On November 18, 2021, The Times, a British tabloid, suggested that Albania would be willing to host a processing center for migrants arriving in the U.K. from France (who would be flown from the U.K. to Albania after crossing the English Channel). Albania’s Foreign Minister, Olta Xhaçka, promptly refuted this claim as “fake news.” Prime Minister Edi Rama reassured Albanian citizens that “Albania will never be a country where very rich countries will set up camps for their refugees. Never.”

Fast forward two years to November 6, 2023. Rama, contradicting his previous stance, signed an agreement with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni allowing Italy to construct migrant processing facilities in Albania. In justifying this decision, Rama cited a sense of duty and voluntary assistance, asserting that Albania owes Italy a debt. He expressed that had a different EU country made the request, Albania would not have acquiesced, but with Italy, the dynamic was different: “When Italy calls, Albania answers.”

Rama did not consult the Parliament about the agreement, prompting criticism from opposition lawmakers who filed a request for the Albanian Constitutional Court to review the agreement’s constitutionality. On December 13, the court temporarily blocked ratification of the deal until it can verify that it does not violate Albania’s constitution. That Rama even pursued the deal in the first place, however, raises troubling questions about how he sees Albania’s relationship with Italy. 

What’s in the deal? 

If the deal is ratified, Albania will allocate land, free of charge, for the construction of two centers. Construction is expected to be completed in spring 2024. One will be near the port of Shëngjin, the other in Gjadër. These centers will house migrants brought on board Italian ships in non-EU waters. Italy will bear all associated costs: construction, transportation and accommodation of migrants. The facilities will have the capacity to simultaneously host up to 3,000 individuals per month, amounting to 36,000 people annually. Issues ranging from health concerns to matters of order and security will be Italian authorities’ responsibility. Albanian authorities are only permitted to intervene in cases of emergency.

Following their relocation to these centers, migrants are expected to stay for an indefinite period to complete identification procedures and apply for asylum as outlined by Italian and EU regulations. If a migrant no longer holds the right to stay, perhaps due to the rejection of their asylum request, Italy will promptly transfer the individual out of Albanian territory. The ultimate destination, whether it be Italy or the individual’s country of origin, remains unclear.

Rama admitted to accepting the agreement at Meloni’s request. He emphasized that there were no economic considerations at play, rather, the agreement emerged from a sense of brotherhood and proximity. While underscoring the perceived debt Albania owes to Italy, Rama utilized the term “hospitality” in reference to what he believes Albanians received in Italy from day one.

However, was this truly the case?

The Vlora, Kateri i Radës and legacies of the past

The history of Albanian migration to Italy is stained with the blood of innocent lives who never received justice. In 1991, the cargo ship Vlora, filled to its limits with Albanians, arrived at the port of Bari with approximately 20,000 people on board. They were confined in a stadium for three days, subjected to water cannons, and had food parcels tossed at them from helicopters as if they were animals carrying diseases. Ultimately, a staggering 17,400 individuals were repatriated, leaving about 2,000 in Italy. These were the sole recipients of political asylum.

In 1997, another tragedy unfolded for Albanians seeking to reach Italy by sea. The ship Kateri i Radës, laden with refugees escaping civil unrest stemming from the Albanian financial system’s collapse, sank after colliding with an Italian corvette whose actions were reckless at best and deliberate at worst. Most of the 142 people on board died, and not all bodies were recovered. These two tragedies show the risks Albanians took while searching for a better future and the price they paid. 

What would Albanians in the 1990s have thought if Italian authorities picked up people trying to reach Italy out of the sea and held them indefinitely in facilities in a third country? For Rama to not acknowledge this context while pursuing his deal with Meloni reflects his inclination toward seeing only one aspect of Albanian migration to Italy and unwillingness to consider the less positive aspects of this history.

Not so warm welcome

Throughout the 1990s, Albanians were consistently depicted as the source of all societal problems in Italy. The ‘Albanian man’ was often unjustly portrayed as nothing more than a thief or a rapist, while the ‘Albanian woman’ was unfairly reduced to the roles of a caretaker or a prostitute. The fear of a presumed invasion was shamelessly exploited by political parties to secure votes. 

Albanians were branded as embodiments of evil, deemed inferior, perceived as a threat to be avoided, denied apartment rentals, and approached cautiously. Many Albanians would not introduce themselves with their real names but with Italianized versions. Some did so to feel accepted by society (I did it too throughout the years I lived in Italy); others did so to secure employment or housing.

In attempting a retrospective analysis three decades after the infamous images of the Vlora, two distinct phenomena regarding Albanian emigration to Italy emerge. There are noteworthy individual stories such as that of Sindi Manushi, the first Italian mayor of Albanian descent. Manushi moved to Italy with her parents 22 years ago, completed her studies and became a lawyer. When she became mayor of the town of Pieve di Cadore, she made the Albanian community and Albania itself proud. 

The offspring of the initial generation have reached noteworthy accomplishments. Some chose to stay while others pursued studies or employment abroad, and a portion has returned to Albania. Those who have returned to Albania brought pieces of Italy back with them. Regrettably, however, another facet exists: the development of an inferiority complex among Albanians and Albania concerning Italians and Italy.

During the communist period, Italy was the lone window to the world for Albanians. Many Albanians watched Italian TV channels, often using illegal receiving devices. Through Italian TV, the population learned Italian and aspired to live in a better world. Consequently, after communism fell, a substantial portion of the population migrated to Italy, motivated by geographic proximity and a vision of pursuing the American Dream in Italy — an idealized destination in which to build a future.

Yet, the life of an immigrant is intricate. It involves occupying the lowest rung of the social ladder, grappling with language barriers, experiencing a restricted social life, lacking voting rights and consequently feeling a sense of inferiority. This sentiment can manifest in various behaviors: the individual who, due to desire or necessity, struggles to integrate and lapses into unlawful activities, or the individual who adheres to laws and actively engages in the process of integration, successfully balancing the challenge of preserving their roots while embracing new ones. Lastly, there is the phenomenon of assimilation, where the individual, consciously or unconsciously, relinquishes their own culture in an attempt to adopt that of the host country, often considering the new culture superior to their own.

Rama’s inappropriate actions

Other incidents go beyond assimilation and the inferiority complex. Among the millions of tourists who vacationed on the Albanian coast this past summer, many were Italians. Rama drew a parallel between the Italian tourist “invasion” and the landing of Albanians on the Vlora in 1991 with an Instagram post comparing an image of the Vlora to the Italian tourist invasion. It was a shameful, disrespectful, unnecessary and tasteless post. Making an ironic joke about a tragic event for the Albanian citizens is equivalent to spitting in the face of all those who risked their lives to cross the Adriatic.

Signing this agreement and lavishing praise on Italy is equally inappropriate, even if the agreement is ultimately deemed to violate the Albanian constitution and is not ratified by Parliament. For Italy, Albania is the neighbor that does not exist, one to ignore, stereotype, and tell false stories and legends about. Albanians are still considered inferior. Italy is a place where racism and discrimination have always existed; it is only the victims who have changed over the years. 

In the wake of World War II, Italians migrating from the south suffered discrimination from those in the north. Eventually, Albanians became the victims of this prejudice. After September 11, 2001, the focus shifted to all Muslim foreigners and from there, it extended to anyone with a darker skin color. Now, although Albanians are deemed more acceptable because they are white, there is still an underlying perception of Albanians as “others” and less civilized than Italians, as well as a sense that Albania is just an underdeveloped and distant region of Italy.

Albania has no debt to repay to Italy. If the current Albanian government’s desire is to express gratitude to Italy, the worst way to do so is to assist in playing with the lives of human beings who find themselves in a similar, if not worse, situation to the one many Albanians faced 30 years ago. By signing this agreement, even if its ultimate implementation is in question, Rama has disrespected all Albanians who have emigrated (or tried to emigrate), especially those who took to the sea on boats like the Vlora and Kateri i Radës, and Albania’s own sovereignty.

Feature Image: K2.0.

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