Armenian return project RACOB
Return Assistance in Armenia - Cooperation OFII-BAMF
Yerevan / Ararat
Source: Andranik Harutyunyan
The Franco-German pilot project offering support to voluntary returners from Germany with permanent reintegration into Armenia was launched on 1.11.2012. The two-year project will focus on reintegration into the labour market and help with business start-ups. An innovative feature of this project is the fact that, for the first time, returners from Germany will be able to use the reintegration infrastructure in Armenia established and successfully operated for many years by the French partner in the project, the Office Français de l´Immigration et de l´Intégration - OFII (Office for Immigration and Integration).
Who is eligible for support?
RACOB support is available to Armenian nationals or other third-state nationals with a residence title / right of settlement in Armenia who wish to return voluntarily, in particular
- asylum seekers at any stage in the asylum process
- failed asylum seekers
- persons under forcible deportation orders
- recognised refugees
- other foreign nationals who have been granted residence on international law, humanitarian or political grounds.
What assistance is available?
- Arrival service: Collection from/meeting at Yerevan airport
- General advice on all post-return social issues (e.g. support in dealings with the authorities, access to health care and social services)
- Support in obtaining employment
- Training leading to professional qualifications for a period of up to six months
- Business start-up support (including development of a business plan, evaluation and support in starting a business).
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Our project partner
Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration (OFII)
44, rue Bargue
75732 Paris cedex 15
Website: www.ofii.fr
The OFII has, since the 1990s, been running reintegration programmes in many African countries, as well as in Moldova, Armenia, Ukraine, Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to counteract the causes of migration and create a long-term future for those returning. Under the proven French concept, individual reintegration support is provided by an experienced local service provider, who is a specialist in support for small business start-ups and is also familiar with the socio-economic structures in the country of origin in question. Some 3,000 successful small businesses in various sectors (retail, restaurants, cattle rearing, manual trades) have been established with the assistance of the OFII since the 1990s.
Local support for the RACOB project in Yerevan is provided by the OFII‘s partner organisation, the "Fondation Franco Arménienne pour le Dévéloppement" – FFAD (Franco-Armenian Foundation for Development), which has been operating there successfully for many years under the auspices of its parent organisation, the Paris-based "Association Arménienne d´Aide Sociale" - AAAS (Armenian Association for Social Support).
