Migration Storing up Problems for Domestic Labour Market
Migration Storing up Problems for Domestic Labour Market
Despite the positive benefits that labour migration brings, NBCentralAsia experts argue that if the exodus is not reduced, Tajikistan will face serious problems down the line.
A round-table meeting held in Dushanbe on October 3 produced an agreement to develop a regional strategy for labour migration that would bring together the efforts of non-government public organisations concerned with the issue in Central Asia and Russia.
International migration organisations believe there are about 1.5 million people from Tajikistan working outside the country, a substantial slice of a population totaling seven million. Tajik officials put the number of people working in Russia alone at around 400,000,
Government officials increasingly view the labour exodus as a necessary, even valuable phenomenon. The money remittances that the migrants send home boost the Tajik economy and support their families. If they had stayed in Tajikistan, they would have found it very hard to find work.
NBCentralAsia analysts do not dispute the idea that labour migration acts as a stimulus to the domestic economy. However, they warn that Tajikistan could be hit hard by the downside of migration within the next ten years or so if no provision is made for migrants to return home permanently.
Healthcare workers, qualified engineers and other professionals are leaving the country, depriving the country of much-needed skills – not to mention the fact that the state invested in their education.
In addition, there is now an acute shortage of men in rural areas. As a result, woman have been forced to shoulder most of the work including heavy manual labor. There is a marked increase in the number of single young women, since there are not enough husbands to go round.
Many of the migrants get married and settle abroad for good. A significant number of Tajiks are already living in Russia on a permanent basis and applying for citizenship, and this is likely to be a rising trend.
If things continue in this direction, Tajikistan could face a demographic and labour deficit in ten or 15 years’ time. NBCentralAsia analysts say the only way to curb the outflow of migrants is to improve the standard of living and tackle unemployment.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
A round-table meeting held in Dushanbe on October 3 produced an agreement to develop a regional strategy for labour migration that would bring together the efforts of non-government public organisations concerned with the issue in Central Asia and Russia.
International migration organisations believe there are about 1.5 million people from Tajikistan working outside the country, a substantial slice of a population totaling seven million. Tajik officials put the number of people working in Russia alone at around 400,000,
Government officials increasingly view the labour exodus as a necessary, even valuable phenomenon. The money remittances that the migrants send home boost the Tajik economy and support their families. If they had stayed in Tajikistan, they would have found it very hard to find work.
NBCentralAsia analysts do not dispute the idea that labour migration acts as a stimulus to the domestic economy. However, they warn that Tajikistan could be hit hard by the downside of migration within the next ten years or so if no provision is made for migrants to return home permanently.
Healthcare workers, qualified engineers and other professionals are leaving the country, depriving the country of much-needed skills – not to mention the fact that the state invested in their education.
In addition, there is now an acute shortage of men in rural areas. As a result, woman have been forced to shoulder most of the work including heavy manual labor. There is a marked increase in the number of single young women, since there are not enough husbands to go round.
Many of the migrants get married and settle abroad for good. A significant number of Tajiks are already living in Russia on a permanent basis and applying for citizenship, and this is likely to be a rising trend.
If things continue in this direction, Tajikistan could face a demographic and labour deficit in ten or 15 years’ time. NBCentralAsia analysts say the only way to curb the outflow of migrants is to improve the standard of living and tackle unemployment.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
