Coming back home? Albanian migrants intentions to return
| Author | Alkida Ndreka |
| Position | University of Tirana, Albania |
| Pages | 61-71 |
Vo
l.
5
N
o
. 1
M
arch
,
201
9
ISS
N 2410-391
8
A
cces online at www.ii
p
ccl.or
g
6
1
A
cademic Journal o
f
Business,
A
dministration, Law and Social Sciences
II
PCCL Publishin
g
, Graz-
A
ustria
Coming back home? Albanian migrants intentions to retur
n
Ph
D
(
C.
)
A
lk
i
d
a N
d
re
k
a
U
niversity o
f
Tirana,
A
lbania
Abs
tr
ac
t
Return migration is a highly discussed topic in academia. This emphasis by scholars and
a
cademics translates into developing and enriching both theoretical approaches and empirical
s
tudies around the world.
A
empting to be er comprehend this phenomenon, several aspects
of return mi
g
ration have been considered, includin
g
but not limited to: return intentions,
m
otives encoura
g
in
g
return, re-inte
g
ration and its challen
g
es. Return mi
g
ration in
A
lbania is
s
till an unexplored phenomenon despite the long tradition of migratory fl ows.
T
his study considers
A
lbanian migrants’ intentions to return and the factors involved in their
d
ecision to return or stay in their host country. The results of the research emphasize that
A
lbanian migrants express a low intention to return to
A
lbania arguing that the low quality
of life in
A
lbania, lack of jobs, lower wages and perceiving
A
lbania as a country where “you
have no future” are reasons which led them to not return.
E
ven though they have strong bonds
with their home country, transnationalism is not a critical factor in migrants’ intentions to
r
eturn while socio-economic conditions in
A
lbania play an important role. The data does not
contradict the suggestion that the higher the level of integration of the migrant the less likely
the migrant intends to leave the host country.
Ke
y
words
:
socio-cultural inte
g
ration, economic inte
g
ration, transnationalism, intention to
retu
rn.
I
ntr
oduc
t
io
n
Return mi
g
ration or t
h
e
‘
m
ovement o
f
emi
g
rants back to their homeland to rese le
’
(Gmelch, 1980) is no more “the great unwri en cha
p
ter in the histor
y
o
f
migration”
(King, 2000).
A
s an issue that im
p
acts the
p
olitical, economic, and social as
p
ects
of
a countr
y
(
E
lizabeth, 2015),
r
eturn migration has increased in its im
p
ortance b
y
b
eing the
f
ocus o
f
academics, international organization, host and home countries.
P
r
e
s
e
nt
ed
a
s
a
w
i
n-w
i
n-w
i
n s
i
t
ua
t
io
n
(
Sina i, 2014), return mi
g
ration a
ects the
h
omeland, the receiving countr
y
and the migrant’s in di
erent wa
y
s and scales. The
i
m
p
act on the homeland is via the trans
f
er o
f
new skills and com
p
etences, the increase
of
the overall human ca
p
ital, the enhancement o
f
p
roductivit
y
and em
p
lo
y
ment
(Zaiceva & Zimmermann, 2012) and the returnees themselves as becoming actors
f
or social change (Debnath, 2016). Return migration in
A
lbania is still an unex
p
lored
p
henomenon des
p
ite the long tradition o
f
migrator
y
fl
ows.
E
migration
f
rom
A
lbania
i
s an age-old
p
henomenon. Situated on the West of the Balkan Peninsula,
A
lbania has
b
een,
d
uring various
h
istorica
l
p
erio
d
s, a
l
a
b
our sen
d
ing region (De Zwager, Ge
d
es
h
i,
G
ermenji, & Nikas, 2005). During
A
lbania's 50
y
ear communist regime, its citizens'
movement out o
f
countr
y
was ver
y
restricted.
O
nl
y
a
er the
f
all o
f
the communist
re
g
ime in 1990, were
A
lbanians
f
ree to mi
g
rate in search o
f
a be er li
f
e.
A
ccordin
g
to King and Vullnetari, the
A
lbanian international emigration
p
rocess a er the 1990s
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