“Our migrant” and “the other migrant”: migration discourse in the Albanian media, 2015–2018

The expansion of research on migration over recent decades has neglected sending and transit countries. Whether in terms of their internal development, their diaspora policy, their shift from primarily sending countries to (potential) transit or destination countries, or the issue of return migration and reintegration into home societies – all these topics deserve further exploration. This paper seeks to redress this by examining Albania, a sending country with almost a third of its population living externally, and which is recently shifting to a transit and potential destination country. Media discourse on migration was analysed, recalling its power to reflect as well as shape public opinion. Employing a quantitative approach, media discourse on migrants from 2015 to 2018 was examined. Some 55 web-based media were identified, along with twenty TV channels, 61 TV programs, and 317 articles. A qualitative analysis was then used to detect the tone of the discourse and gain a deeper understanding of the messages conveyed. Results showed that migration from the perspective of a sending country has dominated Albanian media discourse over the monitoring period. Major identified issues include: migration and demographic challenges, migration and multiculturalism in societies receiving Albanian migrants, and asylum seeking as a recent trend in Albanian emigration often standing in the way of potential Albanian EU membership. The regional migration “crisis” and the potential of Albania becoming a transit or destination country for refugees has only gained limited attention. The binary of “our migrant” versus “the other migrant” became a key distinction.

PASSING IDENTITY AND ETHNIC CULTURE IN LATVIAN EMIGRANT FAMILIES

The paper discusses the problem of preserving native Latvian language and the transfer of cultural identity in Latvian diaspora. One of the central tasks for Latvia’s diaspora policy is to support preservation of Latvian language and culture in diaspora with the aim of strengthening the Latvian identity and the sense of belonging to Latvia. Support is provided to diaspora schools for preserving Latvian language, culture and identity outside of Latvia. However, for children not to lose their Latvian language skills it is important that the language is used also in the family.This paper uses a combination of a quantitative survey and in-depth interviews with the parents of children in diaspora. The aim is to ascertain the language situation in the diaspora, explore practices and perspectives on sustaining Latvian language and ethnic culture.In the theoretical aspect, the research data is approached with reference to P. Bourdieu’s view on language skills as linguistic capital, a form of cultural capital. Parent’s attention to sustaining their heritage language in emigration is analysed in relation to children’s identity formation and family communication with family members left behind. The data confirms that parents play a big role in language acquisition and sustaining by children in emigration, and parents hold the main responsibility in the process of realizing ethnic identity as a value.

The Modern Diasporal Policy of Turkey: Features and Technologies

nowadays, the role of the diaspora as an autonomous subject of international relations has grown significantly, and the diasporal policy has become a flexible tool for the foreign policy of many states of the world. The article discusses the history of the formation of the diasporal policy of the Republic of Turkey, its features and implementation technologies, as well as the key institutions responsible for the development of this foreign policy vector. The author characterizes Turkish diasporal politics as a theoretical phenomenon and gives his own definition of the term «diasporal politics». During the study, the author relied on such methods as the general historical method, the analytical method, document analysis method. The author concludes that the vector of the diaspora policy in the foreign policy activity of the Republic of Turkey is new and has its own distinctive features, and the active comprehensive measures undertaken by the Turkish government in this direction to date have already proved their effectiveness.

Turkey’s diaspora policy is a growing EU concern

Significance The politicisation stems from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policy to mobilise and engage with the diaspora through political, cultural, social and economic ties. Erdogan now enjoys loyal support from Turkish communities in all three countries. Impacts Turkey may retaliate against efforts to check its influence in Europe, such as by closing European education institutes in Turkey. The vote of the Turkish diaspora could be crucial in local elections in Europe, especially in cities such as Rotterdam, Vienna and Cologne. Turkey will continue to seek arms deals with non-NATO countries to increase its independence from Europe and the United States.

Diaspora Remittances and Financial Inclusion in Kenya

This study examined the effect of diaspora remittances on financial inclusion in Kenya for a quarterly period from 2008 to 2018. The Kenyan government’s commitment to include the Kenyan diaspora into the national development process led to the launching of Kenyan Diaspora Policy in 2015 as part of the Kenya’s vision 2030 blue print of which financial inclusion is a pillar. This study sought to check if the policy interventions achieved its objective by testing the moderating effect of Diaspora Policy on the relationship between diaspora remittances and financial inclusion. The descriptive research design specifically longitudinal and explanatory non-experimental designs were employed in this study. The target population for this study comprised the three million Kenyans living at the diaspora. The census and stratified sampling design were utilised where census method was first used to include the formal diaspora remittance inflows for the forty four quarterly period and then stratified into corridors for the period under study. Data from the Central Bank of Kenya and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics were analysed using time series multiple regression model. The results of the study showed that formal diaspora remittances received had a positive and statistically significant effect on financial inclusion. Formal diaspora remittances from Rest of the World greatly influenced financial inclusion. Remittance inflows from North America also influenced financial inclusion to some extent while formal diaspora remittances from Europe had no effect on financial inclusion in Kenya. Further, the study established that the moderating effect between formal diaspora remittances and financial inclusion was positive and statistically significant implying that the diaspora policy implemented by government greatly influenced diaspora remittances and financial inclusion in the right direction in Kenya. The study recommended among others, that government of Kenya continues to strategically strengthen the diaspora policies in order to increase the flow of diaspora remittances into the country to boost financial inclusion.