New Brits? Migration and settlement of Albanian-origin immigrants in London

Studies on migration and the integration of ethnic minorities have noted the lack of research on „new‟ immigrants to Britain. The „pragmatism‟ in UK immigration politics and the inadequate response to the presence of these new migration waves have also been documented, although there is only limited evidence to date. This paper focuses on one particularly ignored immigrant group – Albanian migrants and their children – and provides evidence regarding their migration and process of settlement in Britain. Findings show that the lack of legal migration routes to Britain has deeply affected migration trajectories of this group into the country. By this I mean not only the geographical routes and means of entry, but, much more, the personal trajectories of the migrants. Furthermore, an unsettled British asylum policy and deficiencies in its implementation have had an impact on migrants‟ health and their strategies of integration. In their search for a social and ethnic positionality in a multi-ethnic and socially stratified host society, the realisation of the migration project of Albanian migrants takes place alongside culture shock, a widened intergenerational „gap‟, ambivalence towards citizenship and belongingness, and links to Albania.