Why people migrate, what are their motivations, what do they expect abroad, how they chose destinations, what they know initially about their host country, do they gain skills abroad and can they use them back home? The ETF plans to ask these and other questions to more than thirteen thousand people in Morocco, Armenia and Georgia.

The project was initiated in Rabat on 8 April, where the ETF, delegation of the EU in the country and the representatives of different institutions involved in the project in Morocco recognised importance of the issue of migrations and skills and agreed to cooperate in implementation. The Deaprtment of Employment will assume the coordinating role in the Advisory Group.

‘The project will not be limited only to research,’ said Mariavittoria Garlappi, an ETF expert who manages relations with Moroccan authorities. ‘We hope to disseminate the results and identify concrete areas for action.’

While Armenia and Georgia are relatively new “sending countries”, labour emigration has long traditions in Morocco dating back to 1950s. Yet the impact of migrations is more pervasive in Armenia and Georgia where one out of four persons is an emigrant.

The ETF selected these countries after close consultations with the European Commission, and taking into account the importance of migration phenomenon to the EU and its extensive impact on the relevant countries.

The project will attempt to analyse the skills composition of potential and returning migrants, thus conducting research at micro level, and to construct a migrant profile for each of the three sending countries. The field survey, which will take place in the second half of 2011, will particularly focus on education and skills, and employment status of potential and returning migrants before, during and after the migration.

By analysing the use of skills through all stages of migration process, the project aims to raise the profile of skills and their better use in both host and home countries within the current migration debate.

The project overall objective is to contribute to the improvement of evidence-based policies on migration, skills and employment in the EC and relevant partner countries by providing good quality analysis and institutional capacity building.

Photo: Moroccan workers / Flickr Creative Commons by haonavy