ArmInfo.In the first half of 2018, the negative migration balance in Armenia was 6146 people. On October 9, summing up the results of 100-day work at a press conference, said Armen Ghazaryan, head of the migration service at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of Armenia.
At the same time, Ghazaryan noted that this figure represents the sum of the total number of border crossings. "If the same person crosses the border several times, he is also included in this indicator, however, we also have identifiable data. According to these data, the negative balance amounted to 5,204 people. This is a significant shift, because over the same period of time. In 2017, the negative balance amounted to 30,853 people, "the head of the migration service emphasized.
Touching upon issues related to refugees in Armenia, Ghazaryan stated that almost all refugees have several main problems, in particular, the housing problem, the language barrier and accessibility of education, as well as issues related to integration into society. Ghazaryan noted that currently 895 families from Azerbaijan live in Armenia, to whom the government has an obligation to solve their living conditions. Also, the head of the migration service touched on issues related to refugees from Syria. He stressed that many Syrian refugees, when they moved from Syria to Armenia, already had Armenian citizenship, however, most of them also faced a housing problem. "Many of these refugees, although they are citizens of Armenia, however, live in the same temporary shelters as other refugees," said Ghazaryan.
The head of the migration service also noted that the government had developed a new project, according to which within 9 months the department would pay utility and other apartment expenses to those persons who had recently been recognized as refugees and had not yet managed to get on their feet.
Ghazaryan said that many refugees live in extremely adverse conditions in temporary shelters. He noted that a new shelter is being built in Abovyan, which will become more modern, more comfortable and more spacious. "The Armenian government has already allocated a territory for us to build this shelter. We started construction together with the ICMPD center, which made a significant contribution to this construction. In addition, our American colleagues in the asylum area, as well as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, promised to provide assistance to us. We very much hope that our other foreign partners will assist us in this matter, "said the head of the migration service of Armenia.
Ghazaryan also stated that the number of Armenian citizens who had asked for political asylum in the EU had dropped significantly. "Last year, the number of citizens seeking asylum in the EU amounted to 3270 people, and this year their number fell to 2490," said Ghazaryan.
The head of the migration service also stressed that at the moment the International Organization for Migration in Armenia provides assistance to all those people who have voluntarily returned to the republic. "This organization helps people in a number of areas, including solving housing issues, if any, in organizing businesses, etc. Anyway, we have a positive migration dynamics," concluded Armen Ghazaryan.