Camps of Lushnja

The camps and internment centres in Lushnjë were part of the system of internment and forced labour during Albania’s communist regime. After 1950, hundreds of persecuted families were interned in these centres, including prominent political families and established Albanian families such as Markagjoni, Pervizi, Bajraktari, Dukagjini, Kokalari, Dine, Vatnikaj, Koliqi, Biçaku, Mulleti, Merlika, Topalli, Alizoti, Kupi, Dosti, Kaloshi, Kolgjini, and Mirakaj, among others.

Internees were engaged in agricultural work, digging canals and draining marshlands, while living in difficult conditions and under continuous control and surveillance. Their movement was restricted and required official permission.

The archival documents presented in this section provide evidence of the organisation of these centres and the lives of families subjected to internment in the Lushnjë area.

Internment decisions were administrative acts through which the communist regime expelled and isolated thousands of individuals and entire families in designated camps and areas of internment. During the early years of the regime, such measures were often imposed without regular judicial proceedings. After 1955, the system was formalized through the Internment and Expulsion Commission. Internment became an instrument of political repression, affecting not only those considered opponents of the regime but also the relatives of escapees and political prisoners. The practice continued until 1990; the last internment decision is believed to have been issued on 10 February 1990, while on 8 May 1990 the law governing internment and expulsion was repealed.