Armenian Government Considers Ways to Improve Conditions for Migrant Workers

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."