"Albanian-Speaking Migration, Mid-19Th Century to Present." In
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Published in The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration, 2013 1 which should be used for any reference to this work Albanian-speaking migration, mid-19th century to present Janine Dahinden In the past two decades Albania and the former Balkan states, that political and cultural moves Yugoslavia have become associated with some peaked in consolidating an Albanian national of Europe’s most dramatic emigration move- consciousness among people highly divided ments. During the four decades of the com- by class, strong language dialects, and religion munist regime, the Republic of Albania was a (Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Muslim) later blind spot in the imagination of Europe and demanding their own independent state the world. It was brought back into the collec- (Vickers 2011). However, historical sources tive consciousness in 1991 when media all over depict early migration movements of people the world showed dramatic pictures of impov- considering themselves to be Albanians from erished and desperate men arriving in over- as early as the 15th century. An important crowded ships in southern Italy: Albania had mass departure that still plays a prominent its “boat people.” In addition, Albanian popula- role in the collective memory of Albanians tions living in the former Yugoslavia, particularly took place after the death of Gjergi Kastrioti – Kosovo-Albanians, gained a world audience in the late Albanian national hero known as 1998 when tens of thousands of refugees arrived Skanderbeg – who fought for 25 years against not only in Europe, but also in Albania and the Ottoman occupation. other neighboring countries, after the outbreak After his death in 1468, Albanian lands fell of open war in Kosovo. However, migration in to the Ottomans, resulting in significant depar- this world region cannot be reduced simply tures of the inhabitants, reaching a climax in to such key moments; a historical perspective 1480 (Barjaba et al. 1992). Most of these emi- reveals that migration has been a constitutional grants headed to regions that were not occu- aspect of the Balkans for a long time. pied by the Ottomans, particularly to Dalmatia and Greece; however, the greater part of the refugees settled in southern Italy, in Calabria and Sicily, where they became known as Historical perspective Arbëreshs. While in other places Albanians Writing the history of Albanian migration assimilated, the Arbëresh in southern Italy requires a narrative from the perspective of the maintained their group boundaries over a long 21st century – after history has been inter- time, even to the present day, to some extent preted by a diverse range of actors and after (Hall 1994). Many of them immigrated later to political nationalism took hold. What today is the United States as part of the large-scale understood as “being Albanian” has changed transatlantic emigration from Italy during the throughout the centuries, and research tells us years 1880–1914 (Pollo et al. 1974). that the idea of “Albanians” with their own During the five centuries of Ottoman rule culture and tradition is not something already other types of migration took place, often existing a priori, but is the result of social proc- within the empire: farmers migrated seasonally esses linked to ethnonational boundary- in order to cope with economic shortages; making. It was only in the second half of the insurgent Albanians were deported, often to 19th century, in the context of the disintegrat- Istanbul, while others rose to occupy key posi- ing Ottoman empire and in parallel with other tions in the Ottoman empire’s military and 2 administrative ranks (Barjaba et al. 1992). One Montenegro and Serbia incorporated the of the direct outcomes of these movements was regions of Kosovo and Macedonia, where a steady increase of the Albanian population in important populations of Albanians lived. Kosovo and Macedonia up to the end of the After the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939 Ottoman empire (Bartl 1995). From the second (which lasted until 1943), the Italian dictator half of the 19th century onward, emigration Benito Mussolini occupied Kosovo and Mace- movements started to diversify in terms of des- donia, creating for the first and only time a tination. While Greece remained a preferred “greater Albania.” However, this did not hold, destination, other places also appealed, par- and after World War II the Republic of Albania ticularly Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Siberia, and Yugoslavia went different paths with their Egypt, but also Australia, Latin America, and Albanian-speaking populations. the United States. For the latter, it was mainly Beginning in 1944, after the communists Orthodox young men, often from the southern seized power and Enver Hoxha was installed as town of Korçe, who settled in Boston and New the country’s new leader, Albania’s borders York, beginning in the late 18th and early 19th were sealed. During the early years of the century (Nagi 1989). regime, members and adherents of the major These Albanian settlements developed a anti-communist parties fled in their thousands profound transnational character with far- toward Yugoslavia or Italy; some also went to reaching consequences. Patriotic and cultural the UK, others to the USA (Vickers 2011). Just associations and societies were created wher- a small number of Albania’s citizens were able ever people settled – in Brussels, Sofia, Istan- to leave during the next 45 years, and it was bul, Egypt, Athens, Bucharest, to name just a only at the beginning of 1990 that Albania few – which contributed to the development of experienced significant new emigration. their home villages and cities investing in edu- cation, building schools, bridges, roads, and so on. Moreover, the émigrés played a decisive role Migration of Albanian speakers from in the awakening and creation of an Albanian Yugoslavia after World War II national consciousness by developing a wide range of cultural activities and journalistic Albanian populations living in Yugoslavia – publications, thereby propagating the idea mainly in Kosovo, but also in Macedonia, of an independent Albanian state (Vickers Montenegro, and Serbia – have been involved 2011). Most important in this regard were the in emigration movements since 1945. During activities of the Arbëresh in Italy, but the Albani- 1945 and 1966, many Albanians left Kosovo ans in Boston also voiced a strong national and fled to Turkey as a result of the repressive sentiment. politics of the Serbian security chief Aleksandar It was in Boston – and not in Albania – that Ranković, who signed an agreement with the first Albanian Orthodox Church was Turkey in 1956 that established the deportation founded in 1908 (Nagi 1989). After the estab- of “Turks,” among them many Albanians lishment of the Republic of Albania in 1912, (Petrisch et al. 1999). From the 1960s, because many of those American-Albanians returned of the low level of industrial development and to Albania. However, they were quickly disil- high unemployment rate, an important labor lusioned and returned to the United States, migration took place. Albanians were directed bringing their wives, children, and family with toward other, more developed republics within them, resulting in a second large-scale immi- Yugoslavia as well as to Western countries, gration to the USA (Nagi 1989). mainly to Switzerland and Germany. In the ruins of the Ottoman empire, the After World War II, European countries 1923 Treaty of London, while recognizing for needed foreign labor and Yugoslavia became, the first time an independent Albanian state, after Italy and Spain, as of the 1960s, a central also ceded Turkish territory to other countries. recruitment region for Germany and Switzer- 3 land. Until the 1980s, Albanian working shape: a temporary migration of highly skilled migrants were mostly young men without Kosovo-Albanians going abroad to accomplish families. They arrived from rural and poor their studies in a European or American uni- regions and worked mainly in unqualified jobs. versity, often returning afterward. Their first objective was to earn enough money In other words, Albanian communities from to overcome economic hardship at home and former Yugoslavia living nowadays in Western to return after a few years (Dahinden 2005a). Europe are internally very heterogeneous in A new phase of emigration started in 1980 terms of migration history, education, origin, and was prompted by a political crackdown sex, and so on. Nevertheless, we can show some after the Albanian demonstrations of 1981 in common factors: First, they turned into long- Kosovo. In the aftermath of Tito’s death in 1981, term and settled migrants with children and the abolition of Kosovo’s autonomous growing up in the host countries. Second, in status in 1989, there was political unrest and Europe they have (since the mid-1990s) been emigration pressure increased. Members of the increasingly confronted with stigmatization, nationalist elite among Albanian students were ethnic discrimination, and socioeconomic increasingly persecuted and forced to leave marginalization, resulting in the building of Kosovo, meaning that at this time urban, better- strong exclusionary boundaries against them. educated, and skilled migrants left Kosovo – Third, in parallel, the political developments in again moving mainly toward Switzerland and Kosovo in the 1990s resulted in a bounded Germany, but also to the UK, France, Belgium, ethnic solidarity of destiny which culminated Austria, the USA, and Scandinavian countries. in transnational activities and in mass mobili- In addition, as the economic and political situ- zation of Albanian migrants in home town ation in Kosovo deteriorated, many of the associations, collective or individual remit- former guest workers, who were entitled to tances, and humanitarian projects. Further- bring their wives and children to Switzerland more, the elites among the Albanian refugees or Germany, slowly abandoned their plans to played a crucial role not only in supporting the return and decided instead to take their families Kosovo Liberation Army, but also later when it to new countries.