Back Home: The Reintegration of Return Albanian Migrants in a ‘Foreign' Environment

In this paper we explore the Albanian return migration from Greece. Albanian return migration is a neglected field of study and there is little empirical evidence related to it.

In the beginning of the 90s, after the fall of communism in Albania and elsewhere, Albania was the biggest exporter of migrants in the Eastern Block, judging by its proportion to the general population. Over one fourth of the country has lived or is living in a foreign country. Their main destination was Italy and Greece, because of their geographic proximity.

Recently, there is a growing number of migrants that have returned home. Our research is focused on the reasons of their return, the Greek debt crisis being one of them. We mainly explore the difficulties of their re-integration in Albania, and how they perceive themselves in the Albanian society. We call it a ‘re-integration’ because Albania is not the country that they left behind when they first migrated. It has changed, pretty much the same way as other closed societies have done after they opened their borders.

We also explore what was the reaction of their family in Albania and their children with regard to their decision to return. What role did their family, their friends, and in general the Albanian government, play during the process of their reintegration. We include the role of the Albanian government because it has been advertising itself as a facilitator and accommodator for their smooth adaptation.