Rural Albanians abandon the countryside in search of work

An elderly woman dries medicinal plants in Shishtavec, Albania. Everyone in the home has left to Germany except her, who has stayed behind alone. In the past year a wave of people have left villages in her region, looking for work in the European Union but many are sent back to Albania.

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Filename: 20150818-spiegel-3679.JPG
Copyright: Elie Gardner
Image Size: 3600x2400 / 7.6MB; albania immigration village poverty european union farm country unemployment jobs economic migrant
Contained in galleries: Abandoning Rural Albania for Der Spiegel, Abandoning Rural Albania

An elderly woman dries medicinal plants in Shishtavec, Albania. Everyone in the home has left to Germany except her, who has stayed behind alone. In the past year a wave of people have left villages in her region, looking for work in the European Union but many are sent back to Albania.