More than half of the Albanian population would like to go to the richest and best-educated countries, according to a study published Friday.
The study, led by Russell King of the University of Sussex and the Albanian researcher Ilir Gedeshi, revealed that the country's potential migration had risen from 44 percent in 2007 to 52 percent in 2018.Since Albania broke the Communism in 1991, more than 1.4 million Albanians, almost half of the country's current population, emigrated mainly to neighboring Italy and Greece, and less in Britain, Germany and the United States.
The study showed that economic motives were still the main factor of migration, but with the change that Albanians now prefer to flee to Germany and the US, and are no longer seduced by neighboring countries such as Greece and Italy.
About 65,000 of Albanians sought asylum in Germany in 2015-2016, but most of them were rejected, as the country faced also the influx of Syrians fleeing the war. Germany has initially welcomed almost all newly graduated doctors and nurses, expressing an increasing interest in this category.
While the global and economic crisis has hit Italy and Greece economies since 2008, which were also "homes" for about one million Albanians, remittances in Albania, key to poverty alleviation, shrank by one-third and 133,544 migrants returned at home.
"Unemployed, unskilled and uneducated were the category from which first emigrants emerged. Now this has changed since they are able, educated, with a good job and good economic status also want to emigrate," Gedeshi told Reuters.
"We also realized that economic reasons were of lesser importance because people now want to emigrate for better education. A group also wants to leave because it sees no future in Albania," he added.
Given the growing profile of potential migrants education, the study recommended that Albania seek agreement on "managed migration of the skilled, always keeping in mind the risks of brain drain and skills".
"Efforts should also be made to improve and expand the employment structure and business opportunities in Albania so that fewer people are pessimistic about their future in Albania." it is also stressed in the study.