‘Albania: €1’ or the story of ‘big policies, small outcomes’: how Albania constructs and engages its diaspora

Since the fall of the communist regime in the early 1990s, Albania has experienced one of the most significant emigrations in the world as a share of its population. By 2010 almost half of its resident population was estimated to be living abroad – primarily in neighbouring Greece and Italy, but also in the UK and North America. This chapter discusses the emergence and establishment of the Albanian diaspora, its temporal and geographical diversity, and not least its involvement with Albania itself. Albania’s policymaking and key institutions are considered, with a focus on matters of citizenship; voting rights; the debate on migration and development; and not least the complex ways in which kin-state minority policies – related to ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo, Montenegro, southern Serbia, Macedonia and Greece – are interwoven with Albania’s emigration policies

Agency, networks and policy: the case of Poles in Greece

This article is based on fieldwork conducted with Polish migrants in Athens, as well as key informants and policy makers as a case study for a larger project on Immigrants, Policies and Migration Systems. An Ethnographic Comparative Approach (MIGSYS). The article aims to provide a first reflective account of the trajectory of the group under study and how migration patterns have been shaped and affected by existing migration policies based on a pilot study of a small sample of first generation migrants and policy makers. Key themes such as the process of migration, structural factors involved, migrant agency and networks are discussed in identifying the nodal points and the relevant policies that may affect the migrants' decision at each nodal point. The article presents the main patterns of settlement of the group and highlights the most important discrepancies between policies, migrant plans and their implementation. Finally, a discussion of the overall results of the pilot study aims to provide suggestions for further research

Human trafficking in Greece

Greece has been both a destination and a transit country for human trafficking since the 1990s. Public perceptions, the understanding and policy responses towards trafficking have been shaped by its connection with migration and the conditions of migrant exploitation in various sectors of the Greek economy. Using the rubric of criminogenic asymmetries to bring the above dimensions fully into the analysis, this chapter builds on extant research and other open sources to offer an overview of the issue of trafficking and the development of policy responses in Greece