La crisis en Grecia obliga a los emigrantes albaneses a volver a su país

The crisis in Greece requires Albanian migrants to return home


180,000 Albanians from about 600,000 settled in Greece have returned to their homeland

The severe economic crisis suffered by Greece for five years has been forced to return to almost a third of Albanian migrants who once left their homes to search the neighboring country a way out of poverty.

According to the Center for Foreign Trade in Tirana recently published some 180,000 Albanians from about 600,000 settled in Greece have returned to their homeland in recent years, leaving behind what at one point looked like paradise to them out of the deep poverty.

"People come back because there is no work here, and although neither are Albania, at least they have a roof that shelters them," told Osman Feimi, head of the Albanian community in Athens.

Many of the returnees have been abroad ten, fifteen and twenty years. As a neighboring country, most of them have been able to travel quite often to their villages and towns, and many of them are destined to be what saved a house and help the families who stayed there.

"My brother left last year after 19 years as a bricklayer in Athens. With the crisis have stopped construction orders and had no choice but to go back to his family. There is unemployed, but at least she has a house and their children can go to school, "says Elsa Semi Athens.

She still can continue in Greece because he works in several houses and cleaning her husband, also a construction worker, is doing the odd job. However, in the park where Elsa takes the kids to play, and only sees half of Albanians a few years ago.

Albania, with 2.8 million inhabitants, is one of the poorest countries in Europe, with an average salary of 250 euros and an official unemployment rate of 13.3%.

It is estimated that a million and a half of Albanians emigrated since the fall of communism in 1991, half of them to neighboring Greece, which improved their economic situation and also helped repopulate rural areas that had been virtually uninhabited.

Now, however, the scourge of the crisis in Greece has turned into a way of life that seemed to perpetuate.

Back in Albania, life is not easy. Although the Government of Tirana has approved a strategy to support the social reintegration of returnees, one of the requirements of the European Union, which Albania suck-enter most of them struggle to get jobs, health care and social and educate their children, many of whom were born in Greece.

Between 2010 and 2012, there were about 3,530 returnees in Albanian employment offices and 86% of them returned from Greece. Only one in ten has found work, while another 15% were registered with vocational training, according to information from the National Employment Service.

"Nobody helped us. The Albanian state is absent or exists only to steal.'s Worse than in Greece. Revenues are lower and higher food prices," complains Shyqyri Shahini who returned with his family to Albania the year after three decades spent in Athens.

Yet Shahini, who worked in the building, plus some money during their stay in Greece and with the accumulated savings of their hard work has been able to rent a small shop in Tirana, which ensures the survival of the three family members .

Their children are even more difficult to adapt to the new life, and who have not mastered the language having lived a long time in Greece. For example, Besmir, the youngest son, who left Albania when he was only one year, is offended when his class mates call him "the Greek" to speak with an accent.

So to help returnees, the Ministry of Education decided to introduce this year's special learning courses for 3770 Albanian immigrant children who attend public schools precollege.

Nevertheless, the Greek crisis has had some positive effect for Albania.

Although the Balkan country has ceased to enter the remittances sent home by migrants fears of a Greek bankruptcy financial system made in the last three years the Albanians living in Greece 2,000 million euros transferred to their country.


http://www.eldiario.es/politica/Grecia-obliga-emigrantes-albaneses-volver_0_96940348.html