Moldovans return home with intention of going back
- 16.07.2009 09:29
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The Moldovans that went abroad to work will not come back en masse even in times of crisis, considers Ghenadie Cretu, program coordinator at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Office in Moldova. At a meeting with reporters, he said that the number of Moldovans that return home and of those that go abroad stabilized during the first half of this year, Info-Prim Neo reports.
“The Moldovans do not come back to live permanently. However, the number of Moldovan migrants that returned home for a short period has doubled. But they returned with the intention of going back when the crisis is over,” the expert said.
Most of the Moldovans returned from Russia as the costs there are more accessible and it is easier to travel. The Moldovans working in the EU avoid coming back even if they receive lower salaries now, owing to the crisis. Besides incurring high traveling costs, they have to obtain the necessary documents. One third of the Moldovan economic migrants work abroad illegally.
Ghenadie Cretu considers that the considerable reduction in remittances is the greatest danger for Moldova in such a situation. According to the IOM statistics, 20% of the families that received money from aboard do not receive it anymore, while 45% receive much lower sums.
Vasile Cantarji, expert of the sociological center CBS-AXA, forecasts that the number of Moldovans that go abroad will decline in two years as the potential for emigration will decrease.
According to a CBS-AXA survey, the number of migrants that returned to Moldova in March this year was by 17% higher compared with the corresponding period last year. The survey shows that 50.4% of the migrants returned home owing to family-related problems, 15.6% because they lost their jobs, 9.5% because they were paid lower salaries, while the rest for other reasons.
