Armen Ghazaryan: In the first half of 2018, the negative migration  balance in Armenia was -6146 people

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.