University

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University Ss Cyril and Methodius in
SkopjeINSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS

• Emigration of Macedonia to Switzerland changes
  and current situation
• Verica Janeska

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Emigration in pre transitional period

• Three periods can be identified
• From 1945 to early sixties in the period
  1953-1961 about 164,000 persons left the country
  (out of them127,000 persons of Turkish
  nationality).
• The second period (1961-1975) - About 47,000
  persons permanently left the country and in 1971
  about 56,500 persons (Population Census data),
  were registered as Macedonian citizens abroad
  (96.4 of them were migrant workers).
• The third period (1976-1990) - is characterised
  by
• - Decrease of employment abroad (1976-1985) and
  its re-growth
  in the second half of the eighties
• - More intensive return of migrant workers
• - Reunification of families of those staying
  behind
• - Transformation of temporary migration into
  permanent one.

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Emigration in pre transitional period

• Main characteristics of the emigration abroad
• About 85.600 persons temporary employed abroad
  through the Employment Agency in the period
  1967-1990 (out of which 63.6 until1975, and
  25.5 in the period 1985-1990)
• In the same period (1967-1990) the number of the
  registered returnees amounts to 55,245 persons.
• In the period 1971-1981 the number of migrant
  family members increases from 2.016 to 42.958
  persons.
• With the Population Census 1981, about 19.500
  persons were registered as born abroad.

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Emigration in pre transitional period

• Main destination countries

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Macedonian citizens in Switzerland
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Emigration in the period of transition

• The overall number of Macedonian emigrants abroad
  may be estimated at more than 250,000 persons.
• Macedonian emigration can be classified in three
  types
• Permanent family emigration or family
  reunification
• Temporary and circular economic emigration
• Circular economic emigration for other reasons
  (education, training, visits of the family
  members abroad and so on).
• With Population census1994 were registered
  173,611 Macedonian citizens abroad (out of them
  46,000 have left the country in the
  period1990-1994).
• According Population census data 2002 35,000
  Macedonian citizens have been abroad for less
  than one year. Out of them about 6000 persons
  were registered in Switzerland.

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Emigration in the period of transition

• The number of Macedonian citizens in the EU
  receiving countries increase from 34,000 (1996)
  to 183,000 persons (2012) Eurostat migration
  stock data
• In Germany, Switzerland and Italy, in 2010 were
  registered about 220,000 Macedonian citizens
  (Eurostat and other data sources) i.e. 247,800
  (World Bank data).
• Demographic and the socio-economic
  characteristics of emigrants
• Increased share of family members in the total
  number of emigrants
• Increased share of women in the gender structure
  of the emigrants
• Significant increase of children, young
  population (15-29) and womens fertile
  contingent.

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Macedonian citizens in Switzerland
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Macedonian citizens in Switzerland
Live births in Switzerland from parents with
Macedonian citizenship - 9781 in the period
1995-2004 and 6484 from 2008 to 2012
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Macedonian citizens in Switzerland
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Macedonian citizens in Switzerland

• Educational structure
• - In 2000 more than half of the Macedonian
  citizens in Switzerland were without completed
  education and in process of education.
• - Among those who have completed their
  education, the share of migrants with low level
  of education is dominant (The Swiss Federal
  Statistical Office data for 2000)
• Ethnic structure
• - The share of Albanians was and remain
  dominant, while the share of
• Macedonians is relatively smaller.
• - Out of the 5671 Macedonian citizens
  residing in Switzerland up to one
• year 82.9 were Albanians and 12.6
  Macedonians (Population Census
• data, 2000)

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Transnational activities of the Macedonian
citizens in Switzerland

• In the case of the Macedonian emigration in
  Switzerland
  they are manifested in the causes as
  well as consequences and
  implications of these migratory movements.
• Having in mind the previously elaborated changes
  in the scope and the characteristics of the
  migration contingent in Switzerland they should
  be seen in the light of the transformation of the
  temporary emigration into permanent one.

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Transnational activities of the Macedonian
citizens in Switzerland

• Family reunification and established migration
  networks were one of the main determinants of the
  big changes in the scope and migration contingent
  structure of the Macedonian emigration in
  Switzerland.
• According the place of origin majority of the
  Macedonian citizens in Switzerland are from
  North-West part of the country, particularly from
  the Region of Polog.
• Although and other regions in the country were
  faced with high unemployment and low standard of
  living, due to the established migration networks
  only the Region of Polog witnessed large scale
  of emigration in Switzerland.

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Transnational activities of the Macedonian
citizens in Switzerland

• Macedonian experience in relation of the economic
  transnational activities
• of the emigration, including the emigration in
  Switzerland are as follows
• The cases of remittances being invested in
  business (business creation, investment in social
  services, corporations) are rare.
• Almost all available research regarding the usage
  of remittances show that they are mostly used for
  the purchase of land, building or renovation of
  houses/flats, the purchase of vehicles and
  household interior, organisation of ceremonies.
• (Recent survey on remittances in 2008
  targeting 2,797 households in Macedonia found out
  that remittances are mainly used for durable
  goods, housing renovation, and purchase of farms,
  land improvement and ceremonies).

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Transnational activities of the Macedonian
citizens in Switzerland

• Macedonian experience in relation of the economic
  transnational activities
• of the emigration, including the emigration in
  Switzerland are as follows
• Significant impact of remittances on the labour
  market in terms of employment increase and
  unemployment decrease in the regions of migrants
  origin cannot be identified. Polog was and
  remains the one of the regions with highest
  unemployment rate.
• When the temporary migration is transformed into
  permanent one
• there are no positive benefits of the acquired
  knowledge, skills and competences of the
  migrants.

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Transnational activities of the Macedonian
citizens in Switzerland

• Macedonian experience in relation of the economic
  transnational activities
• of the emigration, including the emigration in
  Switzerland are as follows
• Remittances positively influence consumption
  levels and standard of living of the migrant
  households, but with the reunification of the
  families there is gradual decrease of their
  inflow.
• The macro-economic impact of remittances and
  total private transfers from abroad are also
  positive. For example, the three usually used
  indicators shows that on average for the period
  2003-2008, officially recorded remittances
  amounted
• - 10.4 of the GDP
• - over 50.8 of the trade deficit and
• - they were almost three times higher than
  the foreign direct investments.

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Transnational activities of the Macedonian
citizens in Switzerland

• Macedonian experience in relation of the economic
  transnational activities
• of the emigration, including the emigration in
  Switzerland are as follows
• The case of the Region of Polog shows that the
  influence of the economic emigration on the
  socio-economic development is manifested in only
  short-term, insufficiently expressed development
  benefits.
• The continued increase of emigration for almost
  five decades did not contribute to the
  substantial change in the development of this
  region i.e. in overcoming the problem of
  insufficient development.

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Migration Policy

• Resolution on Migration Policy for the period
  2009-2014 (2008)
• Action plan on the Resolution on Migration Policy
  for the period 2009-2014 (2009)
• In these documents set of measures and activities
  concerning emigration abroad are foreseen
• Measures for application of the legal obligation
  for the reporting of departures / arrivals of the
  Macedonian citizens upon leaving/returning to the
  country
• Diaspora mapping and creation of a database for
  distinct categories of migrants (businessmen,
  scientists, students, artists, etc.)
• Supporting temporary emigration and circulation
  of the labour force
• Measures for facilitation of return of citizens
  from abroad
• Creation of policy for reduction of intellectual
  emigration and return of highly educated persons
  from abroad
• Measures concerning legal transfer of remittances
  and its productive use
• Mobilization of the development potentials of the
  Diaspora for improvement of the local economic
  development.

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Migration Policy

• In the Resolution on Migration Policy for the
  period 2009-2014 there are no particular measures
  and activities for the emigration in the
  receiving countries with greater number of
  immigrants from Macedonia, including Switzerland.
• In future the Government should put more
  attention on the measures for creation of
  social fields that link Macedonia
  with the destination countries.
• These measures should be directed on the
  improvement of the transnational economic,
  political and socio-cultural activities
• of the migrations.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION