Germany-Morocco 2017-2018

International migration has been an integral part of the historical and contemporary experience of most Jamaicans and is a feature of the country’s demographic landscape. The Government of Jamaica (GoJ) has recognized that with a population of approximately 2.7 million at home and a relatively large diaspora in destination countries, international migration has the potential to contribute to economic growth while reducing poverty and improving the well-being of individuals in countries of origin, transit and destination.

The main push factors for Moldovans migration are of economic nature, mainly poverty, lack of employment opportunities and low salaries.  The main countries of destination are Russia (over 40 per cent) and Italy (over 25 per cent). Other preferred destination countries are also: The United Kingdom, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Ukraine, Turkey, Spain and others.   

In July 2007, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers established the ASEAN Committee to Implement the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. Part of the role of this committee has been to strengthen information services to educate migrant workers about their rights, access to services and immigration requirements.

All residents whatever their nationalities are invited to register in the Padron, the administrative municipal census, to automatically gain the status of a “neighbour”. The Padron is managed by the local authority (Offices of Citizenship Attention). Access to many services in the city requires registration in the Padron (i.e. for social housing, public education, but also city public bikes).

Athens has a population of approx. 660,000 (2011), with more than 15,000 immigrants (March 2016), but also nearly 400,000 youth that have emigrated from the city due to the financial crisis. Being the major economic hub of Greece, displaced people come to Athens looking for friends and relatives, empty apartments and cheap housing, as well as higher chances of finding work than in the country’s rural areas. 

The Government of the UAE has recently instituted a public-private partnership programme to scale up and standardise post-arrival orientation programmes to migrants and their employers.

The government of Canada assists immigrants in overcoming barriers so they can establish themselves and their families in Canadian communities through Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Settlement Program.

Many local authorities in the UK offer free English language classes to adult immigrants in their area. The London Borough of Islington, for example, offers English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses to unemployed or low-paid adults resident in Islington or with children in Islington schools. The course are for those for whom English is not their first language and who want to improve their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, helping with their employability and citizenship.

A bilateral cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Seychelles and the Government of the Republic of Mauritius has been signed considering the mutual interest and benefits to be accrued to both parties in promoting closer cooperation in education and human resources development.

Main aims

The ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) was signed on 15 December 1995 by the ASEAN Economic Ministers, allowing for Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) in various professions and an agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons (MNP)