In the first part of the article, the author examines migration and the character of integration of Albanians in the Czech Republic.
The beginning of the Albanian community in the Czech Republic can be traced back to the 1980s, when the Czech Republic served as a relatively inexpensive base for Albanian gastarbeiters (‘guest workers’) working in Germany. The author also deals with the thorny issues of illegal border crossings including trafficking in people (Teplice) and other criminal activities (Brno) on the part of members of the Albanian community in the Czech Republic. The second part of the article discusses the phenomenon of emigration in Albanian society, and also looks at the historical trends of Albanian migration in Europe. The author presents a comprehensive picture of the beginnings and development of guest worker migration in the traditional Albanian society. The last part of the article examines the way in which the Balkan conflict in the 1990s affected the Albanian community as a whole. In the end, the author returns to the issue of criminalization of Albanian immigrants.