In a courtyard in the shadow of Tirana’s largest mosque sits Emina. A gloved hand reaches out for a can of Pepsi, which she sips as she watches the city around her. Although she was born in Tirana, it is unfamiliar: her formative years, and most of her memories, were shaped in Baghuz and Raqqa, in Syria. Both cities were held for years by the jihadist group Isis, known locally as Daesh.
Emina has been back in Tirana for just a month. She is still only 16. A quiet and withdrawn figure, her soft voice is barely audible. Life in Albania is a new and difficult adjustment, but she is certain that leaving Syria was the right decision. “Life is much better here; so much better than where I was”.
