Special report on labour migrants - Continued

REMITTANCES Despite this, migrants in vast numbers continue to travel to work in Russia each year, driven by the need to supply their families with urgently needed funds. In 2002 alone, the value of the rubles, euros and US dollars sent to Tajikistan was nearly $79 million. Huge sums of money also entered the country through informal channels. "The average salary for an unskilled labourer in Russia is between US $200 and US $250 per month," Zaripov said, noting that most migrants sent home about $100 a month. Effecting official money transfers is so complex and expensive that many migrants prefer to take their money home in cash, a method entailing possible exposure to extortion, theft, intimidation and physical abuse. Money and goods can be confiscated at any time – often by corrupt border guards and police, or thieves. One recently returned 28-year-old told IRIN he had lost $800 taken from him at gunpoint, when two men burst into his train compartment somewhere in Kazakhstan. Zaripov described the extent to which migration now constituted a crucial factor in Tajikistan's economy. "Fifty percent of the country’s population – or some 3 million people – are dependent on the remittances sent back from their family members working abroad," he said. Moreover, the combined value of money and goods flowing into the country through its migrant workers in 2002 was between US $200 million and $230 million, a sum equating to the nation's annual budget. According to IOM, the impact of remittances on the Tajik economy is immense, with most Tajik migrants tending to send home the lion’s share of their earnings. Accordingly, the families of migrants enjoy higher than average living standards. In this context, according to the Tajik Statistics Committee, only 30.1 percent of migrants families households rate themselves as poor, compared to over 65 percent of the overall population. Meanwhile, IOM found that almost 68 percent of migrants interviewed for its report confirmed that the remittances improved the financial position of their families, with a further 14.8 percent claiming considerable improvement. IMPACT ON FAMILY LIFE Although the living standards of migrants' families have improved, the negative impact of extended periods of separation on the family unit cannot be dismissed. Many women suddenly find themselves having to take on new responsibilities as heads of households – a role they are not generally brought up to perform in this largely traditional male-dominated society. And with no child-care facilities available, children of working mothers are often left on their own. Moreover, although 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, a 24-year-old sweet seller in Vakhdat, an impoverished town 20 km east of Dushanbe, told IRIN. Just across the road, 43-year-old Saida Pirova told IRIN that her husband 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," the mother-of-five who sells apples to get by on, said. EFFORTS OF IOM AND OTHERS Given such issues, the challenges facing Tajik migrants are immense. Spearheading efforts to protect their rights, IOM has undertaken a number of serious initiatives to improve the qualifications of labour migrants, as well as to raise their awareness of what working life in Russia is actually like. In January, the Geneva-based organisation will open a resource centre in Dushanbe, which will be the first of its kind in Central Asia, dedicated to providing would-be migrants with the information they need before travelling abroad.

Despite the problems, Abdulahad Rasulov is ready to go to Moscow

"The goal of the centre is to inform labour migrants about the possible difficulties they may face while working abroad and what the labour market there is actually like," Zaripov, who will be heading the centre, said. Basic information on where they could gain access to medical assistance or simply buying travel tickets would also be on hand, as well information on the various rights organisations familiar with the problems facing migrants, he added. Pending funding, IOM also plans 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," Abdusattor Esoev, a senior programme assistant for IOM’s reintegration and micro-credit programmes in Dushanbe, told IRIN. The effort is based on the development of small and medium enterprises among the target groups, by training them and providing them with assisted loans. "We have presented the idea to donors and are now awaiting funding to begin," he noted. IOM in Dushanbe also plans training some 600 unemployed youths to acquire various skills in areas such as construction, thereby providing them with qualifications they would need as labour migrants in Russia. In addition to Inson, another group working on the issue of Tajik migration is the Moscow-based NGO Public Foundation/Tajikistan, which is compiling data on violations of the rights of Tajiks in the country, and sending it to relevant parties, including the media. CONCLUSION Despite the many challenges Tajik migrants face during their stay in Russia, there are also considerable benefits. It is an undisputable fact that labour migration provides millions of Tajiks with a critical lifeline who otherwise might be unable to survive. And although the challenge of dealing with such a large outflow of people is daunting, there is a way forward. According to the IOM, the Tajik government needs to work on raising awareness among potential migrants to avoid the risk of exploitation, as well as take measures to promote skills development in line with labour requirements of the destination countries. Lastly, the government should invest more resources in its embassies and consulates abroad to enable better monitoring of the establishment of links and contacts between employers and migrants. Such efforts are badly needed, and needed now. And in the long term, economic development would keep hundreds of thousands of Tajiks at home. Back in Rossiya, as the snow continues to cover the windows, Abdullo’s older brother, Abdulahad, contemplates his own future and how he can improve the life of his family. He tells IRIN that he too, will now travel to Russia to work, despite the fact that his brother still sits in a Moscow jail. "If you don’t have any money, any income, and you must provide for your family, you do whatever you have to, whatever the cost," he said resignedly. [ENDS]