Diaspora’s participation in homeland development Dajci and Hoti cases

1. Diaspora’s participation in homeland development Dajci and Hoti cases Dr. Bresena Kopliku University of Shkodra Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Geography bkopliku@unishk.edu.al

2. Research questions How migrants’ community from Dajc and Hot has been engaged to invest in the home country? What actions have been undertaken to create a friendly environment for diaspora’s contribution? Why the mobilization of diaspora in Dajc may be considered as a success story? Under what circumstances can be reached out the sustainability of the model?

3. Methodology • Key informants in depth interviews • Dom ArdianArra (former priest of Dajc, actual priest of Hot) • ArbenGjuraj (former head of Dajc commune) • ValbonaKarakaci (DLDP Program Manager) • Focus group meeting with returnees • 6 returnees from Italy in Dajc • Entrepreneurs in decorative plants, wood processing industry, dairy, farming • Questionnaires with diaspora members

4. Theoretical approach • Diaspora and transnational approaches emphasize intense connections to national or local territories, especially in the case of migrants. • Scholars using the term “diaspora” often refer to a multi-generational pattern (Hoti case), while transnational analysts deal with recent migrant flows (Dajci case) .

5. “Social remittances into the equation”(Levitt, Lamba-Nieves 2011)

6. Dajci Case Hoti case Historic Diaspora Few escapees after 1960– mainly USA After 1991 – USA, Canada, Australia, England. According to informal statistics there are more Albanians from Hot in America than in Hot. Few return migrants • Recent Diaspora – after 1992 – mainly Italy • 1992 – 1996 • 2011 – 2015 – USA, Canada • Chain migration – Firenze (“If you see an Albanian in Pistoia, he is for sure from Dajc”) • 9.557 Albanians in Pistoia • Strong sense of community • 2006 - Return Migration

7. Diaspora Involvement Hoti Road infrastructure Multifunctional centre in Rapshe Conference for Hot in USA and Albania “Hoti ne rrjedhat e shekujve” The first ever church reconstructed in Albania after 1990 Existing church in USA (a place to gather and discuss) Daic • Alba Migrantes Association – established in 2004 • - 18 roads paved- rehabilitation of old monuments- Scientific Conference “Afer dhe larg” - help during the floods- employment of the non migrants community

8. The role of migrants’ community • Being a financial partner; • Taking part in the decision making process (where to invest, demand explanations on the money spent); • Maintaining not only economic but also sentimental ties with the home country; • Transferring knowledge and technology and acting as trade intermediaries; • Setting up enterprises;

9. Villages and towns of migrants’ origin can benefit from the multiplier effects of ‘collective remittances’, ‘development through migration’ process. (King, Frykman, Vullnetari 2013: 129)

11. Co-development strategy(King. Lulle 2006) • Collective social remittances not only strongly affect what organizations do but also how they do it. • Field of action in the migration development nexus • The right synergy of actors in the conditions of skepticism toward formal ways of investments. • Replication of the model in the support of other projects.

12. C-development strategy

13. Sustainability of the model • Dajc – investments for practical reasons (the idea of return). • From investments in infrastructure to the set – up of enterprises involving the community. • Investments to generate incomes and to employ the non-migrant community. • Dajci case is a best practice of engaging diaspora in a local level. • 776 returnees – mainly from Italy • Limited examples of transnational economic activities and stable links • Imported ideas and activities from Italy: • Cultivation of decorative plants • Trade of construction materials; • Wood processing; • Opening of catering services; • Small markets, car services, sun houses and metal construction; • Live breeding; • Food industry (meat and dairy).

14. Sustainability of the model • Hot – investments mostly as an obligation to the home country. • Investments for the vulnerable social groups (elderly people, children, youngsters). • Transnational pensioners – last proofs of fading bonds to the homeland. • Yet, youngsters planning to migrate in both villages.

16. Some questionnaires’ quotations • “First, diaspora should be taken seriously”. • “there is no meritocracy”. • “safety, just safety”. • “we can go everywhere for holidays, but we still come here, even though my whole family is abroad”. • “Albania is like a magnet, we come here and spend the triple…”.

17. Need for policy implications • To scale up the process on a regional or national level; • Consider diaspora as a mechanism to foster development; • Channel investments through formal processes; • For Transparency and Trust - Migrants managed to get successfully engaged because they trusted the actors involved in the process; • Facilitate migrants’ investments – returnees or diaspora; • Engage diaspora in economic, social, political or cultural debate in the home country;

18. Thank you! • Bruneau, Michel. 2010. ‘Diasporas, Transnational Spaces and Communities’. In Diaspora and Transnationalism. Concepts, Theories and Methods, IMISCOE Research, Amsterdam University Press, 35–50. • Carling, Jorgen, and Marta BivandErdal. 2014. ‘Connections between Return Migration and Transnationalism’. International Migration 52(6): 2–12. • Decentralization and Local Development Programme. 2008. Strategic Development Plan of Dajc Commune. Afrojdit. • Faist, Thomas. 2000. The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social Spaces. Oxford: Oxford University Press. • Faist, Thomas. 2010. ‘Diaspora and Transnationalism: What Kind of Dance Partners?’ In Diaspora and Transnationalism. Concepts, Theories and Methods, IMISCOE Research, Amsterdam University Press, 9–34. • King, Russell, MajaPovrzanovićFrykman, and Julie Vullnetari. 2013. ‘Migration, Transnationalism and Development on the Southeastern Flank of Europe’. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 13(2): 125–40. • King, Russell, and Anastasia Christou. 2010. ‘Cultural Geographies of Diaspora, Migration and Transnationalism: Perspectives from the Study of Second Generation Returnees’. Population, Space and Place 15(2): 103–19. • Markova, Eugenia. 2015. Economic and Social Effects of Migration on Sending Countries: The Cases of Albania and Bulgaria. The World Bank. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/34/4/38528396.pdf. • Glick Schiller, Nina, and Linda Basch. 1995. ‘From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration’. Anthropological Quarterly, George Washington Institute for Ethnographic Research: 48–63. • Oruc, Nermin et al. 2013. Linking Rural Entrepreuneurs and Diaspora in Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. CEDAR; RRPP; ACSER. • Paladini, Cristiana. 2014. ‘Circular Migration and New Forms of Citizenship. The Albanian Community’s Redefinition of Social Inclusion Patterns’. European Journal of Research on Education 2(6): 109–15. • Van Hear, Nicholas. 2014. ‘Diaspora Formation’. In Migration: A COMPAS Anthology, Oxford: COMPAS. • Vertovec, Steven. 2002. ‘Transnational Networks and Skilled Labour Migration’. In WPTC-02-02, Ladenburg. • Weinar, Agnieszka. 2010. ‘Instrumentalising Diasporas for Development: International and European Policy Discourses’. In Diaspora and Transnationalism. Concepts, Theories and Methods, IMISCOE Research, Amsterdam University Press, 73–90. • Schiller Glick N, Basch L (1995) From immigrant to transmigrant: Theorizing transnational migration In: Anthropological Quarterly, George Washington Institute for Ethnographic Research, p. 48-63 • Russel King, AijaLulle (2016) Research on Migration: Facing Realities and Maximising Opportunities, A policy review,European Commission • Peggy Levitt & Deepak Lamba-Nieves (2011): Social Remittances Revisited, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 37:1, 1-22 Routledge