Shqiptarët_në_Australi
Historia
Ashtu si me popujt tjerë nga Ballkani, periudha e parë e madhe e emigrimit në Australi fillon pas kufizimeve në kuotat e Shteteve të Bashkuara për evropianët jugorë në vitin 1924. Për shkak të Politikës së Australisë së Bardhë, shumë myslimanë gjatë periudhës midis dy luftërave janë përjashtuar nga emigrimi, ndërsa shqiptarët myslimanë janë pranuar në Australi për shkak të të paturit të një kompleksioni më të bardhë evropian. Ardhja e shqiptarëve ringjalli komunitetin mysliman në plakje të Australisë, demografia e të cilëve deri në atë kohë ishe në rënie. Censusi Australian nuk i ka regjistruar shqiptarët veç e veç deri në vitin 1933, kur u regjistruan 770 shqiptarë, numri më i madh jetonte në Queensland. Numri u dyfishua në vitin 1947 me bilancin e zhvendosur në Victoria. Shqiptarët që erdhën në vitet 1920 u vendosën në zonat rurale dhe u angazhuan në punët bujqësore, që lidhen kryesisht me rritjen e frutave. Si me emigrantët tjerë nga Evropa Jugore, shumica e shqiptarëve që erdhën në Australi në vitet 1920 ishin meshkuj.Barjaba, Kosta and Russell King (2005). "Introducing and theorising Albanian migration". In King, Russell, Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie, & Nicola Mai (eds). The new Albanian migration. Sussex Academic. p. 8. "There are some similarities to the US case in the patterning and evolution of Albanian emigration to Australia, although this movement started later and the scale of the migration has been much smaller. The key period of migration was the 1920s, when around 1,000 Albanians arrived in Australia, nearly all of them men. One mechanism, noted by Price (1963: 96), was the migration to Australia during 1925-6 of Albanians who had returned from the United States but who could not go back to the US because of that country’s quota laws set in place in 1922-4. Like the US, the first migrants to Australia were single men who wanted to work, earn money and then return home to improve their family properties in Albania. In the later 1920s and early 1930s, friends and relatives were brought over, changing somewhat the character of the migration. Nevertheless the sex ratio remained highly imbalanced: only 10 per cent of Albanians in Australia in 1947 were women, rising to 16 per cent in 1954 (Price 1963:96). Chain migration was a fundamental driving force behind this migration; once again the Korçe area was the dominant district of origin. Korçe migrants settled above all in Shepperton (Victoria) and Moora (Western Australia), specialising in various farming and agriculture-related jobs. By contrast, migrants from Gjirokastër (figure 1.1) tended to settle in urban Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth) where they opened small catering establishments (Hall 1994: 51, summarising Price 1963: 110-11, 150-1, 175-6). Since 1990 these chains linking southern Albania with specific destinations in Australia have become active again." Ata u bënë kopshtarë, punëtorët të kallamit të sheqerit dhe fermerë të duhanit. Numri më i madh erdhi në vitin 1928. Shqiptarët tjerë nga Australia Perëndimore lëvizën në kërkim të punës nëpër minierat e arit, ndërsa të tjerët në vitet 1930 kryesisht u vendosën në Queensland dhe Victoria, pasi u goditën rëndë nga Depresioni i Madh i vitit 1929.Kabir, Nahid (2005). "Muslims in Western Australia 1870-1970. Early Days". Journal of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society. 12. (5): 560. "According to the 1933 Census, there were 770 Albanians in Australia, 766 male and four female. The states with the biggest Albanian populations were, in order, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, while New South Wales and South Australia had conspicuously fewer."; p. 561-562. "Albanians usually married within their own community. Men wishing to marry sometimes went back to Albania to find a wife, or sent money back home so that a bride could be shipped out."; p. 561. "Most Albanians were adversely affected by the 1929 Depression, as work became increasingly difficult to obtain, especially for aliens. The Depression affected the rural sector more than any other, and resulted in much geographic movement amongst the labouring classes. As the Depression deepened, many men moved to the goldfields for work. Unemployed Australians and Southern Europeans (including Albanians) also turned to the goldfields and some antagonism arose between the two groups of men over jobs in the mines. The death of an Australian on the Australia Day weekend in 1934 provoked several days of rioting in Kalgoorlie and Boulder. Some of the premises of aliens were even looted or burnt down. As a result of both the Depression and the increased hostility shown by the British and Australians, many Albanians left Western Australia during the 1930s and settled in Queensland and Victoria. ; p. 561. "Albanians were keen to sponsor relatives from their home country."; p. 562. "From these cases it appears that one had to be financially solvent to sponsor relatives from Albania, and that the question of supply and demand regulated the flow of labour from overseas."; p. 562. "During World War II, when Italy invaded Albania and declared war on the Allies, Albanians were classified as ‘enemy aliens’. Under the National regulations, aliens in Western Australia were required to register at the Police Library in James Street, Perth. An advisory committee was set up in each state to hear appeals against internment. The record of those interned in Western Australia lists only two Albanians, Zalo Hajrulla and Nezer Hodo. Both registered on 15th April 1942 at the York Police Station and both claimed exemption from internment because they were market gardeners. Their labour was much needed during wartime."; p. 562. "Under the National Security (Alien Control Regulation) Act (1939), Albanians who were naturalised British subjects were not subjected to certain specified jobs assigned by the Allied Works Council. For example, on 21 April 1943, the Allied Works Council instructed that Demir Fehim, ‘Shall perform the service of cutting and handling of firewood, general farming and agricultural work and such other work incidental thereto as is directed by the Conservator of Forests, Western Australia, and its officers.’ Later, these tasks were not assigned to him because the Council found that he was a British subject. Demir Femin had become naturalised on 15 February 1943, which shows that a few Albanians also became naturalised during War World II. Overall the Albanians who engaged in market gardening in York led a peaceful life. As no British or Australian people were engaged in market gardening in York, the special treatment afforded the Albanians caused no obvious resentment. Similarly, Malays, Afghans and Indians, in spite of their single marital status and exploited lives, benefited economically. Some Malays extended their contracts, while some Afghans and Indians lived here for many years. Since the Albanians were European by race and the nature of their work less competitive they encountered fewer social problems. During World War II, some of them encountered restrictions because they appeared to pose a political threat. Therefore, it appears that the underlying reason behind any conflict was perceived threat – racial, economic or political. Although encountering restrictions and resistance on the course of their stay in the earlier years, eventually Muslims benefited economically by working in this State and their contributions to Western Australia’s development." Shqiptarët u vendosën edhe në Cairns, Melbourne, Brisbane dhe York.