Country: Albania

Group: Roma

Date: 03/02/2022

Team: Natasha Chandra (lead), Katherine Edwards, Alicia Hernandez, Jihui Kuang

Content Warnings: violence, discrimination, houselessness

Approximate Time Period: 1800s-present

The Roma communities are among the most politically, economically, and socially neglected groups in Albania (Minority Rights Group International, 2015). They face discrimination, low literacy rates, poor health conditions, lack of education, and more (Minority Rights Group International, 2015). The government has not implemented any strategies to improve the Roma living conditions (Minority Rights Group International, 2015). In the 19th and 20th century, muslim Roma were seen as “Ottoman collaborators” in Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Romania, and they fled to Albania to avoid persecution (Koinova, 2000). Moreover, in Romania, the Roma people were enslaved and decided to settle in Albania as well as other territories still under Ottoman control (Kolsti, n.d.). In the 1960s, the Albanian government implemented a policy of forced migration or resettlement with the Roma to quicken their assimilation (Astrid et al., 2019), and there are ongoing cases of the government forcibly removing Roma from their homes and relocating them to city outskirts (Vullnetari, 2012). In June 2004, there was an eviction of 51 Roma families (Minority Rights Group International, 2015). Similarly, in January 2005, the Tirana municipality demolished Roma family homes, leaving 150 people homeless in the middle of winter (Minority Rights Group International, 2015). These homes were demolished because they did not follow the territory regulation plan, thereby making them illegal (Minority Rights Group International, 2015). In August 2013, 38 Roma families living in Ish Dekori were asked to leave because the area was to be demolished by a construction company (UNDP, 2013). After being forced to move out, the Roma must live in the street (UNDP, 2013).

Data Quality: Data quality for the forced away of the Roma is rated a 2/3 due to multiple credible sources and substantial evidence from these sources.

Sources

  1. Astrid, B., & Tobias, Z. (2019). Albanian Roma fight for their rights. Retrieved 02 March 2022 from https://www.streetroots.org/news/2021/09/29/albanian-roma-are-fighting-their-rights.
  2. Koinova, Maria (August 2000). “Minorities of Southeast Europe: Roma of Albania.” Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe – Southeast Europe. Retrieved 02 March, 2022 from http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/46231/Koinova_RomaofAlbania.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
  3. Kolsti, John. (n.d.). “Albanian Gypsies: the Silent Survivors.” Retrieved 02 March 2022 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people_in_Albania#cite_ref-26.
  4. Minority Rights Group International. (2015). Roma. Retrieved 02 March 2022 from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/roma/.
  5. UNDP. (2013). “Housing Policies and Practice for Roma in Albania.” Retrieved 02 March 2022 from https://www.al.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/library/poverty/housing-policies-and-practice-for-roma-in-albania.html.
  6. Vullnetari, J. (2012). “Beyond ‘Choice or Force’: Roma Mobility in Albania and the Mixed Migration Paradigm.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38(8), 1305-1321. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.689191.