Albanian migrants are currently subject to a string of abuse by the British media. It is, therefore, important to see how, since the overthrow of the post-war socialist government, the new ‘market freedoms’ have led to a large exodus of workers from the country. James Martin reports.
The 1991 British census recorded only 338 Albanians in England. In 1993, this had risen to 2,500; by 1997 there were around 30,000. Currently there are between 70,000 and 100,000. In the second quarter of 2022, Albanians became the largest nationality group claiming asylum in Britain, with applications at 3,289. In 2022 to October 12,000 Albanians arrived by small boat. In the year to June 2022, 53% of Albanian asylum seekers’ claims in Britain were granted in an initial decision.
Socialist state in ruins
The intense propaganda and campaigns by western imperialism against socialism, waged particularly aggressively, economically and militarily, after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the later creation of 20th century socialist states in eastern Europe, eventually succeeded in reducing most of those achievements to ruins.
By 1993, after the collapse of an enfeebled Albanian Party of Labour’s ‘stability government’, the real GDP of Albania had fallen by more than 50% from its peak in 1989. The change in political control led to a dramatic fall in population growth rate from just under 3% in 1990 to minus 1% in 2000, and 0.22% in 2021. By 2000, 6% of children under five suffered ‘severe wasting’, and the total ‘wasting’ children figure was 12%. The rural population fell from two to one million between 1990 and 2020, in a total population in 2019 of 2.86 million. The collapse of the planned economy saw nearly 40% of the population leave Albania since 1991, heading for Greece, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, Britain and the US. The civil war of 1997 created more misery. By 2000, an estimated 30,000 Albanian women were working as sex workers in Europe.
Since 2020 a new wave of migration began, prompted in part by the Covid-19 pandemic, and following the devastating earthquake of November 2019 which affected 10% of the population. The quake left over 12,200 people homeless, many until now. Little support was forthcoming from the government. Some 22% of the population lives below the poverty line (World Bank). Food is always the biggest part of the budget of the poor – an estimated 42% in Albania, with fuel and travel to work where available at about 20%. Albania has one of the highest oil costs in Europe. The rest of the low family income is spent on the few other absolute necessities. With current inflation this tragedy is deepening.
Corruption, nepotism and patronage are endemic, destroying any sense of public responsibility and undermining official institutions. After the collapse of the planned economy, the state distributed most of the country’s land to the citizens but often without establishing absolute ownership rights. The state retains the power to take the land back, and in an uncertain political environment, removing certainty of ownership for private land owners. With the collapse of the Communist Party, this led to the use of bribes to keep property, and allowed loan sharking, corruption and organised crime to flourish. Foreign investors thus fight shy of placing capital in the country, though they have little reason to invest given that the labour they need to exploit is compelled to move to the existing exploitative locations elsewhere in Europe, where labour has been in short supply after Covid-19. This labour theft allows the EU to ‘go slow’ in giving Albania membership. Negotiations only began in 2022, following the start of the Ukraine war, and the EU’s need to counter Russia’s influence in the Balkans.
The role of migrant wage earners
Migration from economically ruined areas always leaves empty towns. The rural villages of Spain, France and Italy in the 20th century have long demonstrated this. Albanian towns and cities are suffering a continued exodus. Kukësi has lost 53% of its citizens, whilst Shkodra, Fieri, Durrësi and Vlorë have lost more than 15% in the past decade. During the period of communist government, many towns and villages had active economies based on mining and fishing. The removal of central planning and investment, and shift to the anarchy of the market, have left many unemployed.
As ever, young men leave first. If they succeed in finding work, their families, always under difficult circumstances, may join them. Between 2008 and 2020, around 700,000 Albanians migrated to EU countries and now hold EU citizenship. Many others remain in the EU undocumented. The number who went elsewhere, or do not have EU citizenship, is not as clear. The situation is so serious that, with the average monthly wage estimated variously as anywhere between £221 and £460, about 83% of Albanians want to leave and nearly 50% are looking for jobs abroad (‘Balkan Barometer’ survey – Regional Cooperation Council).
Remittances accounted for at least 31% of Albania’s GDP in the second quarter of 2022. Those outside the country cannot vote and are excluded from any influence over domestic politics. In Britain, Albanian children are currently the second largest group receiving help from Barnardo’s child trafficking support teams. Some are forced to work, particularly on building sites, but the majority are exploited for criminal activities.
Desperate measures
In a desperate attempt to attract any sort of money to act as capital, the Albanian government introduced changes to the law on private-public partnerships by including a ‘Golden Passport’ scheme to encourage foreign investment. This copies Blair’s 2008 UK scheme, which simply attracted thousands of lenders of dubious morality, and which was shadily modified in 2018 due to its embarrassing political exposure. In June 2022, the US Special Operations Command announced plans to locate a forward-based Special Operations Forces headquarters in Albania. Prime Minister Edi Rama declared this was ‘fantastic news’. In the meantime, there has been no improvement in Albania’s economy; ghost towns remain empty and the condition of its abandoned working class stagnates.
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 291 December 2022/January 2023
