Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes Reported migration intentions need to be treated with caution. One would expect responses given in Albania to overstate return intentions and those given abroad to understate them. Misja's survey was carried out early (no date is given), when many people's intentions were still rather fluid. The findings are complicated by a large proportion of don't knows, and a still larger proportion of respondents, especially young people, who stated they intended to move to a third country (Misja, 1998 Misja, V Emigracioni ndërkombëtar në Shqipëri gjatë periudhës së tranzicionit (International emigration from Albania during the period of transition) (Tirana, Shtëpia Botuese Marin Boleti, 1998) [Google Scholar], pp. 45, 46). By no means all those expelled from Greece in the much‐publicised mass explusions in the early 1990s were illegal migrants. Some were working legally but were nonetheless summarily expelled without being allowed to inform their employers or collect wages and belongings. Many illegal immigrants have never been expelled. Preliminary results of the 2001 census also showed that half the young men between the ages of 25 and 35 were abroad (Pulaj, 2002 Ardi Pulaj ‘Shqipëria, sa pak meshkuj’ (Albania, less masculine) Klan 19 December 2002 [Google Scholar]). The proportion of migrants who had savings was not given. Some of these small businesses become, in their turn, sources of informal credit. Small shops almost invariably have a book in which they keep account of goods bought on credit, so that, indirectly, remittances contribute further to poverty alleviation. Tradespeople such as plumbers also allow customers to pay in instalments. The availability of an immigrant labour force also facilitated the introduction of these new techniques into Greek horticulture (Kasimis, Papadopoulos & Zacopoulou, 2003 Charalambos, Kasimis, Papadopoulos, Apostolos, G and Ersi, Zacopoulou. 2003. ‘Migrants in Rural Greece’. Sociologia Ruralis, 43(2): pp. 167–184 [Google Scholar], p. 177). Some Albanians who are deported from Britain or avail themselves of the Voluntary Assisted Returns Programme, where they are the largest single category of returners (Home Office, 2002 Home Office, ‘The Voluntary Assisted Returns Programme: an Evaluation’ Findings 175 London, Home Office 2002 www.homeoffice.gov.uk/research/ [Google Scholar], pp. 2–3), tell their families they are seeking to get back to the UK, and even that they have documents to return. Some of those who were deported have claimed they did not have an opportunity to retrieve their savings from the bank, and there are reports that police confiscate money when they catch illegal migrants. This creates a powerful incentive to migrate again to recoup losses. When Spain and Portugal joined the EU there was a substantial return migration of guest workers from Germany (Constant & Massey, 2000 Constant, Amelie and Douglas, Massey. 2002. ‘Return Migration by German Guestworkers: Neoclassical versus New Economic Theories’. International Migration, 40(4): pp. 5–38 [Google Scholar], p. 6). Additional informationNotes on contributorsBeryl Nicholson Material for this article was obtained while undertaking field research financed by grants from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. A preliminary version was presented at the International Conference on Albanian Migration and New Transnationalisms, University of Sussex, 6–7 September 2002. I am grateful to the two referees who provided comments with which I found it fruitful to engage. Material for this article was obtained while undertaking field research financed by grants from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. A preliminary version was presented at the International Conference on Albanian Migration and New Transnationalisms, University of Sussex, 6–7 September 2002. I am grateful to the two referees who provided comments with which I found it fruitful to engage.