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

SEEU Review Volume 6, No. 2, 2010approach, clearly linking emigration and development, pursuant also to theEC guidelines on migration management.However, as mentioned in this paper, the political response on the crucialimpact of Diaspora is suffering the same problem faced in Albania ingeneral: the huge gap between the legal and political commitment and thereality. Thus, while the political documents and legal acts provide forspecific measures, there is almost no implementation in practice. In fact, thisshould be considered an indication for the Diaspora, that the legal andpolitical commitments still do not ‘keep their word’ in Albania. This is adifferent standard from what they find in the host countries, where theprinciple of legal security is the basis of the whole system, in order to enableeveryone to plan own activities, pursuant to political or legal stipulations.Regardless of the political documents and legislation, members of theDiaspora are practically left to their own initiative, with a fragmentedreaction, pursuant to the concrete needs and possibilities of its individualmembers. While the laissez faire approach can be considered beneficial intheory, in the case of Albania, such an approach cannot successfully attractmembers of the Diaspora to invest. This is due to low living standards,problems regarding property ownership (which is the primary requirementfor establishment of a business), the level of corruption and thedysfunctional judicial system. Loyalty of members of Diaspora to theirhomeland and their interest for development of the country can not be turnedinto a life adventure when it comes to investing their lifetime savings, inparticular when the rule of law is not properly established, or when there is apractice of political promises but constant failure in practice.However, it cannot be disputed that the adoption of several legal andpolitical instruments in the last 15 years in Albania has been a result of theimpact or of the potential impact of migration and Diaspora in the country.Hence, Albanian Governments should take seriously their commitmentsregarding Diaspora and migrants, given their role in the alleviation of thepoverty and in keeping down the unemployment pressure in the countryduring the last 20 years. Thus, it is suggested that the National Strategy onMigration be re-evaluated so that it includes measures that are feasible forimplementation during the coming years. This is the momentum for theGovernment of Albania, as the existing strategy was envisaged for the period2005-2010. The new document should first analyse the difficulties faced bythe responsible structures for implementation of the measures targetingDiaspora and assess the possibilities for addressing such difficulties.Otherwise, excellent measures without proper executing capacities will havethe same result as not having a strategy at all.53