Artur Metaj, 37, speaks to an inquiring passer-by outside his hair styling shop in the Albanian capital, Tirana 2 April 2012. As Greeks try to cope with rising unemployment, tax hikes and plummeting salaries, a silent community of hundreds of thousands of Albanians - 60 percent of the migrant workforce in Greece - is weighing up its future. Arthuros is a commonly used Greek spelling of Artur (Photo: Reuters)Artur Metaj made his first drachmas in 1991 selling Bermuda shorts to US soldiers stationed in Athens, capital of a country that offered Albanians like Metaj their first taste of capitalism after the collapse of four decades of Communist rule.
Metaj opened a hair salon, hired 14 people and was joined in Greece by an estimated 500,000 or more Albanians sending money home in the form of remittances – long a staple of the Albanian economy.
But after the debt crisis broke in 2009, Metaj's generous tips started to dry up, and his regular clients asked for credit. Read More
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