear future perspective for their children.
This desire for a better future for the children is stated in almost all group discussions and interviews. It is perceived as
better education and more opportunities for prospective employment in the formal sector. Ermira, a mother of two
from Elbasan, says:
We think about the children’s future. As for us, even if we stay here, we will survive. But we think
about the future of our children, for a better life for them.
Despite their desire to migrate, not all returnees have the resources to do so. Some face nancial obstacles and do not
have the money for their trip to the host country. Krenar, the head of a family from Kukes, says:
We do not have the means to emigrate. We are unemployed and live on ‘economic aid’. (...) Once
we were able to borrow money, perhaps twice. But, no one lends to you three times.
Others face diculties with regard to passports, which keeps them from travelling abroad. This is the case for Afrim, a
young man from Has in the region of Kukes:
I have a work contract to work as an electrician in Germany. (...) But, I cannot obtain a visa, due
to the ban. One year is over now and I have to wait for another 18 months.
Meanwhile, some others do not have the necessary human capital (having no profession or being seen as ‘too old’, etc.)
to emigrate. Ahmet, a returnee who now lives in Gjirokastra, says:
I am a driver by trade, I have worked for many years as a truck driver in various EU countries.
(...) A foreign company wanted to hire drivers, but when they learned about my age – I am now
in my 50s – they turned me down. They wanted to hire young men, around 35 (...). So, I cannot
emigrate, they would not hire me because of my age. This is my destiny.
8.1 Forms of emigration
We asked our interlocutors about their desired form of emigration – i.e. whether they wanted to migrate following a
regular procedure or apply again for asylum in an EU country. Most returnees plan to emigrate following the regular
procedure, obtaining a work contract and visa. Mira, a young mother from Belsh, a returnee who had previously applied
for asylum in Germany, says:
We want to nd a work contract and emigrate in a regular form. We do not want to seek asylum;
we are not incapacitated for the German government to take care of us. We want to work.
In the meantime, many returnees clearly understand that, nowadays, migration through seeking asylum has become
more dicult and hence is unproductive. The change in procedures (the short processing time, reduction in monetary
benets, staying in camps) in Germany has resulted in less time to stay; consequently, the cost of travel is much higher
than the savings they can make in the migration country.
104 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
Mentor, a Roma informal leader from Levan, reasons:
We are constantly in contact with our people in Germany. A friend of mine who went there
recently will return in a few days. So, for 20 days what can one do in Germany!? Only waste
money? How can one repay the debt?
The desire to migrate regularly from Albania motivates potential migrants, especially young ones, to enhance their
education level, to learn a foreign language and to acquire a profession so as to be able to obtain a work contract.
Interviewees were specically asked about the training or profession they would like to learn or follow. More than
two-thirds of our respondents want to attend training, mainly to learn a profession that matches the labour market
demand in the desired host country (mechanic, plumber, electrician, barber/hairdresser, construction worker, assistant
cook, etc.). This is what Bujar, a young Roma from Tirana, hopes to do:
It would be nice to migrate again, but not to seek asylum. If I could get a work permit, I would
migrate. You need education and a profession to go and work in the migration destination
country.
Others wish to migrate to learn or improve their knowledge of the language of the host country, which would facilitate
obtaining a work contract and integration in that country. This desire and interest in improving the education level and
vocational training for this segment of the population should be supported, as it enhances the human capital of the
country and of the potential migrant.
Only a small portion of the interviewees (mainly Roma and Egyptians) declared that they will try to seek asylum again,
as soon as they have the chance (getting a passport, funding the trip, etc.). This is the case for Lulzim, an unemployed
Roma from Korça, who said:
I want to migrate again (…). I would apply for asylum again since I do not have anyone who can
help me there…
Petrit, a former asylum seeker and now a returnee living in Kamza, has no other hope but applying for asylum:
I see nothing in the horizon. No future at all. (...) I am obliged to nd a job. I went to the
employment oce, but there are no jobs. I am 63 years old, and my wife is 50 years old. She
is unemployed, too. We are all unemployed. Where are we to nd a way out? We must nd a
solution and will eventually nd some place at the end of the world.
This small group needs to be made aware of the negative implications that derive from applying for asylum. For most
of them, it would only deepen their poverty level. Moreover, many returned asylums seekers are not aware that they
cannot move within the Schengen area for at least 10 months, in cases where they have returned voluntarily, and at
least 30 months when they have been deported.
8.2 Where to?
Many returned asylum seekers believe that they and their families have better prospects in EU countries and especially
in Germany. This is related to the image that Albanian asylum seekers have about Germany as a socially progressive
country (education, healthcare, social protection) that oers plenty of employment opportunities (also for low-skilled
persons) and high wages. Interviews show that almost all returned asylum seekers say they wish to emigrate to
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Germany.70 Other preferred countries are Italy, France and the United Kingdom.
This preference of potential future Albanian migration ows mainly toward Germany will introduce new qualitative and
quantitative changes, notably in relation to income, savings, remittances and the human and social capital of Albanian
migrants.
Irrespective of the desire of most returned asylum seekers to re-migrate, two questions to ask are: What is the
dierence between these two ows? What is the dierence between asylum-seeker ows and the potential migration
of returnees over a span of several years? According to the group discussions and interviews, the main dierence is in
the form of migration and in what might term the ‘quality’ of migration ows. Most returned asylum seekers desire to
migrate regularly, with a work contract and visa, and only a small share opt to re-apply for asylum in an EU country. On
the other hand, the quality of these ows is either dierent or is changing. Potential migrants have acquired or are in
the process of learning a profession, speak or are in the process of learning a foreign language, have more information
and have social networks in the host country, have changed their mentality and see the future for their families from a
dierent perspective.
These new trends in potential migration amongst the returnees, such as education and vocational training, learning a
foreign language and regular migration instead of applying for asylum, need to be promoted and supported.
70 A study carried out in 2018 revealed that Germany is the most favourite country for potential migrants from Albania. For more information, see: Gëdeshi, I. and
King, R. (2018) New Trends in Potential Migration from Albania. Tirana: F. Ebert Foundation.
106 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
9. Conclusions and recommendations
Over the last three decades, Albania has experienced one of the largest processes in the world as regards the size
(per centage to the current population) and intensity of international migration.71 In almost the middle of the third
decade of this process, a new migration wave took place out of Albania, which unlike previous ones, was in the form of
asylum seeking in EU countries (mainly in Germany and France). While this phenomenon was present throughout the
third decade, it peaked in 2015, when around 67.000 Albanian citizens applied for asylum, only to diminish later due
to restrictive measures taken by host countries.72 This segment of the migrant population is among the poorest of the
Albanian society, ranked at the bottom of the household income ladder, but in contrast to some other Western Balkan
countries, it does not have a prominent Roma character.73
The social-demographic structure of this group shows clearly that its members are mainly young people, with a lower
education and professional level than the general population, in search for a better future for themselves, especially
for their children. The main underlying drivers for this phenomenon are economic conditions (poverty, long-term
unemployment, occasional unskilled and low-paid jobs in the informal sector, low wages, insignicant social assistance,
and debt). In addition, it has been driven by other factors such as unavailability and poor quality of healthcare services,
housing, conicts and physical uncertainties, which generate constant psychological stress, and low quality of education
(to mention a few). For certain subgroups (Roma and Egyptians), discrimination is an additional factor.
The return of Albanian asylum seekers - in terms of size and intensity, in certain years (2015-2017) Albania was at the
top of the list of countries for the number of returnees from EU countries,74 - has given rise to their reintegration in
terms of employment, health, housing, education and social services. Many returnees, depending on the duration of
stay and the experience acquired in the host country, have built up new human and social capital, have their mentality
changed and have adopted a new and broader understanding of reintegration. While based on mainly qualitative
techniques, the report documents that for many families and individuals such reintegration has not been sustainable,
especially in the social-economic aspect, and that the situation of their families has not changed (on the contrary,
in some cases it has worsened)75 vis-a-vis the pre-migration period. As a result, in the absence of assistance for a
sustainable reintegration, many returnees see re-emigration or second emigration in EU-countries, primarily Germany,
as the only available alternative. In what form could such emigration be?
The study shows that most returnees that wish to re-emigrate are actually much more aware, compared to several
years ago, that applying for asylum in an EU country is not the solution to their problems. They wish to emigrate
under regular terms, obtaining a work contract and a work visa. On the one hand, the cost-benet ratio, as a result
of restrictive measures (acceleration of asylum procedures, dicult accommodation conditions in camps, no daily
allowance, etc.) in EU host countries has changed. This means that costs (travel expenses, etc.) for the individual/family
is higher than potential benets in the host country, hence jeopardising their ability to repay debt that they will have
to take to fund their trip. On the other hand, they relate regular migration to employment and integration in the host
country (and not to a passive stay as asylum seekers in camps).
Only a small share of returnees, mainly Roma and Egyptians, say that they will reapply for asylum. In this case, local
authorities and various NGOs that operate in the eld of services, in addition to increasing their support for reintegration,
71 World Bank (2016a) Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016. Washington DC: The World Bank.
72 Schuring, E., Pearson, C., Castro, A., Mathebula, B., Kronenberg, V., Becker, M. and Horneber, J. (2017) Social Protection as an Alternative to Migration? An Assessment
of the Role of Social Protection in Reducing Push Factors for Migration in Dierent Country Contexts. Berlin: Gesellschaft für Versicherungswissenschaft und -Gestaltung e.v.
73 World Bank Group (2019) Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development/The World Bank.
74 World Bank Group (2019) Supporting the Eective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. Washington DC: International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development/The World Bank, Morrica, V. and Stavrou, S. (2018) PowerPoint presentation at the Inception Workshop ‘Supporting the Eective Reintegration
of (Roma) Returnees in the Western Balkans’. Vienna, 15 January.
75 According to focus group discussions and interviews, families that have borrowed money to fund their trip and return after a short s tay abroad, have not been able
to benet enough nancially to be able to pay back their debts, and are therefore worse o than they were before leaving the country.
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should work for raising their awareness that re-applying for asylum is not the solution to their problems and that all
this does is deepen their poverty.
The question to ask in this case is what we should do in order for the reintegration of returnees to be a dynamic
and sustainable process. In this case, their re-emigration would assume a dierent nature. It is clear to everyone that
improvement of services in education, healthcare, social protection, housing, security, etc. would require time, more
investments and at least a doubling of their share in the country’s GDP. This objective, which would diminish some
push factors for the Albanian migration, may be achieved only in the long term. Subsequently, we will present only a
few short and medium-term recommendations.
First, registration of returnees (spontaneous, voluntary, or forced) in all entry points or at least at Rinas airport76 and
collection of data. This may be realized through a structured interview with returnees related to migration causes,
experience and their needs. On this basis, a management information system may be set up, which collects electronic
data, connects returnees to the relevant institutions that provide services and follows up on the reintegration progress.
This system, which should send electronic data simultaneously at the central and local level, would allow for controlling
and measuring the eectiveness of reintegration policies and programmes. It may help stakeholders (service providers,
donors, international organizations and NGO-s) to prevent overlapping and better coordinate eorts to deliver services
to returnees. In addition, the system may exchange information with host country institutions on specic issues (e.g.
birth certicates for babies born there, school documents, medical certicates).
Strengthening local capacities in the area of services, especially in those municipalities with high numbers of returnees
is another aspect. This can be achieved through continued sta training for local service providers, drafting local
reintegration plans and envisaging funds in the respective budgets, and enhancing vertical coordination (with the central
government) and horizontal coordination (with international organizations and NGOs that work with returnees). Sta
training would enhance their eciency in their eorts for the reintegration of returnees. Moreover, it would enhance
the trust of returnees in public institutions (migration counters, employment oces, economic aid oces, etc.).77 In
some cases (especially in those municipalities with a high number of returnees), cross-sectoral teams may be set up with
employees from employment oces, economic aid, social care, education oces, police, local and international NGOs,
social workers and psychologists to help in the reintegration of returnees.
From the economic perspective, reintegration in Albania would require improving and expanding the employment
structure and small business opportunities, in order to provide employment for returnees in the formal sector and
higher income. This would not only help in their economic reintegration but would also contribute to less people feeling
pessimistic about their future in Albania and less people seeing migration as ‘the only way out’. Creating cooperatives
or social enterprises for returnees (for any other citizen as well) would be an eective way for creating new jobs mainly
in productive and processing sectors. Depending also on their age, education, country and time of stay, returnees have
brought in new human and social capital (skills, trainings, internships abroad, work experience in the formal and informal
sector, new mentality), which they can use to both their own and society’s benet. Another possibility for employment
and higher income would be assistance for starting up and expanding small and medium-sized enterprises (through
training on management, securing nancial resources, professional training, etc.).
Returning children should be assisted for their reintegration into the school system. This includes, rst and foremost,
their immediate enrolment in schools, in order not to be disqualied for that school year.78 Many families that have been
deported by the police, do not have any school documents for their children. In such case, the Ministry of Education,
Sports and Youth (MoESY) or any other institution in charge of education must explore opportunities for cooperation
with counterpart institutions in the host country for education-related documents (diplomas, certicates, etc.) of
returning children. Also, simplied procedures should be applied to minimize expenses for returning families pertaining
to translation and notarization of school documents for the children. In those cases when returning children do not
possess any school documents, they should be assisted with supplementary classes by experienced teachers prior to
their assessment/placement test, in order for these children to miss a school year. International and local NGOs that are
active in the eld of reintegration, should train directors of education departments and school principals, especially in
those Municipalities with a high number of returning children, concerning the implementation of instructions/decisions
by the MoESY, assistance for returnees and sharing success stories.
76 If returnees are not registered at the entry border crossing points, they should have the opportunity to register with local institutions, such as ‘migration counters’
or ‘employment oces’ in the city of their residence.
77 The negligible number of returnees registered with migration counters shows, among others, their low level of trust.
78 According to focus group discussions and interviews, children returnees that are not immediately registered in schools risk to miss the school year and eventually
drop out.
108 CONDUCTING A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MIGRATION SURVEY IN ALBANIA
The children who do not have an adequate mastery of the Albanian language should be assisted by experienced
teachers after normal classes, either at school or on other premises. This practice should also be applied to other
specic subjects (e.g. math and other science-related subjects) that child returnees nd more dicult because of the
dierences in the curricula between the host country and Albania. Schools that have children returnees should organize
more social, cultural and sports activities to encourage their involvement and socialization. The school psychologist
and head teachers should pay additional attention to child returnees, in relation to potential concerns they may have.
Regular contact with their parents, either at school or at home, should be a common practice. Many children returnees
who have attended language courses or school for one or two years in the host countries (Germany, France) speak
uent German or French. It is important for them to retain and further develop the acquired language skills through
additional courses at school or elsewhere. Local and international NGOs may have a role to play in this regard.
In the area of healthcare, returnees who have been treated in the host country or have health problems should be
able to continue their medication treatment in specialized public or private hospitals. Financial aid in this case should be
provided by public health institutions or NGOs that provide services to returnees. In some municipalities, where there is
a shortage of healthcare sta, specialized teams of doctors from Tirana may be used for specic cases. Special assistance
should be provided for the mental health of returnees (especially women, children, people with disabilities, discriminated
groups), who may have experienced, during their stay in the host country and upon return, constant psychological
stress, anxiety and traumatic situations. In other municipalities, the possibility to provide specialized personnel for the
treatment of autistic children should be also considered.
In the area of housing, returnees could be helped nancially for a certain period of time, by the Municipality or NGOs
working on reintegration issues, for paying the rent or repairing the house. In other cases, homeless returnees or those
living in dicult conditions should be assisted to prepare the relevant documents to qualify for social housing. In some
Roma and Egyptian settlements, more investments should be made to improve the infrastructure (roads, water supply,
sewerage, etc.)
If reintegration is sustainable, the nature of migration for returnees’ changes. As we have pointed out in other studies79,
the desire to re-emigrate out of Albania is an undesired syndrome, but also a reality we need to admit. As a result,
eorts should be made for this process to be managed in such a way as to minimize negative consequences (irregular
migration, exploitation, etc.) and maximize positive eects (productive use of remittances, connection to the home
country, return from emigration, etc.).
The study showed that the Albanian returnees are more aware than a few years earlier of the need for professional
training, language acquisition and culture of the host country, in order to be able to adapt easier to the labour market
demand. Helping them in this regard would increase human capital for the country and facilitate their integration in the
host country. In addition, formal channels and employment agencies may play a key role in regular migration. They may
facilitate the transitory period until they nd a job in the formal sector in accordance with the migrant’s education and
skills. Hence, human resources would not be wasted, and we would have a win-win situation.
79 Gëdeshi, I. and King R. (2018) New Trends in Potential Migration from Albania. Tirana: F. Ebert Foundation; King, R. and Gëdeshi, I. (2019) New trends in potential
migration from Albania: the migration transition postponed? Migration and Development.
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Institute of Statistics
Republic of Albania
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