Albanians in Switzerland

Albanians in Switzerland
Albaner in der Schweiz
Shqiptarët në Zvicer
Albanian Language spoken in Switzerland
Total population
350,000 to 400,000
Regions with significant populations
Canton of Basel, Canton of Zürich, Canton of Lucerne, Canton of Schaffhausen (Canton of Basel-Stadt), Canton of Basel-Land, Canton of Solothurn, Canton of Geneva, Canton of Vaud, Canton of Bern, Canton of Ticino and Canton of Aargau
Languages
German, Albanian
Religion
Islam (Sunni · Bektashi · Sufism), Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Albanian diaspora

There were substantial Albanians in Switzerland from the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s and 2000s. While moderate numbers of Yugoslav citizens had residence in Switzerland during the 1980s, the bulk of immigration took place as a consequence of the Yugoslav Wars and the later Kosovo War, as well as by means of family reunion of those who had immigrated during this period.

About half a million immigrants from the former Yugoslavia lived in Switzerland as of 2009, corresponding to roughly 6.5% of total Swiss population . About half of this number are Albanians (mostly Kosovar Albanians and to a lesser extent Albanians from Macedonia).

Taken as a single group, people from former Yugoslavia are the largest immigrant group in Switzerland, followed by the Italians at about 294,000. From the ethnic perspective, Albanians form the second largest immigrant group.

History

Until the second half of the 20th century, there were very few contacts between Albania and Switzerland. The historical elders evidence comes from the year 1431 as Albanian bishops years Council of Basel is invited. 1556 Appears in Basel Reissue One from the book of Marin Barleti's "From obsidione Scodransi" (The Siege of Shkodra) from the year 1504.

At the time of the Albanian national movement, many founding fathers were Albanians in Switzerland. Naim Frashëri is recovering from a disease in the Baden region of Aargau. The brothers famous Albanian Abdyl Naim and a Sami Frashëri want to live together in peace As in Switzerland Also in Albania realizes similar.

Commemorative plaque in Zurich showing the Kosovo Albanian emigrant community expressing its gratitude for being accepted into Switzerland during the Kosovo war.

In the 1990s, years Switzerland's service as an important center for the Albanian diaspora from Kosovo. Several would publish in Switzerland newspapers Albanian-speaking, while you serve as the basis for KLA financings and organization.

The collapse of the Communist regime in Albania, on the other hand, is only of relevance to the dying of the Albanian Diaspora in Switzerland. In contrast to neighboring Italians like Germany and in Albania hardly any citizens led illegally immigrants back consistently.

In May 2011, a union of all Albanians in Switzerland was founded in Bern. The Albanian umbrella organization could function as a lobby for Albanians from all Albanian areas in the Balkans.

Current demographics

In Switzerland, no statistics have been collected so far on how many people call themselves Albanians. Based on the 2000 census, the number of Albanian speakers was estimated at 170,000. In 2012, there were 1302 people from Albania, 79,261 with Kosovar citizenship and 61,668 with Macedonian nationality, with neither all Kosovars nor all Macedonians being Albanians.The total number of people living in Switzerland Albanian descent of inclusive naturalized and dual citizens is currently estimated at about 200,000. 3.1% of the permanent population in Switzerland in 2016 stated that they use Albanian as the main language, which corresponds to 258'415. Thus, the Albanians belong together with the 316'525 Italians, the 303'525 Germans and the 268'660 Portuguese to the largest groups of foreigners in Switzerland.

The Albanians concentrate in German-speaking Switzerland. Important centers of the Albanian diaspora in Switzerland are Zurich, Basel, Bern, Winterthur and St. Gallen.

The number of Albanians living in Switzerland has not been officially recorded, because official statistics differentiate foreigners according to their nationality. Albanians were recorded as Albanian, Macedonian, Swiss or Serb nationals. Individuals from the Balkans can be naturalized above average. These naturalized Swiss disappear completely in the statistics.

Reception

The image of the groups from Former Yugoslavia in Swiss society is very poor. In a survey performed in Zurich in 2011, "Former Yugoslavs" were found to be the least popular immigrant group, followed by Turks, Arabs and Germans.[1] The Albanians have been singled out for their particularly poor image.[2] As the largest group, they tend to be the most visible, besides the factor of opposition against Islam in Switzerland, and the problem of immigrant criminality. In a 2010 statistic, young males of the former Serbia and Montenegro (which to a large extent corresponds to the Kosovar Albanians in Switzerland) were found to have a crime rate of 31% of the young males in Swiss population, while those from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia had crime rates of 23%–24% of the Swiss value. It has been pointed out that the crime rates cannot be the only reason for the group's poor image, as the crime rate of the Sri Lankans in Switzerland was still higher, at 47%, while that group has a much better reputation.[3]

Notable people

Cinema

Arts and entertainment

Sports

References

  1. ↑ Marc Helbling (2011): Why Swiss-Germans dislike Germans. Opposition to culturally similar and highly skilled immigrants, European Societies 13(1): 5-27.
  2. ↑ Burri Shurani et al. (2010), 41-42, 67-70.
  3. ↑ Neue Statistik: Tamilen sind krimineller als Ex-Jugoslawen, Tages-Anzeiger 12 September 2010.
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