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ILIR GEDESHI AND NICOLAAS DE ZWAGER
The migrant survey was carried out around late December 2009 and early January 2010. During this period a large number of Albanian migrants, mainly from Greece, Italy, and other European countries, return to Albania to celebrate traditional winter festivities. The survey was carried out at the main ports of entry to Albania. The number of interviews conducted at the border points with Greece and Durres Port reflect the estimated number of Albanian migrants in Greece and Italy, respectively. At Tirana International Airport, the survey targeted migrants residing in other countries of Europe. The questionnaire contained 54 questions designed to elicit quantitative responses only. We have collected information on sociodemographic characteristics of migrant households, their financial characteristics (that is, incomes, expenditures, savings, investments, and remittances), the impact of the global economic crisis on the households, as well as household strategies for coping with its consequences. The respondents were selected on the basis of having lived more than a year abroad, being more than 18 years old at the time of the interview, and having migrated for employment purposes. Teams of trained and experienced CESS interviewers carried out the questionnaire survey. The interviewers surveyed the migrants while they were waiting in the customs area of the ports of entry. This ensured anonymity and a low refusal rate of less than 1 percent. The interview method was face-to-face, and supervisors monitored the process. The survey has certain limitations of which the reader should be aware. It excludes short-term migrants, irregular migrants, and those who, because of difficult economic or other circumstances, might not have chosen to visit their home country at that time. We have also conducted qualitative interviews in focus groups using semistructured questionnaires about the impact of the economic crisis on the migrant households as well as their coping mechanisms. Focus group participants were long-term migrants of different ages, education, socioeconomic status, and occupations. Seven to 12 migrants participated in each focus group. Various quotations have been included in this report, all with fictitious names. All data presented in the following pages were gained under the current survey and compared against the available baseline data stipulated above, unless specifically mentioned and sourced otherwise.
Socioeconomic Characteristics of Albanian Migrants During the last two decades, mass migration has been at the very core of the political, economic, and social changes occurring in Albania (UNDP 2006). At the end of 2009, about 1.2 million people or more than 25 percent of the Albanian population and more than 35 percent of the labor force were estimated to be living abroad, mainly in Greece and Italy (de Zwager, Gressmann, and Gedeshi 2010). Smaller numbers were spread throughout different European countries as well as Australia, Canada, and the United States. Thus, Albania became a country on the move, as claimed by Carletto and others