At the end of last year a two-day seminar was held at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Comenius University in Bratislava about youth migration in Slovakia in the national and local context. The lectures were related to the ongoing YOUMIG project in the Danube Transnational Programme. The lecturers, Branislav Šprocha and Branislav Bleha, are researchers at the Institute of Informatics and Statistics – INFOSTAT, a YOUMIG partner. They also introduced the audience to the role of the City district Bratislava – Rača, which is the local project partner in Slovakia for YOUMIG. In addition to the main objective of the project, the lecturers devoted their attention to issues related to migration in general and foreign migration in particular, with an emphasis on the migration of young people (15 to 34 years of age) and its impact in the Danube region.

The lecturers analysed the conditions of migration in Slovakia and presented the main characteristics of migrants concerning their age, gender, marital status and education. The lectures also included information on main migration routes, the popular target areas in Slovakia, as well as the impacts of migration on population development in a longer time frame. In addition, some of the important factors of foreign migration were highlighted, for instance, the increasing number of students going abroad from Slovakia.

Finally, the concluding segment of the presentation focused on the migration situation in the Bratislava - Rača district. In this part the lecturers explained the importance of youth migration for the future population development. Participating students showed an unexpectedly high interest in the presented issues. The discussion revolved around the main causes of young people leaving Slovakia, why they are deciding to study abroad, or what might be leading to regional differences in the migration situation. In short, the seminar and the discussion further broadened awareness about youth migration and its impacts. As the discussion showed, students after graduation frequently take advantage of the opportunity to continue their studies abroad. Since the current understanding of this phenomenon appears to be inadequate, it seems important to pay more attention to this problem area.

Here you can read the original report in Slovak.