SEEU Review vol. 6 Nr. 2 (pdf) - South East European University

Luljeta Ikonomi, PhD Candidatethe political and legislative responses of the Albanian Government tomaximise the benefits from Diaspora for the development of the Country.General Remarks on the Albanian DiasporaAlbanian Migration and the subsequent formation of the AlbanianDiaspora can be categorized in three main phases: migration until the SecondWorld War, migration during the communist regime and the massive waveof migration in the 1990s, creating significant Albanian migrantcommunities in a range of host countries.During the first phase was formed the Albanian historical Diaspora. Thisis a uniquely large Diaspora in that it outnumbers the population in the homecountry of the time. Approximately 9 million ethnic Albanians out-migratedbetween the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries until the year 1945, when thecommunist regime gained control (Nika: 2010). This number though, doesnot include only Albanians that have emigrated from the geographicalterritories of what is the Albanian state territory today. The first wave ofdocumented movements from Albania, which led to the formation of the firstAlbanian communities abroad, can be traced to the fifteenth century, afterthe invasion of Albania by the Ottoman Empire (Vullnetari, 2007: 9). Themassive flow of Albanian emigrants after the death of the Albanianlegendary hero, Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg (1467) is considered thefoundation of the Arberesh community in Italy. The majority of emigrants inthis period were members of the family of Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg(including his wife and son) and from noble families in Albania. Asmentioned in several studies, this has been considered a ‘biblical exodus’given the high percentage of the population that left at the same time, up to200.000-300.000 persons or 25% of the population at the time (Vullnetari2007: 9 quoting Tirta:97 and Bajraba:514). Many other emigrants left in thisperiod also for Greece, creating the community of Arvanitas in Greece.Many Arberesh have preserved the language and traditional customs ofthe time, regardless of the period of six centuries and still keep in contactwith the Albanian state structures responsible for Diaspora, such as theAlbanian National Institute of Diaspora. The prevalence of the feeling ofbelonging to Albania as the home country has been promoted also by thewelcoming approach of host community/state structures (given that theirinitial settlement was supported by the King of Aragon), which have allowedthem to keep the flag and organize for historical dates, in memory of their38