Emigration has accompanied the history of Albania over the years. Thousands of families have left since the 90s, in search of a better life. Some have left quietly. Others have returned with disappointment, to start another migration within the country.
This is the case of Alta Kolec, a woman who has experienced what many describe as "a life in motion". First from Puka to Athens, then towards the difficult return to Albania: to Kamëz, a city that arose from the stories of exiles.
Alta's story is not simply a tale of leaving or returning. It speaks of the sacrifice between two realities, the missed opportunity, and the determination to move forward based on the hope that tomorrow will be different.
"It was a very difficult situation because it was '96. There were those riots that were starting. People were emigrating, then they went straight to Greece, to Athens." Alta recalls.
"The first year it's not that I worked hard, we had an acquaintance on the top floor and she would take me with her, it was a Greek family, just more so that I could learn the language, get acclimated, because it was difficult and back then there weren't many immigrants there, so to speak, so that you could communicate" she continues.
According to Eurostat, in 2023 around 49,000 Albanians emigrated to EU countries, an exodus similar to 2015.
The 2023 Census revealed that Albania's population has decreased by 14.5% since 2011, reflecting the departure of around 490,000 people in about a decade.
But amidst the difficulties of settling into a foreign country, Alta and her husband decided to invest the income they earned while emigrating in Albania, so amidst the difficulties they decided to return and build their lives here.
"We thought about returning, because we brought every profit we had to Albania, and for a business that we had opened together with another, all our hard work was there," Alta tells about the difficulties.
The decision to return seems to have had a significant impact on Alta. She says she found it difficult to adjust to her return, as she had begun to get used to the new reality in Greece at a stage where she had just become a family.
The thought of how things might have turned out if they had not returned has haunted him for a long time. Even as immigrants, even as foreigners, life in Greece seemed to offer something that Albania did not: security and stability.
Alta says she misses everything about Greece, even though they were foreigners there.
"Even when we returned here, we were still strangers," she recalls with disappointment, “Then "There is no park for children here, no hospitals, no order, nothing."
"Come."RT "in the hope that it would be better from here, in a word, because Albania is a very beautiful country, it's just that there are not enough regular leaders to move forward." she continues as she confesses that if it were up to her, she would run away to Greece again.
But even though she considers leaving as an option, Alta has managed to gain independence, despite all the difficulties she has, especially for a woman. Seven years ago, she opened a hair salon and expresses her satisfaction with this venture, which she started in Greece when she was an immigrant.
"I finished hairdressing school in Greece, it's not like I started here," Alta says, "I did other jobs, but then I had to get a job because I wanted to work, be independent, and my children were young, 8-10 years old."
For him, the main concern after returning has been the children's education, as unlike Greece, the Albanian education system does not have flexible schedules to help parents continue working regularly, while Kamza, home to many families returning from emigration, is a new urban area that does not have many schools and teaching in some of them is done in shifts.
But like many cities in Albania that are emptying out, Kamza is also unable to cope with emigration. The second generation of families that built their lives in Kamza have their eyes set on emigration.
"I still have them studying, but also the children, the idea is to go abroad, to move. I'm not telling them to leave, it's just the way of life here, it's pretty difficult," says Alta, who claims that things have changed in Albania, but that according to her, there are still shortcomings.
"From transportation, to the difficulties for the children, schools that are (in shifts) not in the morning, not in the afternoon, who will pick up the children, who will drop them off, in a word, women have a lot of difficulties in the family area. They don't have a park, Kamza lacks many things," she concluded.
Read also:
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- Kamza: From the hope for a home, to the desire to escape
He completed master's studies in Investigative Journalism at the Department of Journalism at the University of Tirana. She has been working as a journalist for five years, where she previously covered issues of politics and parliamentary activity, in print and online media. She is currently a journalist at Citizens.al, where she covers various social issues related to the transparency of institutions. At Citizens.al, she leads the podcast "The Unheard" and is engaged as a manager of projects related to the support of investigative journalism.
