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Albanians in Switzerland

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Albanians in Switzerland
Total population
Switzerland250,000 - 300,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Religion
Related ethnic groups
AlbaniansinAustriaandGermany
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Albanians

TheAlbanians in Switzerland(German:Albaner in der Schweiz,French:Albanais en Suisse,Italian:Albanesi in Svizzera,Albanian:Shqiptarët në Zvicër) areAlbanianmigrants inSwitzerlandand their descendants. They mostly trace their origins toKosovo,North Macedoniaand to a lesser extent toAlbaniaand otherAlbanian-speakingterritories in theBalkan Peninsula.Their exact number is difficult to determine as some ethnic Albanians hold citizenship ofNorth Macedonia,Serbiaor other formerYugoslavcountries.

There were substantial numbers of Albanians inSwitzerlandfrom the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s and 2000s. While moderate numbers of Yugoslav citizens had residence in Switzerland during the 1980s, the bulk of immigration took place as a consequence of theYugoslav Warsand the laterKosovo War,as well as by means offamily reunionof those who had immigrated during this period.

About half a million immigrants from the former Yugoslavia lived in Switzerland as of 2009, corresponding to roughly 6.5% of total Swiss population[citation needed].About half of this number are Albanians (mostlyKosovar Albaniansand to a lesser extentAlbanians from North MacedoniaandAlbanians from Serbia).

Taken as a single group, people from former Yugoslavia are the largest immigrant group in Switzerland, followed by theItaliansat about 294,000. From the ethnic perspective, Albanians form the second largest immigrant group.

History

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Commemorative plaque at theFraumünsterinZurich,in which theAlbaniancommunity expresses its gratitude for Switzerland's pro Albanian policy during theKosovo War.

Until the second half of the 20th century, there were very few contacts between Albania and Switzerland.

Due to the high unemployment of theAlbaniansinKosovo,Serbia,MontenegroandNorth Macedonia,many Albanians came as guest workers inSwitzerlandin the 1970s. The Albanians quickly found work and integrated themselves into social structures inSwitzerland.Many of the guest workers stayed in Switzerland and soon brought in the whole family.

Until the 1980s there were almost only male migrant workers in Switzerland who were hardly perceived asAlbaniansin society because of theirYugoslaviancitizenship. Many stayed inSwitzerlandfor so long, so that later on they were able to profit from family reunification.

In the 1990s, years Switzerland's service as an important center for the Albanian diaspora from Kosovo. Several would publish in Switzerland newspapers Albanian-speaking, while you serve as the basis for KLA financings and organization.

The collapse of the Communist regime inAlbania,on the other hand, is only of relevance to the dying of the Albanian Diaspora in Switzerland. In contrast to neighboring Italians like Germany and in Albania hardly any citizens led illegally immigrants back consistently.[incomprehensible]

Thus, the number of Albanians in Switzerland jumped when the situation in the 1990s inKosovobecame increasingly difficult. Both the host country and theAlbanianswere ill-prepared for this situation and expressed difficulty in coping with the situation.

Reception

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The image of the groups from Former Yugoslavia in Swiss society is very poor. In a survey performed inZurichin 2011, "Former Yugoslavs" were found to be the least popular immigrant group, followed by Turks, Arabs and Germans.[2] The Albanians have been singled out for their particularly poor image.[3]As the largest group, they tend to be the most visible, besides the factor of opposition againstIslam in Switzerland,and the problem ofimmigrant criminality.In a 2010 statistic, young males of the former Serbia and Montenegro (which to a large extent corresponds to the Kosovar Albanians in Switzerland) were found to have acrime rateof 31% of the young males in Swiss population, while those from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia had crime rates of 23%–24% of the Swiss value[citation needed].It has been pointed out that the crime rates cannot be the only reason for the group's poor image, as the crime rate of theSri Lankans in Switzerlandwas still higher, at 47%, while that group has a much better reputation.[4]

Albanianscelebrate theDeclaration of Independence of the Republic of KosovoinLausanneon 17 February 2008.

Acceptance and discrimination

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Not infrequently, theAlbanian diasporainSwitzerlandis affected byxenophobiaandracism.Many integration difficulties and criminal offenses of some criminal Albanians has caused manySwissto be prejudiced against Albanians, which has led to fear, hatred and insecurity.[5]

Political parties that publicly oppose excessive immigration and the conservatism of traditional Swiss culture - in particular theSwiss People's Party(SVP) - strengthen this negative attitude among many party supporters.[6]These parties have already launched a number of popular initiatives, which were referred to by theAlbaniansas discriminatory.[7][8]In 1998, the ZurichSVPcreated an election poster with the words "Kosovo Albanians"and" No "in large letters when it came to financing an integration project forAlbanians.[9]In 2009, the Swiss People's Initiative "Against the Construction of Minarets" was adopted by theSwiss people.Many MuslimAlbanianswere outraged by this result and expressed their rejection. In 2010, the so-called "expulsion initiative" followed, which was also adopted by the voters. According to the law, foreigners who have committed serious crimes should be expelled from the country. The initiative on foreigners crime should thus reduce the crime rate and make the naturalization of foreigners more difficult. The "Sheep's Poster" designed by theSVPattracted international attention and was again described by many immigrant organizations inSwitzerlandas discriminatory.[10]

Economic integration continues to present difficulties forAlbaniansinSwitzerland.In October 2018,Kosovo's unemployment rate was 7.0% and inNorth Macedoniapopulation 5.3%, well above the figure for the rest of the permanent resident population. A study by the Federal Office for Migration justifies this with in part low vocational qualifications among the older generation and the reservations that Albanian youth are exposed to when entering the world of work. In the 1990s, many well-qualified Albanians, because of unrecognized diplomas, with jobs such. B. in construction or in the catering trade, in which the unemployment is generally higher. This also has implications for the social assistance rate, which is higher for ethnicAlbanians,with significant differences depending on the country of origin. The most affected are people fromAlbania.In contrast, the number of students with Albanian descent is increasing today. In 2008, only 67 people were enrolled at Swiss universities, there are already 460 in 2017. Albanologists and migration researchers today assume that the integration and assimilation ofAlbaniansis increasing, analogous to the development ofItaliansinSwitzerland.

In its annual report, Amnesty International stated in 2010 that the "anti-minaret initiative" stigmatized Albanian Muslims inSwitzerlandand increased racism in Switzerland in general

Demography

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Table with the 10 most spokenlanguagesinSwitzerlandas of 2000. TheAlbanian languageis illustrated in dark orange with about 95,000 speakers.
TheAlbanian languageas the language of best command inSwitzerlandas of 2000.

InSwitzerland,no statistics have been collected so far on how many people call themselvesAlbanians.Based on the 2000 census, the number of Albanian speakers was estimated at 170,000. In 2012, there were 1302 people from Albania, 79,261 with Kosovar citizenship and 61,668 with Macedonian nationality, with neither all Kosovars nor allMacedoniansbeingAlbanians.The total number of people living inSwitzerlandAlbanian descent of inclusive naturalized and dual citizens is currently estimated at about 200,000. 3.1% of the permanent population inSwitzerlandin 2016 stated that they use Albanian as the main language, which corresponds to 258,415. Thus, theAlbaniansbelong together with the 316,525 Italians, the 303,525 Germans and the 268,660 Portuguese to the largest groups of foreigners in Switzerland.[citation needed]

TheAlbaniansconcentrate in German-speakingSwitzerland.Important centers of the Albanian diaspora inSwitzerlandareZurich,Basel,Bern,WinterthurandSt. Gallen.[citation needed]

The number of Albanians living inSwitzerlandhas not been officially recorded, because official statistics differentiate foreigners according to their nationality.Albanianswere recorded as Albanian, Macedonian, Swiss or Serb nationals. Individuals from the Balkans can be naturalized above average. These naturalized Swiss disappear completely in the statistics.[citation needed]

Statistics

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Thecantonswith the most significant concentration of Albanians areAargau,Basel-StadtandLandschaft,Bern,Geneva,St. GallenandZürichmostly inGerman-speaking Switzerlandand to a lesser extent inFrench-speaking SwitzerlandandItalian-speaking Switzerland.The most lesser number are to be found inAppenzell Ausserrhoden,Appenzell Innerrhoden,NidwaldenandObwalden.[citation needed]

The distribution ofAlbaniansinSwitzerland(2018):[11]

Culture

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Organisations

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Since the 1990s, numerous associations have sprung up inSwitzerland,with the goal of representing theAlbanian diasporacommunity. Initially, these were only religious and native groups in some major cities, later organizations and communities were established, which should represent allAlbaniansthroughoutSwitzerland.

Among the strongest member associations is the Albanian Community inSwitzerland(Albanian Bashkësia Shqiptare në Zvicër).[12]For the Muslims occurs above all the Union of Albanian imams in Switzerland (albi Unioni i imamëve shqiptarë në Zvicër) and the Albanian-Islamic Federation of Switzerland (Alb.Bashkësia Islame Shqiptare Zvicër).[13][14]Among the largest intellectual grouping is the union of Albanian intellectuals inSwitzerland(Alb.Bashkimi i Intelektualëve Shqiptarë në Zvicër). Associations for the exchange betweenAlbaniansand Swiss are the Institut Suisse d'Etudes Albanaises (ISEAL) and the Society Switzerland-Albania.

In addition, there are now a variety of smaller clubs such as football clubs, dance groups, local representations of political parties, professional and student organizations, educational institutions and religious groups.

In May 2011, a union of allAlbaniansinSwitzerlandwas founded inBern.The Albanian umbrella organization could function as a lobby for Albanians from all Albanian areas in theBalkans.

Notable people

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For a more comprehensive list, seeList of Albanians in Switzerland.

Selected people:


See also

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References

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  1. ^"Die kosovarische Bevölkerung in der Schweiz"(PDF).sem.admin.ch(in German). p. 25.Der grösste Teil der kosovarischen Bevölkerung lebt in der Deutschschweiz, vor allem in den städtischen Agglomerationen Zürich, Basel und Luzern, aber auch in den Kantonen Aargau, St. Gallen, Bern und Waadt.
  2. ^Marc Helbling (2011):Why Swiss-Germans dislike Germans. Opposition to culturally similar and highly skilled immigrantsArchived2021-02-24 at theWayback Machine,European Societies13(1): 5-27.
  3. ^Burri Shurani et al. (2010), 41-42, 67-70.
  4. ^Neue Statistik: Tamilen sind krimineller als Ex-Jugoslawen,Tages-Anzeiger12 September 2010.
  5. ^"Die Albaner werden dereinst so integriert sein, wie die Italiener".2011-05-27.Retrieved2018-12-03.
  6. ^"SVP mit Ausländerpolitik auf dem Vormarsch".2009-12-08.Retrieved2018-12-03.
  7. ^"Stellungnahme zur Minarett-Initiative".2013-11-02.Retrieved2018-12-03.
  8. ^"Zentralrat will Minarettverbot kippen".2010-11-29.Retrieved2018-12-03.
  9. ^"SVP-Plakat: Freispruch".2001-12-07.Retrieved2018-12-03.
  10. ^"Misioni i albinfo.ch".2009-08-21.Retrieved2018-12-03.
  11. ^"Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Kanton, Anwesenheitsbewilligung, Geschlecht, Altersklasse und Staatsangehörigkeit - 2010-2018 | Tabelle".Bundesamt für Statistik(in German).Bundesamt für Statistik.2018-08-31.Retrieved2019-03-16.
  12. ^"Bashkia Shqiptare ne Zvicer".2009-08-21.Retrieved2018-12-03.
  13. ^"uais".2009-08-21.Retrieved2018-12-03.
  14. ^"Albanische-Imame-vereinigen-sich".2012-02-27.Retrieved2018-12-03.
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