DUSHANBE, July 27, Asia-Plus — The global financial crisis has negatively impacted Tajik labor migrants working abroad.
According to Labor and Social Protection Minister Shukurjon Zuhurov, some 25-30 percent of Tajik labor migrants that returned home this year have attributed their home return to the global financial crisis. “Fortunately, up to 80 percent of Tajik labor migrants have managed to return to their jobs,” the minister said.
Financial crisis has resulted in labor migrants’ remittances decreasing. In January-June 2009, Tajik labor migrants have remitted some 750 million US dollars to banks in Tajikistan, which is 28-30 percent fewer than in the same period of last year, Zuhurov said.
Since labor migrants are a critical component in the economy of Tajikistan, the government and relevant ministries and organizations should pay a proper attention to problems facing labor migrants and create conditions to protect their social rights, the minister said. “There are many agreements in this direction, however, most of them do not work,” he added.
Zuhurov expressed hope that the upcoming visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would promote solution of that problem.
“Time has come to take the labor migration most seriously,” said the minister, “A special body to be engaged with the labor migration issues should be set up. Labor migration should become a strategic issue for our country.”
The minister said that some 1 million Tajiks last year travelled abroad, primarily Russia and Kazakhstan, seeking better employment opportunities.
