Forced (Return-)Migration between Kosovo and Germany Language and a Sense of Home

Abstract

This paper deals with voluntary and enforced return from Germany to Kosovo while reflecting upon the experiences of home evolved within the parent-child relationship: Either voluntarily or forced, parental return from Germany to Kosovo creates a sudden enforced mobility for children. In this vein, we argue that return migration represents different mobilities, depending on the generational lens. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews, our analysis shows how arrival in Kosovo, a country weary of conflicts and poverty, went along with social exclusions, insecurity, and self-isolation. The second chapter analyzes loss in terms of lost life routines, opportunities, and an overwhelming feeling of self-estrangement. The third section goes, therefore, deeper into the feelings of estrangement through linguistic insecurities. While the insufficient knowledge of the Albanian language meant a source of shame, the German language competence represented an emotional resort and a material possibility for work opportunities in both countries. The paper examines the concept of return migration to highlight the unstable meanings of flight, voluntary return, forced removal, and/or deportation, most often defined by legal and political frameworks within the regimes of territorial sovereignty and citizenship. However, behind these concepts are people who set off to move in search of a better life without bare survival due to poverty, war, or natural disaster.