In my visits to Albania, I have often encountered the belief that not only that migration may lead to an improvement of one’s or other’s circumstances, but that it is the only way to significantly better one’s life. Although I can, of course, see that migration is in many cases an excellent way to achieve greater material well-being, live in a more affluent society or experience greater or different freedoms, and is often also one of the most realistic ways to do so, I feel more and more that this attitude is destructive on a larger level. The belief that (only) migration could improve one’s life may energise and direct an individual to great success, but when shared by many, and in particular by leaders, it may serve as a deterrent to progress, in the country, may in fact stifle any ambitions and investment within.
De Waal (2014: 15–21) portrays a uniquely interesting take on this phenomenon, and gives a pointed example of the effects of mass-belief in migration. She argues that emigration of the unemployed combined with the appeasement of the domestic population through remittances are convenient to those in government in Albania as it leads to less dissatisfaction in the population when there is little progress. Then she lays out an anecdote from the humour section of the daily newspaper Koha Jonë (Our Time) from Sunday, 11 July 1999:
“The Minister of Labour and Emigration is speaking at a cabinet meeting. He assures the prime minister, Majko, [today’ minister of the diaspora] that his ministry is doing its utmost as far as employment goes: ‘The motor boats in Vlora are working to capacity transporting emigrants abroad, with the help of course of the Italian Guardia di Finanza. Large numbers of Greek employers in cooperation with our own are enabling emigrants to set off to work in Greece If there were more visas, more Albanians would be able to work abroad. Thus our Ministry throughout this period has found employment abroad for thousands of Albanian. Our aim has been that no-one should be put to work within the country. And this objective has been realised.’ ‘Brilliant’ says Majko. ‘That shows that my government works night and day for this brave, peace-loving people.’”
Reading this makes me emotional – my thoughts are:
‘This, it makes me speechless. The utter lack of belief in the possibilities ‘back home’, in only salvation through migration, even of the topmost officials. What of those who stay behind? What of the future? Did they expect that all 3 million would leave and never show interest in their home again? Today, Pandeli Majko, the then-PM in 1999, is the ‘Minister of the Diaspora’ in Albania, travelling the world to motivate Albanians abroad to contribute to the development of their country of origin. Did things have to be this way? Yes, things have improved over the past 30 years. But could they not have improved so much quicker if somebody, anybody had taken more responsibility, had had more faith in those left behind? I don’t know, I know it is a lot to ask as an outsider, but it makes me so sad.’
Further in her analysis, de Waal points out one of the limits of progress by emigration:
“The trajectory of change has been clear enough. Thanks to emigrant remittances, life inside most flats and some rural houses has become more comfortable with the acquisition of new sofa beds, television, washing machines, fridges, electric cookers and radiators. But while families with members abroad can afford to improve some aspects of their indoor standard of living, the public side of life, the leaking municipal water and waste systems, the overloaded degraded electrical network, is outside their control. The roads, likewise inadequately maintained and unreconstructed, have deteriorated fast under the impact of a massive influx of cars. Since large portions of foreign aid and investment for the renewal and improvement of infrastructure have more often than not been embezzled or spent on substandard materials; the municipal systems, telephone networks and roads, serve its citizens less well today than a decade ago. Communications, road, rail and telephone, were literally worse throughout the 1990s than they had been under Communism” (2004: 20).
Reference
De Waal, Clarissa (2004). Albania: Portrait of a Country in Transition. IB Tauris.
