There are several supporting facts that in the official environment of the republic it has become undesirable to mention the contribution of migrants to the economic and social development of the country.
A video was recently published on social networks in which a journalist of the state media asks a local official (which district is not clear) not to mention the contribution of migrant workers to the development of the territory.
It is not known when the interview was recorded and for which TV channel it was prepared, but it is clear that the local official is talking about those who contributed to the repair of the local road.
He calls the names of several people and notes: "… with the participation of migrants who are in…". Here the operator interrupts the official's speech and points out to him: "Don't say migrant, brother! In general, it is not necessary to mention migrants!"
The operator suggests saying "worthy children of this village" instead of the word "migrants".
…It should be noted that every year hundreds of thousands, and according to the Russian authorities, more than a million Tajik migrants go to this country to earn money and, in exchange for hard work and harassment, send billions of dollars to their homeland.
It is noted that the amount sent by Tajik migrants in different periods was about 40 percent of Tajikistan's GDP.
However, it seems that there is not much talk about Tajik labor migrants now and their contribution is not properly noted.
For more than 10 years, the relevant departments of Tajikistan have refrained from providing journalists with data on money transfers of migrant workers, although the legislation does not classify such information as secret information.
The former head of the National Bank of Tajikistan, Abdujabbor Shirinov, in 2013, refusing to provide information on migrant money transfers, said that "this issue may get a political connotation."
At the same time, he refused to specify on the basis of which legislative acts such a decision is made.
Another former NBT chairman, Jamshed Nurmakhmadzoda, in 2019 urged journalists not to focus on migrants' money.
"Let's not focus on migrants' money. Does our economy have nothing but migrants' money?" he asked himself.
The head of the Savings Bank of Tajikistan "Amonatbank" Sirodjiddin Ikromi at the last press conference on this occasion said that statistics on remittances of migrant workers have not been conducted by banks for several years, as this work has become more complicated by the fact that various ways of sending this money have appeared.
"Previously, these funds were targeted, and we understood that it was from migrants. Now, this money is transferred from phone to phone, from card to card, and it is very difficult to determine whether it is the funds of entrepreneurs or migrant workers," he explained.
Previously, information on the volume of migrant remittances was published quarterly on the website of the Central Bank of Russia.
According to the World Bank, in 2022, the volume of remittances to Tajikistan amounted to 5.2 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 49% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
At the same time, several “Asia-Plus” sources in the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan reported that they were instructed not to write scientific papers about migrant money.
This news was confirmed at the Institute of Economics and Demography of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan. They stated that although they did not receive written instructions, they were told verbally: "The writing scientific papers on the topic of migrant money is no longer allow."
According to our source, those who have previously written on this topic will continue their work, but no new topics will be offered.
Officially, the Academy of Sciences does not comment on this.
