Country: Albania
Group: Balkan Egyptians
Date Finalized: March 16, 2022
Team: Mason McNeel (lead), Anusha Natarajan, Jacob Kebe
Content Warning: n/a
Approximate Time Period: 1946 – present
There are no officially confirmed figures on the Balkan Egyptian population in Albania (Minority Rights Group, 2015), however different sources have estimated their population to be between 3,000 and 250,000 (House Office, 2021; Minority Rights Group International, 2015). The Albanian government has a history of suppressing the Balkan Egyptians’ culture through the use of government policies. The data is rated 1/3, as very few reputable sources have published information on the Balkan Egyptians’ experience in Albania.
Albania’s post-World War II socialist government attempted to suppress cultural distinctions and forced Balkan Egyptians to adopt Albanian culture (Soto et al., 2005). More recently, the Albanian government has claimed that all Egyptians are fully integrated into Albanian society and has denied their minority status on the basis of them not having a widely used minority language (Department of State, 2008; Minority Rights Group International, 2015). The majority of Balkan Egyptians living in Albania speak Albanian and therefore would not qualify for minority status in the eyes of the Albanian government (Home Office, 2021). The government denying minority status has suppressed the culture of the Balkan Egyptian people and has increased their risk of being stateless, as many Balkan Egyptians lack the education and permanent housing required for proper documentation for citizenship. This is a concern as the Albanian government prevents those that are stateless from accessing essential services. However, in 2017, the Albanian government began the process to grant the Balkan Egyptians minority status (Home Office, 2021). Further, the government has implemented programs to help stateless people register for Albanian citizenship. As of March 2021, the government had not passed all the regulations for Balkan Egyptians to achieve complete minority status.
The government withholding minority status from the Balkan Egyptians resulted in the loss of their culture and increased the risk of statelessness. While the government appears to be taking steps to help stateless individuals register for citizenship, the Balkan Egyptians are still at a high risk of statelessness due to a continued lack of education and permanent housing to acquire the proper documentation for citizenship (Home Office, 2021).
Sources
- Department of State. (2008). Country reports on human rights practices for 2006. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. https://books.google.com/books?id=G7oZgVwLuHMC&pg=PA1169&lpg=PA1169&dq=balkan+egyptians&source=bl&ots=KH7x4VZsGo&sig=ACfU3U1rONnvNbApiFDfiX8bEaF9xThSBA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj6lJfdhcn2AhWcI0QIHaTyBDoQ6AF6BQjEARAD#v=onepage&q=balkan%20egyptians&f=false
- Home Office. (2021). Country Policy and Information Note Albania: Roma and Balkan Egyptians. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1028602/ALB_CPIN_Roma_and_Balkan_Egyptians.pdf
- Minority Rights Group International. (2015, June 19). Egyptians. Minority Rights Group. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/egyptians/
- Soto, H. G. D., Beddies, S., & Gedeshi, I. (2005). Roma and Egyptians in Albania: From Social Exclusion to Social Inclusion. World Bank Publications.
- Zemon, D. R. (n.d.). Socio Cultural Anthropology of Balkan Egyptian. 32.