Energy-rich Azerbaijan is becoming a regional magnet for illegal labor migrants. The government is intent on containing the trend, but a recent Constitutional Court decision to overturn stiff fines for employing illegal migrants is injecting an element of uncertainty into the issue.
In 2009, officials in Baku imposed stiff fines, ranging from 30,000 to 35,000 manats (about $37,000 to $43,000) per undocumented worker, in an attempt to curb illegal migration. But on December 18, Azerbaijan’s Constitutional Court annulled these penalties. The ruling, which will go into effect on June 1, merely stated that the government’s fines violated “the principle of justice.”
The court ruling also instructed parliament to create a new regulation. Some experts believe that MPs will merely lower the amounts of fines. Even so, in a country where President Ilham Aliyev’s administration maintains tight control over the country’s political life, the court’s ruling has left some observers scratching their heads. “The huge penalty was definitely a lever for killing local companies’ incentive to hire cheap foreign workers, and I do not know why it was cancelled,” commented Eurasian Platform for Civic Initiatives President Azer Allahveranov, a migration specialist.
Allahveranov expects legislators to keep the penalty high enough to prevent a surge in the employment of illegal migrants – an issue the government depicts as a matter of national security.
The State Migration Service was not available to comment about the Constitutional Court’s decision.
Azerbaijan’s economic boom is driving the migration phenomenon – the country experienced relatively robust 5 percent economic growth in 2010. The Migration Service claims that the number of illegal migrants is growing, but remains tight-lipped about the details. Migration specialists who work outside of the government estimate the figure to be between 90,000 and 100,000 individuals, based on their monitoring of Azerbaijan’s labor market. Azerbaijan has a population of 9.2 million.
The number of undocumented workers, they say, has increased along with the number of foreign nationals legally working in Azerbaijan: the government recorded a 17-percent increase in the number of applications (50,000) for work and temporary residence permits in 2010, said State Migration Service chief Arzu Ragimov. Some 10,200 work permits were granted – nearly a five-fold increase from the fewer than 2,000 foreigners registered for work in 2007.
In downtown Baku, migrants from China, Pakistan and southeast Asia often work as sidewalk vendors, selling toys, plastic household items or fake designer purses. They may speak a few words of Azeri or Russian, but little more. Illegal migrants from Serbia, Bosnia, Turkey and various African countries also make up the mix.
“These people are mostly working at construction sites” in Baku where they are favored for their low cost, commented Aliovsat Aliyev, director of the non-governmental Migration Center. Often, several such migrants will band together to rent a one or two-room apartment in the capital, where most job opportunities are located.
Government officials have made plain their desire to stamp the practice out.
The State Migration Service deported more than 1,210 foreign nationals in 2010, while another 7,290 were asked to leave within 48 hours for violating migration laws, Arzu Ragimov, the agency’s chief, said during a December news conference. Most were Chinese and Pakistani citizens who traveled to Azerbaijan on tourist visas, Ragimov said.
If caught by police, illegal migrants face an initial fine of 500 manats (about $600) and must apply for a work or residence permit. If detained a second time, they are usually asked to leave the country within 48 hours, according to the State Migration Service. Those without the money for the trip are deported. Baku’s Migration Center, arguably the most active local organization in the field of illegal migration, has several lawyers who provide legal support for illegal migrants, Internally Displaced Persons and victims of human trafficking.
While keeping an eye on illegal migration, the government has also attempted to restrain the legal employment of foreign nationals. Quotas exist (set at 9,800 people for 2011), and companies must pay substantial fees to register their employment of a foreign national. In 2009, the registration fee increased 22-fold from 45 manats (about $55) per employee to 1,000 manats (about $1,250) per employee.
“[W]e have to control the labor market and make sure that foreigners are not used in such professions as drivers or construction workers because there are many local specialists for such jobs,” commented Labor and Social Protection Minister Fizuli Alekperov at a June 2010 news conference.
With an official unemployment rate of less than 1 percent, Azerbaijan has not seen illegal migration become a significant political issue. But migration experts say the government “should do its best to avoid possible tension“ in the future.
“The government should analyze the trend carefully,” Allahveranov said.
Shahin Abbasov is a freelance reporter based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society Assistance Foundation - Azerbaijan.
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