Reversing youth exodus from Western Balkans will be hard, report warns
Baku, October 15, AZERTAC
The youth brain drain is one of the biggest problems in Western Balkan countries, with some predicting that up to half of the skilled and educated young population may leave these countries in the next decades, according to BalkanInsight.
A research report published on Monday, Migration and Brain Drain – Comparative Analysis of Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia, shows that young people leave these countries not only because of low salaries and economic issues but also because of corruption, crime, political instability and lack of security.
The report was published as a part of the Regional Youth Leadership Mobility Programme, which is a collaboration between the Centre for Science and Innovation for Development, the Youth Educational Forum from North Macedonia, and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights from Serbia.
The paper focuses on how to attract young migrants back to their home countries.
Respondents in Serbia and North Macedonia voiced pessimism about the possibility of returning, but family ties remained a strong motive for doing so. Youngsters in Albania expressed similar reasons for staying in Albania, such as strong family ties and the desire to contribute to the country’s development.
Natalija Zunic, a graduate student at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences and co-author of the report, told BIRN that one of the main recommendations they highlighted is better advertising and recognition of support programmes offered by government and non-governmental organisations that address migrants who want to return home.
“The biggest thing we noticed is the very low representation of programmes to support migrants who return. They exist, but 80 of our respondents were not aware that they exist,” she said.
Many of these schemes offer the same support that potential returnees seek, such as support for establishing of new businesses with the capital they earned in foreign countries.
But one problem noted in Serbia is that the state no longer recognises the young people who left as an integral part of the state. “When they come back, they no longer have a sense of their home state because it doesn’t treat them like that,” Zunic said.
It is mainly young and skilled individuals that are leaving Serbia. The average age of emigrants is 28.7 years, compared to the national average age of 42.2 years.
A survey conducted by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy revealed that 64.5 per cent of Serbian youth would emigrate if given the chance. Their main reasons include securing a better future (22.7 per cent), higher salaries (20.1 per cent), and a higher living standard (19.6 per cent).
One is five emigrants also leaves with their entire family, indicating permanent departure.
North Macedonia, with its small population, is also facing significant emigration. The 2021 census highlighted a loss of 200,000 inhabitants compared to the 2002 census, as the population decreased from around 2 million to 1.8 million. This decline is primarily attributed to migration rather than a low birth rate.
Data in Albania shows that there is also a mismatch between educational programmes and labour market demands, which contributes to the brain-drain. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that few young people don’t have the opportunity to join quality internships.
Results of a survey conducted in Serbia show that students who gained internship experience are often not satisfied with its quality, citing another report with the same project, The Role of Career Counselling and Internship Programmes in Facilitating Students’ Transition from University to Workspace.
Participants without internship experience criticized career counselling offices for inconsistent availability and perceived rude attitudes, particularly in public universities.
Isidora Petkovic, a student of the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences and co-author of the report, told BIRN that when young people go to an internship, they “do everything except their job”, explaining that this includes some side office duties.
The solution for that is better mentoring and leadership, “someone who would guide them from the very beginning to the end of the internship”, she said, adding that it’s also hard to get an internship, for which you usually need “good connections”.
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