LANGUAGE BARRIER: JOB PROSPECTS POOR IN NKR FOR RUSSIAN-SPEAKING ARMENIANS
Anahit Danielyan
20 10/02/22 | 16:04
Refugees from Azerbaijan Need "Crash Course" in Armenian to Find Work
Tamara Amirdjanova, an Armenian refugee from Azerbaijan, had the
following to say regarding the issue of refugee return bandied about
in the Karabakh conflict settlement negotiations:
"I will never go back to Baku. I can’t even think about returning
for I remember how we grabbed our kids in our arms and fled that place.
Better I live in poverty in Karabakh, the homeland, than return there."
She cannot even picture the possibility of living with Azerbaijanis
in the same town or village. "I’m also against their return. It’s not
enough that they took the homes of Armenians in Azerbaijan? Let them
live there and we will live here," says Mrs. Amirdjanova.
She constantly reminisces about her home in Baku bit she’s happy
in Shushi, where she lives now. She, her husband and four kids were
forced to leave Baku in 1989.
We wish to stay in Shushi
"We left with the clothes on our back. We took nothing else and left
for Moscow. We were then sent to Armenia. We resided in Sisian for
four years. Working in the local factory and living in a dormitory.
But since we didn’t own a home, we decided to pack and leave for
Karabakh, our native soil. Luckily, when we got here, the government
allocated a house for us," said Mrs. Amirdjanova, who lives with her
husband and daughter in a four room apartment in Shushi.
Her other three children have already married and have kids of their
own. One of her daughters is married and living in the Russian town
of Rostov. The other girl is married and living in Shushi. Her son
is married as well and rents an apartment in Shushi.
Mrs. Amirdjanova says that she can’t afford to buy a house and doesn’t
make enough money to qualify for a home mortgage.
The parents don’t have the means to financially assist their son. Her
sixty year-old husband is the only one with a job working at the
electric utility, making 60,000 AMD monthly. She confesses that they
couldn’t get by without the money her daughter sends from Rostov.
"How could we make it without the cash she sends now and then?" asks
Mrs. Amirdjanova, who can’t find a job but isn’t old enough to start
getting her pension allowance.
My children went to Russian schools in Baku
Their 37 year-old unmarried daughter who lives with them also doesn’t
work. The daughter graduated from an accounting vocational school but
is now attending college courses to get that much-needed diploma. Most
employers now demand it. The other daughter living in Shushi also is
without a job and takes computer courses to improve her work prospects.
Mrs. Amirdjanova points to the language barrier as one of the reasons
for their being unemployed. She says the girls went to a Russian
school in Baku and that in Karabakh one must be fluent in Armenian.
Mrs. Amirdjanova tries not to dwell on this issue too much. Rather,
she’s quick to point out that the family has grown to love Shushi
and that they have no plans to move. It would be convenient though,
she says, if the language issue was somewhat resolved. "We older folk
get by somehow, but it’s really tough on the young people," she says.
What about the kids of those who left Artsakh during the war years?
Many refugees from Azerbaijan now living in Artsakh raise the language
barrier issue. While they don’t want to move, not being fluent in
Armenian is a real hindrance when looking for work.
Sanasar Saryan, who heads the NKR Refugee Social Organization, has
constantly raised the issue. He suggests that Russian also be used
for secretarial and clerical and functions.
Mr. Saryan says such a move just might induce more Armenians to return
to Karabakh. He believes that many have the desire to return but, given
the language barrier, they just can’t picture themselves finding work.
In this category of potential returnees, Mr. Saryan includes not
only Armenians who fled Azerbaijan but Karabakh natives who moved
to Russia during the war years. Their children have also attended
Russian schools, just like Mrs. Amirdjanova’s children.