TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
It is something that we hoped to have left behind in this country, but it still haunts us: Albanians still want to leave in droves to seek a better life elsewhere, and increasingly they are willing to do so at all costs, even if it means breaking the laws of the host country through fake asylum claims or simply seeking informal work.
A series of trends, including a deep economic crisis in Europe and improvements in Albania, had put a lid on the phenomenon for a few years, but these trends are now reversing and it is back. Action is needed to address it, because it is a lose-lose proposition for Albania.
First the country can’t afford to lose any more of its young people to migration. Their efforts are needed here. Second, if the trend continues, a visa regime is likely to return with devastating psychological effects on local residents.
Poverty, isolation and lack of hope in a better future for many Albanians have reached a point in which they are again willing to do anything to leave the country to seek a better future for themselves and their children. It is something we had hoped we had left behind, but, clearly, for the poorest and most marginalized parts of the society, illegal migration retains its pull.
It is also a phenomenon that proves Albania is still not immune to some of the darkest forces of its past.
Albania is notorious for its rumor mill and herd-like mentality fueled by ignorance of most and the greed of the few. It led the country to horrible things like the pyramid schemes of 1997 and now to a new wave of illegal migration fueled by traffickers acting as travel agents.
The other major player, the country’s political class, pays lip service telling people to stop, but as in other national disasters where it has led the country in the past, it can in fact profit once more from the migration of the most disillusioned. These are voters it no longer has to deal with. They will be someone else’s problem.
Good governance means inspiring people to build a good country in which people want to live. The current political class is clearly failing to do so for the poorest Albanians.
The EU officials should also make it clear that there is no pull factor. Interviewing several of these would-be migrants indicates they truly believe they can get informal work that no German or French person wants to do.
Another way to help is to institute legal, seasonal work schemes, through which people can go work with dignity for part of the year, and live in Albania for the rest. They can fill a need, make money and not break the law at the same time.
This is a problem that will not go away as long as an average wage in northern Europe continues to be ten times that of Albania, however policy makers and law enforcement officials both in Albania and the EU members states should do more to address this multifaceted problem and offer solutions that help Albania and its people as well as the EU countries themselves.
