Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenia's official population numbers are extremely exaggerated, local Haykakan Zhamanak's reporter was told by a head of one of the district groups in Yerevan conducting inventory on residents ahead of the December 6 nationwide referendum on Serzh Sargsyan-initiated constitutional amendments.
“These are groups commissioned by the government to go door to door ahead of each and every referendum and elections and 'count' the tenants, get a rough idea on the mood among the population. The head of one such group operating in Yerevan's Ajapnyak district told our reporter that the number of 'closed doors' has unprecedentedly increased,” the paper writes.
“My 'workers' have a pretty good idea who usually leaves for work abroad and when they come back. However, their survey has found out that the number of returnees is much less than expected. Moreover, they've also taken their family members with them,” the group head is cited as saying.
Haykakan Zhamanak's interviewee added that 25-30 out of the 100 expected returnees have yet to come back: “They're unlikely to return – the season of working abroad is long over.”