YEREVAN (RFE\/RL)\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009cArmenia will face \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093a new wave of emigration\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d unless its government does more to improve the socioeconomic situation and boost the rule of law in the country, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) warned on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In an annual report, the UNDP called for wide-ranging government measures, including democratic reform, that would \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093considerably reduce the motivation of Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s population to leave the country.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n
At least 700,000 Armenians, or about one-quarter of the country\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s population, are believed to have emigrated to Russia and other countries since the break-up of the Soviet Union and the resulting turmoil in the region. The economically driven migration slowed significantly in the 1990s as the Armenian economy began recovering from its post-Soviet slump.<\/p>\n
The problem is the main focus of the UNDP\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s latest \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093human development report\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d on Armenia drawn up by local migration experts. They listed and analyzed its \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093significant negative effects on Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s development processes.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n
Those include decreased birth and marriage rates, a brain drain and other, \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093moral-psychological\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d consequences. People thinking about finding employment abroad are \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093less likely to struggle for the country\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s development or against injustice and violations of law\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d and \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093more tolerant of negative phenomena, passive and too focused on just consumption,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d says the 170-page report.<\/p>\n
The report at the same time acknowledges economic benefits of the phenomenon, pointing to multimillion-dollar cash remittances sent home by hundreds of thousands of Armenian migrant workers mainly based in Russia, Europe and the United States. According to the Armenian Central Bank, their non-commercial cash transfers totaled $1.12 billion last year. The sum was equivalent to almost 13 percent of the country\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Gross Domestic Product.<\/p>\n
The UNDP report confirms that the outflow of the population has eased significantly over the past decade parallel to Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s robust economic growth. \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093The evidence is that permanent net emigration fell to an average of about 10,000 persons per annum, which is only about 0.4 percent of the country\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s total population,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d it says.<\/p>\n
\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093However, despite the aforementioned process, the external migration situation in Armenia still remains alarming,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d it adds. \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Moreover, there are certain factors that give reason to assume that a new, rather massive wave of emigration may emerge.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n
The UNDP-contracted experts argued in particular that tens of thousands of Armenian men working abroad might eventually reunite with their families and cause Armenia to \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093lose another 200,000-300,000 citizens.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d Another factor mentioned by them in this regard is the ongoing concentration of agricultural land plots in the hands of wealthy individuals.<\/p>\n
\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Depending on how and at what pace [the land consolidation] happens, small land owners will be driven out of agricultural production, and some of them will most probably opt for labor emigration or permanent emigration due to the surplus of labor force in Armenia,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d says the report.<\/p>\n
\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Migration remains a risk factor for Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s national security,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d said Vartan Gevorgian, a sociologist who led a team of Armenian experts working on the report. \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093I am talking about irregular migration.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n
Accordingly, the report stresses the need for \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093active intervention\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d by the state aimed at \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093limiting the volume of permanent emigration.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d It says that should be done through improving not only economic conditions but \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093governance practices\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d in the country. More specifically, that should mean \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093the adoption and restoration of democratic values in governance practice and the elimination of double standards,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d according to the report.<\/p>\n
\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Most state officials are inclined to blame [the emigration] on socioeconomic causes such as unemployment,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d Gevorgian told journalists. \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093But at the end of the day, people become poor not just because of a loss of income but also because of being unable to defend their rights \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb because of weak property guarantees.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n
The UNDP report likewise says that Armenians have left the country not only because of poverty but also injustice, inequality before the law and a resulting atmosphere of popular cynicism.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a public presentation of the report, Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgian praised the UNDP office in Yerevan and the authors of the extensive analysis. He said its findings and proposals will be \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093useful\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d for government officials dealing with migration.<\/p>\n
Gevorgian also said that the Armenian government is committed to finding \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093effective and radical solutions\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d to the problem and is currently working on a strategy of \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093state regulation of migration.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d He did not elaborate.<\/p>\n
asbarez.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
YEREVAN (RFE\/RL)\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009cArmenia will face \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093a new wave of emigration\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d unless its government does more to improve the socioeconomic situation and boost the rule of law in the country, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) warned […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions\/853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}