Albania is one of the countries in the region that has committed through the Poznań Declaration to increase Romani employment by 25%, but 4 years later, the facts show a complete failure of strategies for their integration and weak implementation of the law, heavily favoring informal employment.
Daniela Zisi
Maksi Rrushiti is one of the residents of the Egyptian community living in the area of the former Geological Enterprise in Korçë, and he earns a living by collecting scrap iron and other recyclable materials. For 27 years, he has been part of the informal labor market, just like the majority of Romani and Egyptian community members in Albania. Even though he is approaching retirement age, the only secured years of work he has been from the time of the dictatorship. After the change of the system, the 62-year-old has performed various jobs mainly in the construction sector, but employers have not provided job security, keeping him employed for short periods of time.
“I work by collecting iron. With what I make from the iron and cans, I can’t afford to pay for insurance,” Maksi says, adding that since the ’90s, he has been unable to integrate into the formal job market.
According to the 2011 Census, the Romani and Egyptian community in Albania has 11,669 members, of which 8,301 are declared as Roma and 3,368 as Egyptians. However, despite official data, these figures are several times higher and contradict the surveys conducted by civil society organizations and even other state institutions.
Tirana has the highest number of Roma community members, with 26%, followed by Elbasan with 17% and Korçë with 11%, according to the 2014 Census “Housing and Roma Population in Albania,” conducted by OSFA. Meanwhile, the number of Egyptian community members is even higher, but accurate figures for this group are not available yet.
The Romani and Egyptian community in the city of Korçë is scattered throughout the territory, but a significant portion of them live clustered in several traditional settlements. The Municipality of Korçë does not have accurate data on the number of members of these communities. However, according to surveys conducted by civil society organizations, as reflected in the Local Plan for the Integration of Roma and Egyptian Minorities 2019-2022, their number is around 24,000.
Currently, the Municipality of Korçë provides economic assistance to 300 families, while the rest sustain their livelihood through daily labor or are not part of the labor market.
Despite the economic difficulties faced by these communities, the Municipality of Korçë has managed to employ very few people among those who receive economic assistance.
“We are implementing the program to guide people from families receiving economic assistance, and for the year 2023, around 15 people have been employed,” says the municipality’s response to the information request, adding that a total of 270 people from the Roma and Egyptian communities have been employed as part of the three-year Local Plan.
For the Municipality of Korçë, most of the indicators envisaged in the Action Plan have been achieved, such as education, employment, housing, health, and migration. Fulfilling the objectives of this plan required a budget of 2.3 million euros, with about 53.6% covered by the state budget and 15% by the municipality’s budget, leaving a gap of 28% unfunded. “21.1% of expenses were needed for employment and economic empowerment,” states the Local Plan.
The Municipality of Korçë states in its response to the information request that it does not have data regarding the funds spent by the government and the municipality itself to fulfill the objectives of this plan.
Elisabeta Dingëlloshi, a mother of 5 children, has been actively seeking work together with other members of the Romani and Egyptian community, following the institutional route through the Regional Employment Office in Korçë. Despite their efforts, none of them have managed to secure formal employment. Dingëlloshi claims that the reasons for rejection by employers are related to their ethnic background.
“The truth is that there are racial differences because I went to the employment office, accompanied my daughter-in-law and other residents, and we were directed to several businesses. The owners told us they would call us, but it never happened. There are racial differences here because we are Roma and Egyptians,” she says.
The National Employment and Skills Agency explains that the reason for the low employment rate of Roma and Egyptians has two aspects:
“Unlike all other categories, the Roma/Egyptian category is characterized by relatively young age and a pronounced lack of education. The lack of education makes it difficult to integrate this group into the labor market, as it also poses a problem for sending this category to vocational training courses. Furthermore, unemployed job seekers from the Roma/Egyptian category do not prefer full-time work and monthly wages,” states the response to the information request.
The same argument is supported by employment expert Erion Muça, who, in addition to the reasons related to insufficient education, also adds discrimination.
“The opportunities offered for work depend on their education and training. The job offers for them come with very low pay, mainly on hourly contracts, and they usually perform jobs that others do not prefer,” he says, adding that preconceived notions and discrimination in the opportunities and working conditions offered often stigmatize them.
According to the “Labor Market 2021” report by INSTAT, there are 162,560 unemployed individuals in Albania, accounting for 11.5% of the population. However, this institution does not differentiate between the unemployed from the majority population and ethnic minorities.
Nearly half of the unemployed individuals in our country are registered with the Employment Offices as job seekers, while the rest do not follow the institutional route and try to find work on their own, either in the formal or informal labor market. The number of Romani and Egyptian community members who see the employment offices as institutions, where they can find support in their efforts to integrate, remains insignificant in relation to the majority population. According to data from the National Employment and Skills Agency, in December 2022, 9% of the total job seekers were members of these communities.
As shown in the graph, in 2022 and 2023, employment offices managed to employ around 3% of Romani and Egyptian job seekers. Meanwhile, 63% of job seekers from these ethnic groups, according to AKPA (National Employment and Skills Agency), receive economic assistance, which motivates them to seek work in the informal sector as well.
On the other hand, their unemployment rate is much higher than the official figures, as a portion of them do not approach employment offices at all.
Gentian Serjani, the director of the “Social Justice” center, states that the Romani and Egyptian community accounts for a large percentage of the labor force, mainly due to their young age compared to the country’s average population. However, their integration into the formal job market remains challenging.
“Due to the lack of opportunities for a profession and education, they find it difficult to integrate into the formal job market, and as a result, they work in the informal sector. Currently, there is no program that aligns the interests of the state and the interests of citizens,” says Serjani.
INSTAT does not have data on the unemployment rate among young Romani and Egyptian individuals. However, for the year 2021, the overall unemployment rate for young people aged 15-24 in Albania was 27.1%.
The informality rate in Albania, according to the International Financial Corporation (IFC), remains significantly higher compared to other countries in the region. In 2019, 37.5% of the labor market in Albania was informal, almost twice that of Serbia and North Macedonia, where the informality rate is estimated at 18%.
The consequences of working in the informal sector have a more significant impact on the elderly within the Romani and Egyptian communities. This age group is not entirely covered by free healthcare due to the non-payment of contributions, and they also do not receive any elderly pensions. Only those aged over 70 receive social pensions, but these communities have a lower life expectancy compared to the national average.
70-year-old Fadile Ushini starts her day by collecting bread and cans from the waste containers, and by selling them, she manages to earn about 15,000 lekë per month, which helps her meet basic needs.
“I used to work at a casino, but I had no social security, so I don’t receive a pension. Now that I’m 70 years old, I only get 7,000 lekë as social assistance, which is not enough even for bread. It’s hard to work at this age, but so far, I’ve been in good health,” says the elderly woman.
The Ministry of Health did not respond to INA MEDIA’s request for information regarding the level of healthcare coverage for people working in the informal sector, while experts raise concerns about significant economic and social consequences.
“The consequences of informal work in this category are directly related to the lack of access to healthcare services, exposing them to a high risk of injury or even fatal consequences, as well as reducing the possibility of receiving a pension in their old age,” says expert Erion Muça, adding that informal employment on such a scale undermines the compulsory health care fund, leading to lower revenues and consequently fewer public services.
The labor market in Albania continues to be heavily impacted by informality, but Roma and Egyptian employees are more inclined to be part of this market compared to the majority population. Even when they manage to secure a formal job, they are still exposed to abuses and contract violations, which remains a concern.
In Korçë, as in other municipalities in the country where the Roma and Egyptian community is concentrated, those who manage to secure a job in the private sector face systematic violations of labor contracts. Sectors such as cleaning, as well as garment and construction industries, where Roma and Egyptian individuals have better chances of employment, remain sectors where labor contracts are flagrantly violated.
One of the employees of the city’s cleaning company, whom we will keep anonymous, states that her wage is 24,000 lek per month, even though the minimum wage in the country has reached 36,500 lek. Despite the violation of the law, neither she nor her colleagues have filed complaints, fearing that they might lose their jobs.
“Previously, I used to earn 21,000 lek per month, and now, with the increase in the minimum wage, I receive 24,000 lek. The work we do is very difficult,” says the woman, who is nearing retirement age.
Despite the fact that the phenomenon of informality is known even by state institutions, private entities continue to violate the rights of employees with impunity. The Commissioner for Protection against Discrimination, Robert Gajda, says that informality is widespread in Albania and includes the Roma and Egyptian communities.
“Of course, many contracts are made under conditions of necessity because these individuals are in need and accept to work even under informal conditions. On the other hand, they cannot expose informal employers because they are afraid to report them,” says Gajda.
The same argument is supported by Ervis Çota, a civil society activist and director of the organization “Roma and Egyptian Youth Movement” in Elbasan, who says that the mechanisms of abuse by employers against employees from these communities are diverse.
“Work without a schedule is one of the aspects of violation. Despite the clear definition of work conditions in the contracts that are signed, working hours are often abused. Additionally, there are abuses related to weekly leave, annual leaves, or recognition of health reports,” he says.
Monitoring and control mechanisms of state institutions manage to detect a small part of the entities that hire informal workers or abuse labor contracts. According to official data from the State Labor Inspectorate, in cases where uninsured workers were found, businesses fully formalized 100% of them for the Korçë region in 2022 and the current 3-month period of the current year.
According to expert Gentian Serjani, the monitoring of the labor market by the State Labor Inspectorate is insufficient and does not cover regular inspections of private entities throughout the territory. In his view, achieving results in the fight against informality cannot be solely accomplished through the coercive force of the law but also requires compromising instruments, such as reimbursement or support to entities through grants to cover part of their obligations towards employees.
“The irregular situation of the informal labor market includes several links, where the State Labor Inspectorate bears the main responsibility,” says Robert Gajda, the director of KMD.
“Responsibility undoubtedly lies largely with the state, which has the obligation to bring every report into legal and judicial contours. Strengthening monitoring and inspection institutions, such as the State Labor Inspectorate, and creating conditions for increased human capacities for more frequent and effective monitoring, are necessary,” he explains.
Out of the total budget of 4,753,255,816 lekë allocated for the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Inclusion and Participation of Roma and Egyptian Communities 2021-2025, to increase the formal employment of members of these communities, the government set aside 376 million lekë for the implementation of several support schemes.
“By the end of 2025, at least 300 Roma and Egyptian individuals will receive financial support for entrepreneurship and self-employment with the aim of their inclusion in the formal economy. One of the measures to achieve this objective is a 50% reduction in local taxes and tariffs for businesses established by Roma and Egyptians and for those businesses employing a significant number of Roma and Egyptians,” states the plan.
Despite the clear definition of one of the relief policies to be applied to self-employed Roma and Egyptians by local authorities, when asked about the implementation and the number of beneficiaries, the Municipality of Korçë stated that there are no fiscal incentives for the self-employed individuals from these communities.
The municipalities, as key institutions, should have already started working to achieve these objectives and should be in the implementation phase. However, they have not yet drafted the Local Action Plans, as confirmed by the People’s Advocate, who has recommended local authorities engage in fulfilling legal obligations.
“Recommendations have been taken seriously, including those addressed to municipalities for drafting and approving strategic documents at the local level,” says the response to the request for information from the Ombudsman, which further emphasizes that central and local institutions should design concrete policies for the real integration and inclusion of Roma and Egyptian communities.
Over the years, the strategies implemented have changed the economic and social situation of the Roma and Egyptian community to some extent, as their effectiveness is closely related to a real reflection of the number of members of these ethnic groups, which Albania still lacks. The implementation of the new Census is expected to begin in September, but Commissioner Robert Gajda remains skeptical about the final result.
“The Census should be a snapshot of society, which, in order to be effective, must be true, as if it does not reflect the truth in society, all policies built on this data will not be comprehensive and adequate to meet the needs of ethnic groups,” he concludes.
Ky shkrim është pjesë e projektit që mbështetet financiarisht nga Zyra e Mardhënieve me Publikun e Ambasadës së SH.B.A. në Tiranë. Opinionet, gjetjet, konkluzionet dhe rekomandimet e shprehura janë te autor-it/ve dhe nuk përfaqesojnë domosdoshmërisht ato të Departamentit të Shtetit. / This article is part of a project that is financially supported by the Public Relations Office of the US Embassy in Tirana. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of State.