In December 2013, the Civilitas Foundation secured funding from the Open Society Foundation’s Think Tank Fund for research fellowship on an issue that is not only a priority area for Civilitas, but Armenia’s policy context in general. Armenia undergoes strong migration flows, mainly outbound migration, which receive most of public attention and concern with much less policy, programs and public involvement in in-migration facilitation, despite Armenia being a receiving country for refugees (mainly of Armenian descent) from Syria and Iraq.
Civilitas’s new research fellow, Irena Grigoryan focuses on in-migration regulations, policies and programs implemented in Armenia and identification of gaps therein; reintegration practices and incentives for return in Armenia; and international best practices for enhancing in-migration and reintegration in Armenia.
Irena, who is a graduate of the European Master Program in Migration and Intercultural Relations taught in 4 European countries (www.emmir.org), was selected to the OSF Think Tank Fund’s Young Professional Development Program through a double-phased competition. “Return is neither a secondary stage in the migration circle, nor a regular act of natural comeback to the origin country. It is a key integral stage in the migration process, but receives little attention in the research and policy levels. Therefore, in order to have a balanced picture, it is important to research, discuss and communicate the data about in-migration flows to the country.” Having this motivation in mind, Irena is conducting research that will result in a policy paper and public discussion on in-migration, and we hope that the recommendations of this paper will clarify and set new items on the Armenian migration policy agenda.
Civilitas is privileged that such fellowships also have input in CivilNet’s programs and products. This CivilMult, for example, has been partly supported by the Young Professional Development Program, featuring remittances sent to Armenia by labor migrants and how these numbers are corelated with global trends.
We believe that this fellowship will provide Irena with valuable guidance and hands-on experience in the field of migration and will make Civilitas’s migration policy deliberations visible and relevant.