Loule’s interview: ‘Migration as foundation’

Loule was about 25 years old in 2012, when this interview was conducted. She was born in Albania, grew up on an island in the Cyclades and studied at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. At the time of the interview, she had been living in Thessaloniki for seven years. Prompted by talk of the economic crisis which was raging in Greece at the time, she discusses her own movement, describing it as the foundation on which she could build a better life; a life in which she could be creative without constantly having to apologise for her nationality. For Loule, ‘migration is both a foundation and a springboard’.

Loule’s statement was made at a time when the Greek economic crisis was coinciding with a sharp escalation in nationalist hate speech in everyday life. After the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Greece and the International Monetary Fund, far- right enclaves within Greek society rose in popularity not only among Greeks, but also among migrants from former socialist countries, such as Poland and, most commonly, Albania. Loule talks about migration as a tool that can be used by the migrants themselves in order to overcome barriers and resist the proliferation of nationalist speech and ideas wherever they may come from.