Albanian immigrants in Greece

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After the fall of communism throughout Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a large number of economic refugees and immigrants from Greece's neighbouring countries, Albania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Romania, as well as from more distant countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia, arrived in Greece, mostly as illegal immigrants, to seek employment. The vast majority of Albanians in Greece is estimated to be between 60–65% of the total number of immigrants in Greece. According to official data (2008), there are 459,390[1] holders of Albanian citizenship in Greece.[2]

They form the largest migrant group in Greece, but most of them don't want to be noticed as Albanian. Many Albanian newcomers change their Albanian name to Greek ones and their religion from Islam to Orthodoxy:[3] Even before emigration, more and more people in the south of Albania are pretending to be Greeks and even are changing their Muslim names to Greek ones in order to not being discriminated against in Greece. By this way, they hope to get a visa for Greece.[4] After migration to Greece, they get baptized and change the Albanian names in their passports to Greek ones.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Migration and Migration Policy in Greece. Critical Review and Policy Recommendations. Anna Triandafyllidou. Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
  2. ↑ Mediterranean Migration Observatory - Tables Archived March 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Armand Feka (2013-07-16). "Griechenlands verborgene Albaner". Wiener Zeitung. Retrieved 2016-03-02. Er lächelt und antwortet in einwandfreiem Griechisch: ‚Ich bin eigentlich auch ein Albaner.'
  4. ↑ Lars Brügger, Karl Kaser, Robert Pichler, Stephanie Schwander-Sievers (2002). Umstrittene Identitäten. Grenzüberschreitungen zuhause und in der Fremde. Die weite Welt und das Dorf. Albanische Emigration am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts = Zur Kunde Südosteuropas: Albanologische Studien. Vienna: Böhlau-Verlag. p. Bd. 3. ISBN 3-205-99413-2.

Further reading

  • Maroukis, Thanos (August 2005). "Albanian Migrants in Greece: Transcending 'Borders' in Development". Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans. 7 (2): 213–233. doi:10.1080/14613190500133300.
  • Pratsinakis, Emmanouil (August 2005). "Aspirations and Strategies of Albanian Immigrants in Thessaloniki". Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans. 7 (2): 195–212. doi:10.1080/14613190500133284.


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