Half a million labour migrants abroad

The number of labour migrants from Kyrgyzstan travelling abroad in search of work has reached half a million, making the mountainous country the second after Tajikistan in terms of labour migration sources in Central Asia. "There are [now] some 500,000 Kyrgyz labour migrants abroad," Kaniza Iyazalieva, head of the external labour migration section of the Kyrgyz migration service department, told IRIN from the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday, adding that the main destination countries were Russia and neighbouring Kazakhstan. According to the department, of an estimated half a million Kyrgyz citizens living and working abroad, some 300,000 were in Russia, while in Kazakhstan that figure stood at 50,000 with seasonal increases up to 120,000. Recent reports indicate that the majority of the Kyrgyz labour migrants come from the south of the country. Echoing that view, Bermet Moldobaeva, a project coordinator for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told IRIN from Bishkek that the majority of migrants were from the south, including Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken provinces. In Kazakhstan, the majority of the Kyrgyz labour migrants are tobacco farmers from the south, Iyazalieva added, noting that this was for historical reasons as tobacco farming was mainly developed in that area. As for Russia, the pattern was much the same. "But we cannot tell what the percentage is. A survey needs to be done for that as it [the migration process] is not registered due to a visa exempt regime [with the destination countries]," the government official explained. Iyazalieva cited economic difficulties as the root cause of the phenomenon. "It is primarily related to the economy. In rural areas it is very difficult to sustain a family, and in an effort to improve their livelihood people go abroad and than take their relatives." "Also, people from the south have larger families with more children and their family ties are stronger compared to those of northerners. And this plays a certain role," she added. But Moldobaeva disagreed. "We cannot say now what the precise causes are, but I wouldn't say that it is only related to the economy. I wouldn't say that the [economic] situation in the eastern Naryn province is better than in Batken or Osh." The IOM official cited overpopulation of the Ferghana Valley (in the south) and a land shortage as the primary causes, given that agriculture was the main economic activity in the region. "Probably this is one of the [main] factors that pushes them out," she said. Although there were no available figures on the amount of money sent back by labour migrants, both experts agreed that the contribution of labour migrants to the economy was important. "It is very important and it is a huge amount of money. The money that they send back is pure investment for Kyrgyzstan's good. A lot of people live on that money and labour migrants feed their families, educate their children and build houses, etc," Moldobaeva stressed. Confirming that, Iyazalieva said that, thanks to the money, the relatives of labour migrants could improve their situation and subsequently the issue of poverty was eased. Meanwhile, in Tajikistan some reports state that the annual remittances of the Tajik labour migrants in Russia to their home country are equal to or even exceed the country's annual state budget. Some analysts note that this is likely to be the case for Kyrgyzstan as well. In an effort to provide some protection for such migrants, given that the majority of them are illegal and prone to various abuses, Kyrgyzstan and Russia signed a protocol on amendments to the existing agreement on labour migrants in September last year. The document envisages a number of preferences and facilities to the Kyrgyz migrants. To become effective, the document needs to be ratified by both the Russian and Kyrgyz parliaments. To date, the upper chamber of the Kyrgyz parliament has endorsed the protocol while the lower chamber must pass it in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Russian Duma is said to be scheduled to discuss the issue in May. "[If ratified] It will have a positive impact on the status of our citizen in Russia," Iyazalieva said.