Emigration and diaspora of the Republic of Armenia

Abstract

Emigration is not separately emphasized in the “Concept for the Policy of State Regulation of Migration in the Republic of Armenia” (2010) as a priority direction. Issues related to emigration are captured in various emigration areas, such as labor emigration, illegal emigration from Armenia and etc. The emigration flows originating from Armenia are mainly composed of labor emigration flows therefore in this Note we have analyzed the policy pursued by the state on labor emigration. An immigration policy also is not set up in the Concept Paper as a separate issue, which is probably conditioned by the low immigration flows towards Armenia. Nowadays Armenian Government is doing great efforts on keeping ties with Diaspora. Constitutional amendments, approved by the referendum in 2005, abolished the norm to ban dual citizenship. In 2008 the Ministry of Diaspora was established. In 2009 the Concept Paper on Development of Armenia and Diaspora Co-operation was approved by the Armenian Government and the Draft of the Concept Paper on Organization of Repatriation Process has already been developed.