TAJIKISTAN: Remittances – a tool for development

18 May 2005 13:56:23 GMT

IRIN

BAHOR, 18 May (IRIN) – Motoring through the small villages of the
Bahor district, about 20 km south of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, all
seems well as spring gives way to early summer and local people tend
their wheat fields, orchards and dairy herds.

But there is an absence of men in the fields, and in the cafes around
the district. Ask a dozen locals where they are and the answer is
always the same: “North, in Russia earning money – this is the only
way we survive.”

Labour migrants are a critical component in the economies of most
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nations, created in December
1991 and comprising Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

Remittances keep many struggling families at home above the poverty
line, and help to alleviate the stress caused by a lack of domestic
job opportunities.

An estimated 620,000 Tajik seasonal workers travel abroad each year,
primarily to Russia but also to neighbouring Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
and Uzbekistan, according to a recent International Organisation for
Migration (IOM) report. Eight years after a bitterly fought civil
war, Tajikistan remains blighted by problems, and despite a slight
economic recovery recently, the country still has the lowest per
capita income of all the former Soviet republics. Migrant workers are
thus of key importance in this impoverished nation of 6.5 million.

“According to official information received from the national bank,
migrant remittance for 2004 was almost US $260 million. It is
considered one of the main sources of livelihood, especially in rural
areas, since there is no infrastructure there at all,” Abdusattor
Esoev, IOM national programme coordinator in Tajikistan, told IRIN.

Unofficial estimates put the value of incoming remittances much
higher. The average per capita income is below $10 per month, and
about 86 percent of the population still cannot meet their basic
needs. With an official unemployment rate of 46.7 percent, economic
opportunities are sparse, which further encourages migration.

IMPACT ON FAMILY LIFE

Although the living standards of migrant workers’ families have
improved, the negative impact of extended periods of separation
cannot be dismissed. Many women suddenly find themselves having to
take on new responsibilities as the head of the household. It is a
role they are not generally brought up to perform in this largely
traditional, male-dominated society. With no child-care facilities
available, the children of working mothers are often left on their
own.

While labour migration is primarily seasonal, there are instances
where the migrant never returns.

“I haven’t seen my father in six years; I miss him,” Sayora Bobieva,
24, a sweet-seller in Vakhdat, an impoverished town 20 km east of
Dushanbe, told IRIN. Her neighbour across the road, Saida Pirova, 43,
told IRIN her spouse had left and had not been seen since. “I miss my
husband, but I have no choice but to accept this. I think he may have
remarried – he doesn’t send us any money,” said the mother-of-five
who sells apples to earn a meagre living.

USING REMITTANCES FOR DEVELOPMENT

IOM is expanding an initiative that was established by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to assist migrant households,
local communities and partners in civil society. They aim to promote
the investment of migrant remittances and use the capital for the
development of continuing viable livelihoods for the families of
migrant workers.

In coordination with local development committees, the IOM also plans
to provide participatory financing facilities for community
initiatives, telecommunications infrastructure, and counselling
services for those considering work overseas and their families.

The Geneva-based organisation has opened a resource centre in
Dushanbe, the first of its kind in Central Asia, providing would-be
economic migrants with the information they need before travelling
abroad. Pending funding, IOM also wants to work on the social
reintegration of returning migrants.

“The reintegration programme for migrants will be part of a greater
IOM effort to integrate former combatants, amnestied detainees and
IDPs [internally displaced persons], which first began in 2001,”
Esoev said.

Other initiatives are being set up to reduce the dependency of rural
Tajiks on the remittance economy. The HUMO Micro Lending Foundation,
a newly-formed Tajik NGO, works with around 700 community-based
organisations to support micro-enterprises with credit services.

“HUMO provides one alternative for women who are too poor to start
their own businesses – economic development of this kind in rural
areas can mean men stay at home rather than becoming labour
migrants,” Lola Davlatshoeva of HUMO told IRIN.

Mastura Asoeva set up a basket-weaving business in Bahor two years
ago with loans from CARE’s microcredit unit, the forerunner of HUMO.

“Of course my husband is in Russia, but if the business continues to
grow, well, maybe he can stay and work for me!”