US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN2635

UNCLAS YEREVAN 002635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, DRL AND EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ELAB, QA, AM, KTIP 
SUBJECT: GOAM GETS QUOTAS FROM QATAR FOR LABOR 
MIGRATION 
 
 
1.  The Department on Migration and Refugees (DMR) has 
finished work with the Government of Qatar to create a 
legal framework for Armenians working in Qatar.  In the 
agreement (scheduled to be signed in the near future) 
the Government of Qatar has provided quotas for the 
workers in the following fields:  computer networks 
administration, database administration, programming, 
program analysis and nursing.  According to the DMR, 
Qatar will take care of all expenses, including those 
for transportation.  The DMR has already started 
advertising this opportunity and collecting 
applications. 
 
2.  Noting the large-scale illegal or semi-legal 
migration of Armenian workers, and noting the problem 
with trafficking exacerbated by labor migration 
problems, the DMR is taking considerable pride in the 
new agreement.  Lyalya Aslanyan, DMR Deputy Head, 
expressed the hope that this agreement with Qatar will 
serve as a precedent for cooperation with other 
countries, and will regularize labor migration.  In 
addition to this recent agreement, Ms. Aslanyan also 
noted a draft law "On Organization of External Labor 
Migration," which the DMR has been working on for more 
than four years.  The DMR has already presented this 
draft to GOAM and expects that the National Assembly 
will adopt it either by the end of 2004 or in early 
2005. 
EVANS