EurasiaNet Organization
June 10 2005

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS WAYS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS FOR MIGRANT
WORKERS
Haroutiun Khachatrian 6/10/05

Armenia has experienced a decline in emigration in recent years.
Nevertheless, lackluster job prospects in the country mean that
migrant workers will continue to be key providers for many Armenian
families. To help ensure the steady flow of cash remittances from
abroad, officials are now exploring ways to safeguard the rights of
migrant workers.

Despite annual economic growth rates of roughly 11 percent since
2001, unofficial estimates put unemployment in Armenia as high as 30
percent, according to a May 25 report by Armenia Liberty. The
official rate is considerably lower, standing at 9 percent. The lack
of well-paying jobs has prompted many citizens to go abroad in search
of work.

Even though some domestic economic sectors, including construction,
are experiencing a labor shortage, observers say that emigration
patterns should hold relatively steady as long as opportunities for
well-paid work remain slim. In 2003, the latest year for which
government figures are available, monthly salaries averaged $127.

Estimates vary on the number of Armenians who leave the country each
year to earn their living. Official statistics put the current number
at roughly 70,000 migrants per year. But Gagik Yeganian, head of the
government’s Department of Migration and Refugee Affairs, told
EurasiaNet that 140,000 is probably closer to the mark. The money
they sent back home made up a significant part of the $1 billion in
foreign cash transfers that the Central Bank reported Armenian
residents received in 2004.

Overall, around 1 million Armenians left the country during the 1990s
to search for new economic opportunities, as Armenia struggled to
overcome the effects of the Soviet economic collapse and the impact
of the war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The emigration
trend has moderated significantly in recent years, as the domestic
economy showed signs of a gradual improvement. Indeed, last year, for
the first time since 1996, the number of immigrants to Armenia was
reportedly slightly higher (by 2,400 individuals) than the number of
emigrants.

Over the past decade, most Armenian migrant workers have headed to
Russia or other former Soviet republics. Labor legislation in these
countries is still relatively undeveloped in comparison to Western
standards, leaving Armenians vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

The story of one Yerevan resident provides a case in point. Unable to
find a proper job in Armenia, Gareguin, a former car repair worker,
left for Moscow three years ago. Together with his wife, Gareguin
worked for ten months for a company owned by a Moscow-based Armenian
that produces concrete construction blocks. The couple was not
allowed to leave the company’s grounds, Gareguin said, and did not
have the proper documentation to work in Russia, a situation that
made them subject to arrest. When Gareguin and his wife finally
returned home, they had been paid only a small part of their expected
wages. It took more than a year before the pair received their
salaries in full. The lump sum went to paying off debts accumulated
in Yerevan in the meantime.

Many Armenians, however, never manage to collect their wages from
employers. Nor do job placement agencies provide much assistance in
this area. The licensing requirement for job agencies was rescinded a
few years ago. Now, any company can offer employment placement
services for a fee and bears no legal responsibility for the results.

Yeganian, the migration official, believes that the government must
be more active in protecting the rights of so-called “pendulum
migrants” like Gareguin and his wife. “Job placement is not easy
work. It needs a professional approach,” Yeganian said. “Those who
offer jobs abroad should be able to research foreign countries’ labor
markets and provide job agreements that protect the rights of job
migrants abroad.”

Without regulation, would-be labor migrants run the risk of falling
under the control of human traffickers, observers say.

In its 2005 annual report on human trafficking, the US State
Department took Armenia to task for failing to actively combat what
has developed into a significant problem in former Soviet states.
“The Government of Armenia does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so,” the report read. Law-enforcement
actions against trafficking were described as “anemic.”

The government itself was cited as one of the impediments: officials
and border guards are believed to facilitate Armenia’s trade.
Nonetheless, according to the report, no prosecutions were launched
in 2004 against government employees suspected of being active in
this area. Many government officials, in fact, claim that trafficking
is not a problem for Armenia, the report said.

Yeganian’s department, one of the Armenian government agencies that
works with the International Organization for Migration on
trafficking issues, has prepared a draft law for regulating labor
migration, but the document does not yet have official approval.
Meanwhile, the department attempts to act as a professional job
agency for Armenians who want work abroad, Yeganian said.

One agreement, concluded in February 2005, provided for qualified
personnel to work in a newly opened hospital in the Persian Gulf
emirate of Qatar. Insufficient knowledge of English was one stumbling
block for Armenian job candidates, however. Out of a total of 50
Armenian applicants, only four nurses were chosen for work in the
hospital. Yeganian said that his department now plans to organize
English-language training courses so that such obstacles can be
avoided in the future.

The example of the Philippines, he went on to say, is one that
Armenia should follow. “In the Philippines, the government is very
active in organizing workforce migration. They have special personnel
in diplomatic missions that are charged with looking for jobs for
their compatriots,” he said. “I believe Armenia must act in a similar
manner.”

Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.