TIRANA TIMES
TIRANA, Dec. 20 – A good model of how origin countries can enhance the developmental impact of remittances is the Government of Albania’s National Action Plan on Remittances, said the International Organization for Migration in a recently published report. “It is comprehensive, including specific measures to improve data collection, expand banking services, develop partnerships between Albanian banks and those in the main destination countries for Albanian migrants (especially Greece and Italy), strengthen Albanian microfinance institutions (MFIs), increase knowledge of and access to formal remittance channels for migrants and their families, and strengthen relations between the government and the Albanian diaspora,” says the World Migration 2010: The Future of Migration: Building Capacities for Change, is the fifth report in IOM’s World Migration Report series.
Albanians and Moroccans form the largest groups of apprehended and returned migrants. Romanians formed the largest group in 2005-2006, before Romania’s entry into the EU.
Net international migration rates have increased across Europe in the period 2005-2010, compared to the previous decade. “A few countries, such as Albania, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Lithuania and Tajikistan, still remain essentially ‘sending’ countries, although to a lesser degree than in the 1990s.”
According to UNDP, Albania’s net migration rates per 1,000 inhabitants has considerably dropped to 5 persons during the past decade compared to a record 27 people during the 1990-1995 period when the country faced mass migration after the collapse of the communist regime.
Another recent piece of research highlighted the positive entrepreneurial impact immigrant communities can have on the economy of the host country. There are about 20 thousands Albanian entrepreneurs in Italy, most of whom in construction, services and tourism, said International Organization for Migration (IOM) last weekend as it marked the International Migrants Day.
Eurostat
Albanians are one of the ten most numerous groups of foreign citizens resident in EU member states, accounting for 3.2 percent of the EU total foreign population, a report issued by Eurostat has shown.
The EU’s statistical office ranked Albania as the sixth biggest foreign community resident in the EU 27 with around 1 million people.
Among the citizens of countries outside the EU27, the largest groups were from Turkey (2.4 million or 8% of the total number of foreign citizens in the EU27), Morocco (1.8 million or 6%) and Albania (1.0 million or 3%).
