Poll Finds 39% of Armenians Wish to Leave Armenia Permanently
By: Nanore Barsoumian
YEREVAN (A.W.)–On Aug. 4, Gallup published the results from a 2009 poll showing that over a third of participating Armenians wanted to leave Armenia permanently—a staggering 39 percent, to be exact. The percentage was highest in Armenia out of the 10 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as the former CIS member Georgia and associate CIS member Turkmenistan.
Around a third as many poll participants from neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan desired to move to another country permanently. Their percentages were 14 and 12 percent, respectively.
The study further revealed that about the same number of participants from Armenia (39 percent) wanted to study or participate in a work-study program abroad—the highest in the polled countries—while 44 percent would like to move for temporary work—the second highest after Moldova (53 percent).
Moldova is second to Armenia in the percentage of those willing to migrate permanently. The Gallup report cites the large Armenian Diaspora—“one of the largest…in the world”—as at least a partial explanation of the poll results. “In countries where residents are among the most likely to want to migrate permanently, the percentage of respondents who say they have people outside their own countries whom they rely on is also higher,” it states. “A majority of Moldovans (54 percent) and about a third of Armenians (32 percent) and Belarusians (30 percent) say they have relatives or friends living in another country whom they can count on for help.”
Overall, the Gallup poll shows that in the 12 former Soviet states, an estimated 70 million people would like to migrate temporarily and 30 million permanently.
The results were based on one-on-one interviews with adults aged 15 years and older; the findings were subsequently projected to the total population of each country, using 2008 World Bank population estimates. At least 1,000 interviews were conducted in Armenia.
To view the full report, visit www.gallup.com/poll/141746/million-cis- ... study.aspx.
By: Nanore Barsoumian
To view the full report, visit www.gallup.com/poll/141746/million-cis- ... study.aspx.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2010/08/1 ... rmanently/
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