FLASH
Shkruar nga Irena Beqiraj
The Albanian diaspora that is currently in Tirana and the Albanian government are content with summits, where many empty rhetorical promises are made about the broader role of the diaspora in the country. But intellectual capital is not mobilized through summits. Without a clear commitment, it remains unconnected, invisible and unusable...
The dates of April 13th, 14th and 15th are great days. Albanians from the diaspora have flown in from all over the world to participate in what the government is calling the “Diaspora Summit”. Flags will be flying everywhere and the attire and attire will be impeccable.
Always, whenever the diaspora gathers for rallies, summits or gala nights, the question I try to answer is: how is it possible that the Albanian diaspora mobilizes so strongly around rallies, summits and parties, and so rarely around solutions to Albania's political and economic problems?
Perhaps because it is easier for the departed to perfect the appearance of a connection to the homeland, while the burden of repairing the problems that plague the country falls on the people who still live there.
Oh, many Albanians in the diaspora reading these lines would argue that remittances prove the opposite! That the billions they send home are sufficient proof of their loyalty to it. But, for an economist, money and commitment are not the same thing. In fact, the growth of remittances over the years has reduced the pressure on governments to undertake political and economic reforms. Because, when families are supported by diaspora transfers, the immediate urgency to demand better governance from the state is reduced, as people emerge from the immediate need that could otherwise fuel civic pressure.
But this is not a criticism of people who send money. It is simply an observation about the fact that individual transfers, however substantial, do not necessarily indicate a serious commitment to the country.
As I must admit, I also meet genuine intellectuals in the diaspora. Inspired, they are curious, they feel the pull. Intellectuals of those who know that transformation does not happen in the halls of summits, but when you sit down opposite a teacher, a doctor, a pedagogue, a social worker who has the same concern about the approach to development but sees it from a completely different perspective. They know that engagement means being willing to participate in working meetings, consultations, giving opinions, workshops or conferences, lectures and forums throughout the year, without tam-tam, without drums and without excessive expenses, without songs and spectacle.
I often heard the same quiet questions from them: How can I actually get involved? Where do I start? Who do I connect with on the ground?
I must also say that I often don't have answers to these simple questions, because our homeland has built serious "infrastructure" only to mobilize diaspora money.
Recently, this infrastructure has been added to the marketing of Albania as the “Maldives of Europe”, where, according to the government, the price of an apartment will increase sevenfold once we enter Europe. This is undoubtedly a very skillfully constructed mechanism to absorb even more money from the diaspora, beyond remittances. So not surprisingly, by 2025, real estate investments by non-residents were around 33% of total foreign investments.
Meanwhile, almost nothing is done at home to mobilize the brainpower of the diaspora. This asymmetry is a missed opportunity and a strategic mistake, especially now in situations of global disruption, where ideas, expertise, innovation, influence, and agenda-setting matter as much as capital.
The Albanian diaspora that is currently in Tirana and the Albanian government are content with summits, where many empty rhetorical promises are made about the broader role of the diaspora in the country. But intellectual capital is not mobilized through summits. Without a clear commitment, it remains unconnected, invisible and unusable.
And while at the summit the honorary titles of “Golden Eagle” will be distributed to members of the diaspora and “Oh how blessed I am to have Albanians” or “Oh where is my Albania like you” will be sung, other doctors, engineers, researchers and software developers are applying for work visas in Germany or elsewhere. Hundreds of high school graduates are preparing to leave the country to study around the world, with the hidden dream of never returning. Each one of them is not just one more person away in the diaspora, ranking us one of the top 10 countries in the world for educated people away, but is a possible progress, a better future, a voice that could have changed something.
In the three days of this summit, as we did in the previous two summits, we will celebrate the diaspora and the individual achievements of Albanians who left the country because the country did not offer them a future, but we will not find a solution for the cities that have become like the former guest rooms in our homes, where sons and daughters come as visitors and are counted as tourists, where baptisms are rare and funerals frequent...
In short, in three days we will celebrate our individual abilities to survive alone, leaving aside, as always, our collective inability to truly connect and collaborate.
Because, as Konica said, the only time Albanians cooperate and coordinate among themselves is when they dance!
Te ishte diaspora e vertet aty i kishte ber m*tin ne mes salles ktij hundthithjes.Po ka mbedhur ca komunist militant aty dhe po ben teatrin e radhes per te mashtruar afrikant skllever qe ka sjell ne shqiperi.kujdes komunista se e kan te madh shume ata.hapni syte mire