On 11 August 2018 the first conference since the opening of the Cham House of Peace in July 2018 took place in Vervë, Albania.
The conference brought together a range of historians from the region to debate the significance of the expulsion of the Cham from their homeland during World War II.
The impact of this event reaches far beyond the individual suffering of the Cham who were forced to flee encroaching fighters and saw friends and family members get maimed and killed during the ethnic cleansing of Chameria by Greek military groups. It also impacts the relationship between the various Peoples and their governments in the Balkan. The violence committed seventy-five years ago and the denial of this historical event by the descendants of the perpetrators still casts a deep shadow over the neighbourly relations of Greece and Albania.
Speakers at the conference included Rrustem Geci and Rexhep Abazi, among others, who debated the historical significance of the Cham issue and how we could learn lessons from history to find solutions for the challenges facing the Cham in the present.
