MIGRATION > MOLDOVA
A chance of a future in your own country In Moldova, less than 40% of the people are employed in their www.enpi-info.eu own country: a shortage of jobs and low salaries force Moldovans to look for work elsewhere. An EU-supported project provides information and gives qualified Moldovan migrants and students the opportunity to return home and to reintegrate themselves into the national labour market. At the same time, the German government complements these efforts by paying a top-up salary to returning migrants for a limited period. An EU Neighbourhood Info Centre journalist spoke to some people who took the chance and came back. This is his report. Text by Dmitri Kalak Pictures by AFP ©EU/Neighbourhood Info Centre
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CHISINAU - In late 2012, Dorin Toma returned to Moldova. Just a year earlier, the young man found himself at a crossroads, with an important decision on his future looming. His studies at the prestigious Humboldt University in Germany were over, and he had a difficult choice to make: either stay away from his near and dear and try to make a life for himself in Germany, or return to Moldova. There, it would have been hard to find a job and even harder to earn a decent salary. He was lucky. Through the Internet and his friends, he found out about a German project aimed at supporting young qualified migrants return home. He completed a questionnaire and received several invitations for interviews. Now he is the Chief Expert at the Office for Interethnic Connections at Moldova’s State Chancellery. In a landlocked nation of 3.6 million people, labour migration is a seri- EU Neighbourhood Info Centre ous problem. Less than 40% of Moldovans are employed in their own Feature no. 100 country, as a lack of jobs and low salaries back home force them to look beyond their borders for work. According to unofficial data, the number of labour migrants ranges from 600,000 to 1 million, around one third of the entire employable population of the country. Out of these, about 200,000 people have settled in EU countries.
This is a series of features on projects funded by the EU Regional Programme, prepared by journalists and photographers on the ground or the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre. © 2013 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 100
“They have the knowledge, the experience. These people are an excellent resource for their own country and they should get a chance of going home to make a good career”
N Viorel Girbu: he has received a Masters degree in the economy of developing countries from a Berlin university and has decided to come back to Moldova
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Positive impact to a complex problem The EU project ‘Consolidation of migration management capacities in the Republic of Moldova’ provides information on legal job opportunities in European countries, but also gives people a chance to return home and find proper application for their abilities and knowledge. To implement the €2 million project, the Employment Service of Sweden was chosen as a partner, because of its 20-year experience of cooperation with various Moldovan governmental departments. The previous EU project, ‘Strengthening Moldova’s potential in controlling labour resources and reverse migration’, was completed in March 2012. However, the EU decided it was worth financing a second stage because of the positive impact the project had had. “While setting the objectives of our work, we took into account the complex nature of problems related to mass labour migration,” says Per Lindberg, the project manager. “The Moldovan administration, the European Union and the migrants themselves are interested in a solution. Hence there are three main components in the project: strengthening the potential of institutions and organisations concerned with labour migration; development of domestic labour market and providing potential migrants with valid information about the opportunities of legal entry and employment in EU countries; interaction with Moldovan communities abroad with the aim of motivating people to return home”.
N The updated web portal www.anofm. md also contains an abundance of useful information about vacancies in Moldovan enterprises
Telephone hotlines, web portals and job fairs The project helped to open up a telephone hotline at the Employment Agency in Moldova, where anyone can receive information about vacancies at Moldovan enterprises, details of labour legislation, re-training opportunities and many more. Calls within Moldova are free, and from abroad one can contact the line by Skype or e-mail. The updated web portal www.anofm.md also contains an abundance of useful information. The project also helps to train the staff and organises training visits to Sweden. Four job fairs, which took place in the framework of the previous EU supported project for members of Moldovan communities in Italy and Germany, helped many migrants discover employment opportunities in their own country, making them seriously consider the prospect of returning. In total, around 1,000 people visited the fairs, which were attended by 15 major Moldovan enterprises. Based on this experience, work is currently underway to organise an electronic job fair, to be held next autumn. “This is an opportunity for the migrants to find a potential job, but also for the enterprises to find qualified staff,” says Lindberg.
“We are stimulating scientists and first-rate professionals to come back, as well as highlymotivated young people, who want to change things in their own country and work for its better future”
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“An excellent resource for their own country”
N Laura Choklya : she went to Germany at the age of 18, together with her mother. She has now joined the Chamber of Commerce staff in Moldova
In 2008, Moldova became one of the first participants of the ‘Partnership for Mobility’, a new EU concept of migration control. Mobility partnerships offer a concrete framework for dialogue and cooperation between the EU and its States on the one hand, and non-EU countries on the other. The cooperation focuses on three areas: legal migration, migration and development and the fight against irregular migration. In this framework, individual EU Member States also came in for support. A specialised programme of the German government directed at motivating foreign citizens who were educated in Germany to return home, was set up and implemented by the Centre of International Migration and Development (CIMD). Coordinator and project expert Alexander Seidl is certain that qualified migrants should be called upon to work for the benefit of their own country. “They have the knowledge, the experience. These people are an excellent resource for their own country and they should get a chance of going home to make a good career,” he says.
“Job fairs are an opportunity for the migrants to find a potential job, but also for the enterprises to find qualified staff”
Germany covering the wage gap But the harsh reality is that there are not many people who would want to leave the prosperous Germany and go back to Moldova, where they would receive just €200 to €300 per month. Even more so after graduating from prestigious European universities. This is why the programme envisages a two-year period of financial support for those who decide to return: the additional payment ranges from €500 to €2000 each month. An earlier EU funded initiative implemented by IOM Moldova had the same mechanism of topping-up the salaries of some young graduates. “We are stimulating scientists and first-rate professionals to come back, as well as highly-motivated young people, who want to change things in their own country and work for its better future,” says Seidl.
Providing that extra incentive Since 2010, when Moldova joined the programme, 16 people have profited from this opportunity. One of them is Laura Choklya, who went to Germany at the age of 18, together with her mother. She completed her studies in enterprise economy, combining them with work at a bank. Wishing to develop her career, information on the CIMD programme was just what Laura was looking for. That is how she joined the Chamber of Commerce staff in Moldova, responsible for international projects. “Programmes which support the return of qualified migrants, both from the EU or from individual member states, are very important for people from Moldova,” says Laura. “Without extra stimulation, it is difficult to risk returning home,
N Coordinator and project expert Alexander Seidl
A chance of a future in your own country
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 100
even if you are eager to.” Viorel Gyrbu is another returnee. He received a Masters degree in the economy of developing countries from a Berlin university. “For a highly qualified specialist is difficult to find a job with decent pay. It is hard to say if I would risk returning, if it wasn’t for the additional support I am receiving…”. At present, Viorel works at the Institute for Market Economy in Chisinau and is engaged in analysing the Moldovan economy. If the country grows, salaries will also increase. Viorel might decide to remain after all.
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N Less than 40% of Moldovans are employed in their own country, as a lack of jobs and low salaries back home force them to look beyond their borders for work.
Consolidation of migration management capacities in the Republic of Moldova http://legal-in.eu/en/home With the purpose of facilitating legal migration including circular and temporary migration, in June 2008 a Joint Declaration on a Mobility Partnership between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova was signed. Within this partnership, a capacity building project was established to “Consolidation of Migration Management Capacities in the Republic of Moldova ”. The project is implemented by Swedish Public Employment Service. The objective of the project is to promote the legal mobility between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova. The project’s objectives aim at the following: 1. To provide correct information about legal migration procedures and opportunities; 2. To inform about risks of illegal migration and possibilities of working and living legally in the EU; 3. To better maximize the links between migration and economic and labour market development in the receiving countries and in Moldova; 4. To provide programs for returnees and pre-departure trainings in order to match their experience with international and national labour market demand.
Timeframe: 30 months Budget: 2.000.000 Euro To find out more Project fiche http://legal-in.eu/en/consolidation-of-migration-management-capacities-in-rm EU Neighbourhood Info Centre thematic page: MIGRATION http://www.enpi-info.eu/themeeast.php?subject=2
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project The EU Neighbourhood Info Centre is an EU-funded Regional Communication project highlighting the partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. The project is managed by Action Global Communications.
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