In 3 months over 300 thousand Moldovan citizens left abroad to work

In the first quarter of 2007 about 335,000 citizens of Moldova left abroad to find a job, Deputy-minister of Economy and Commerce Sergiu Sainciuc told the meeting of the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights on Wednesday, July 18. According to him, intergovernmental agreements on workforce migration were concluded with a series of CIS countries, and among the EU member countries – with Italy, with a similar document being prepared for signing with Portugal. Also, such documents are negotiated with Spain and France. 784 legal work contracts were registered in 2006, the main destination countries being Great Britain, Italy, Israel, Poland. These persons work mainly in agriculture, health and social assistance, and the length of the stay varies between 6 months and one year. In what concerns workforce immigration, the quota was exceeded, with 878 labour licenses being issued to foreign citizens. 570 licenses were issued in the first six months of the year. In addition, the deputy-minister said that the draft law on worklforce migration had been worked out. It will regulate several aspects related to the immigration and emigration of labour force. An estimate of 600 thousand to 1 million citizens of Moldova work abroad, in the majority of cases illegally. The main destination countries are Russia, Italy, Spain and Portugal.