Written by Emily Martini, BSWN placement student

In 1999 my Albanian family decided to immigrate to the UK to seek asylum as Albanians were being ethnically cleansed by the Serbian Army between 1998-1999 because of conflict regarding land, religion and ethnic differences. The conflict first started after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War One when British forces incorrectly divided the land leaving millions of Albanians as part of the Kingdom of Serbia. Being under Serbian rule Albanians were treated unfairly for their differences and, finally, in the 1990s when Albanians first started fighting for independence, Serbia disagreed and regarded this land to be for Serbians. Therefore starting to plan the ethnic cleansing of Albanians called ‘Operation Horseshoe.’

During 1998 to 1999 the Serbian army committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, like rape, forcing people out of their homes, and burning schools and religious buildings. Their end goal was to ethnically cleanse Albanians from a region now called Kosovo which Serbia still does not recognise as independent. The United Nations High Commissioner for refugees reported that more than 200,000 Albanian civilians were internally displaced and thousands of villages were destroyed.

*Return of a shopkeeper in the destroyed village of Peja/Pec, Kosovo, summer 1999*
*Credit: Lubomir Kotek/OSCE - ID: 2960 - Date: 16 April 2002*

This interview blog is a reflection of me and my older brother’s experiences growing up in Plymouth as immigrants. My brother Ervin, came to the UK when he was eight as a refugee and I was born in Plymouth, in the UK.

*Photograph of Emily aged 5 and Ervin aged 14 in 2005*

What significant memories do you have from your childhood?

Emily: Up until the age of about six, I was unaware of being from an immigrant family. I think when you are little you don’t take notice that you are a bit different to everyone else – for instance I had obvious Mediterranean features. Very dark hair, eyes and olive skin which stood out compared to many of my friends who had blonde hair with blue eyes. However, I think through the eyes of an innocent child the concept of someone being foreign has no meaning, and it wasn’t until I grew older, I saw people start to be more conscious of these differences and start to ask me questions about where I was from, even though I was born in England.

Ervin: One of my memories was on our way to England, I remember being in the banana boat and the boat was very full. There were definitely too many people on.

“I know now that we were on the boat for 13 hours at night which is very dangerous but as a kid you are with your parents. You just trust that they are right.”

It was freezing cold, and I remember everyone crying because they didn’t know if they would see their loved ones again.

*Photograph of Ervin aged 8 with his father Nebi not long after arriving in the UK*

What was your experience going back to your homeland?

Emily: When I went back to Albania at the age of 5 it was my first-time meeting any of my relatives. As refugees, we did not have English passports due to the Home Office immigration rules. And, even then, not all of us got one. Many of my relatives were returned back to Albania without the asylum they were seeking.

My first impression? I loved it there. The weather was completely different to the UK. It was always sunny, and the food was all naturally grown, organic and delicious.

“At this age I was not aware that Serbia had tried to ethnically cleanse Albanians. so I didn’t understand why we had moved away from there.”

Ervin: I was 15 when I first went back, and everything felt very different. Tensions were less high and no one talked about the past. I think it is something that everyone wanted to forget. Instead, everyone just wanted to focus on the present and was happy to see us again. Everything looked pretty much how I remembered it. Not much had changed, everyone was still living very poor lives in terms of wealth, but I noticed more richness compared to England in terms of community and real happiness which I had missed a lot.

What is your experience of growing up in the British education system?

Emily: Going into secondary school:

“I had made the conscious decision to tell people if they asked where I was from. I would reply that I was Italian. ”

I did this because in my experience, people are more accepting and are not as threatened by Italian immigrants as in the modern day. They seem to have no bad stereotypes attached to them. My school was predominantly made of white English students. A memory that stands out is there was one Black girl who was a couple of years below me and I noticed that she would straighten her natural hair every day. Although this is something very subtle that no one else noticed, I understood that she would do this so she could fit in with everyone else and not seem so ‘different.’

My school never had any lessons about immigrants, refugees or asylum seekers or what the differences are between the three; because of this I would hear people's typical uneducated opinions like ‘they come here to take our jobs’ or ‘why should we take them when there are other countries they can go too’. It was very disappointing to hear this common response. However, as social media started to become popular, and people started to see what was happening in other countries, I noticed that within my age group everyone was more empathetic and pro-immigrant regardless of what their parents’ opinions were.

Ervin: At first it was difficult because I remember not understanding a word of English and some of the kids were confused because I don’t think they had ever met anyone that could not speak the same language as them. But being kids, they were all friendly and welcomed me. I remember the teachers supporting me by giving me extra time to complete work and always being there for me if I needed extra educational help. Being eight, I think I picked up English quickly because I don’t remember feeling like I couldn’t talk for too long and being around only English people and no other Albanians, you learn quicker as I would spend the whole day talking English.

What was it like growing up in Plymouth, a city known for predominantly white?

*Photograph of Emily aged 7 and Ervin aged 14 in their house in Plymouth*

Emily: As I was getting older:

“I would compare myself to the people around me who were tall, blonde, and skinny. They seemed to be the epitome of beauty.”

At times I did not feel beautiful because typical Albanian features include having dark hair and eyes, being shorter and having curvier body types.

In year seven my friends would laugh about how thick my eyebrows were and convinced me to pluck them thin - So I did. However, maybe less than a year later it started to become trendy to have thick eyebrows and I noticed that they would start to draw theirs on thicker. This confused me, as previously, it was laughable but had now become a trend. I then saw that this would keep on happening with other features typical of my culture. On reflection, now that I am older I recognise that the way I looked was racially fetishised. This made me uncomfortable rather than flattered.

It still does.

Ervin: I remember one time in primary school we were learning about different religions, and I think they assumed I was a practising Muslims who spoke Arabic because the teacher gave me the Quran and asked me to show everyone how we pray. Under pressure, I just made something up and pretended to read it even though it was in a language I do not speak and personally I have never been religious.

The majority of Albanians are Muslims though there are catholics and orthodox Albanians, there is no religious tension in Albania and it is normal to see a church and a mosque side by side, most Albanians are secular and do not practise their religion.

What do you think the futures of refugees and asylum seekers are like now in 2022 compared to the late 1990s?

*Kosovar refugees fleeing their homeland. [Blace area, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia] 01/03/1999. Blace.* ***UN Photo/R LeMoyne***

Emily: I think it is a lot better today because of people watching the news and paying attention to social media. People are more educated about immigrants and the reasons and journey that led them to come here. I think people in my age group have no judgement towards them and don’t look at the stereotypes that are perpetuated in the media. In the U.K, there is a large group of Albanian immigrants, so it is easy to connect with our community if you are feeling lonely, and especially online you can talk to anyone about your struggles.

Now, at 21, I don’t feel scared to tell people that my family are refugees and I think people find other cultures beautiful and interesting rather than intimidating. When I get asked questions about my ethnicity now, I feel happy to answer them.

*Photograph of Emily aged 20 with her friend Holly aged 21*

“Today, I am very proud of my Albanian ethnicity, and I no longer feel the need to hide it. ”

Ervin: I think in terms of crossing to get into England, nothing has changed. It is still extremely dangerous, maybe not as much as before. Now they have teams to help save people crossing on boats if one happens to sink, compared to 20 years ago. But even with a little bit of security it is still a tough journey for people who desperately need help, and I think younger people are starting to understand that people are not making these dangerous crossings with their families to steal jobs from the British people. They do so for the safety of their future.

*Photograph of Ervin aged 28 in Plymouth*

I hope from sharing mine and Ervin’s lived experiences of growing up in Plymouth with me being a first generation immigrant and him a child refugee, gives an insight into what it means to seek refuge in this country, and the hardships we have encountered. Other Albanian immigrants may have the same or different stories to us - even my brother’s journey so far is very different to mine.

If I were to be approached by someone with ignorant views towards refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers, I would explain to them the reasons why someone may leave their home country. I would challenge them on their negative views.

Are the opinions they have their own or have they been passed down through relatives?

Are their views perpetuated to them by the media?

I would ensure they saw us in a new light, the one we deserve, and send them to valid resources to educate themselves.

If you want to access some resources for more information or help, you can visit these organisations.

Bristol Refugee Rights - This Bristol organisation gives you advice and shares stories and experiences from other refugees.

Borderlands - This Bristol organisation helps refugees with exclusion and integrating into the city.

Refugee Action - This national organisation involves fights for the rights for refugees.

Asylum Aid - This national organisation offers free legal advice to asylum seekers.