cafebabel has an article on attitudes towards Albanian immigrants in Greece.
On Saturday, we were at the Rogner meeting with an expat friend who was leaving Tirana. It was breakfast time, and as our friend was finishing his tea the breakfast room started to fill up with over-dressed (or under-dressed) young women wearing blue sashes. These were the contestants for the Miss Globe 2007 beauty pageant being held in Tirana tonight at the Palace of Congresses. High heel boots and mini-skirts - or in a couple of cases micro-skirts, or possibly just belts - have never struck me as obvious breakfast attire, but the girls seemed happy enough tottering and wobbling around with their tea and toast. I'm not sure why they were wearing their sashes - perhaps in case they forgot which country they came from. As we were leaving they were boarding a large coach which I had seen a number of times around the city in the last few days for their next trip. I'm not sure how some of them made it up the steps, or how they managed to sit down, but perhaps these are the ki...
Comments
What I'm worried about though, is that many albos change their names and turn greek just to belong in greece. And while that could be ok for albanians in england or the US or even Italy, we still have territorial issues with Greece, a country that still has a strong nationalistic group in all of its political parties. The sooner Greece adapts swift reforms in immigration laws, the safer it will be for albanians to keep their identity.
Ethnically and culturally Albanians and GReeks are very close.
I think Greek people are very nice, the majority of them, especially to the Albanians. I have been many times in GReece and I was always treated nicely. I have more than 30 people of my extended family who have gone to GReece since 1992. They are fully integrated into Greek culture and they were never treated badly because they are Albanians!
What would Albanians do if suddenly we got 600 000 GReeks illegally from the border?
Last time i was in Athens i was scandalized by the number of Pakis, chinese and Africans! I would never want large numbers of migrants in Albania. I once heard some chinese in Albania speaking fluent Albanian and I'm sorry but it was so ugly. I can't accept it. MY language is only for us to come only of our mouths! Now for Greeks Albanians are the most favourite!
Despite the ignorance on the internet and some few bad Greeks, in general they are really nice and generous people.
The article mentioned it, the problem of crime. It is very true that those who excaped prisons in 97 mostly ended up in GReece. They cannot come back to Albania because they will face even more years of jail and so they have fake identity in Greece. But old ways don't change and criminals are always criminals.
I agree with regulating immigration between Albania and GReece because it will benefit Albanian migrants there and the relationship between the 2 countries.
You see Omit what Communism does to people? You see the results of long years of malnutrition and lack of basic amenities? Do you see how twisted the mind of the youth gets to become from such harsh life? An anti-immigrant immigrant whose, I'm sure, the first color TV was bought by, you guessed it, immigrant money.
Guys move on, there are a lot of countries there who appreciate what you contribute and treat you like an equal fellow human.
Hoping time, comunication and education would fix things out...