OSCE Office presents study on labour migration from Armenia

YEREVAN, 9 February 2006 - Labour migration from Armenia between 2002 and 2005 is the focus of a study, presented today by the OSCE Office in Yerevan to governmental officials and representatives of local and international organizations.

The survey was conducted by the Armenian non-governmental organization Advanced Social Technologies with financial support from the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

"We hope that the study of the current migration situation and migration trends in Armenia will assist the Government of Armenia in revising its migration policy, and will be a step forward in protecting the human rights of the migrant workers," said Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

The survey revealed that from 2002 to 2005, 7 to 9% of the economically active population was involved in labour migration processes. The majority of the migrants - 85.9% - were male aged between 21 and 50. The survey shows that the most popular destination country for labour migrants is Russia. Almost 90% of labour migrants visited it at least once during the last three years.

"The Office hopes that this report will contribute to the discussion about migration in the country, and pave way for further analysis of the phenomenon," added Ambassador Pryakhin.

The survey has been published in the Armenian and English languages.