Demographer does not advise Armenian migrant workers to leave for Russia (video)
Demographer Ruben Yeganyan advises Armenian seasonal working migrants to avoid traveling to Russia considering the grave economic situation in the country. “It is difficult to predict migration results this year. It is not excluded that instead of earning money, Armenian labour migrants may get into debts,” he said. The demographer says the migration flow from Russia to Armenia has decreased compared to previous years conditioned by Russian restrictions: as a result around 200,000 people were forbidden to enter Russia for 3-5 years. After long negotiations, Armenian authorities managed to convince the Russian side to annul part [30%] of restrictions. Ethnographer Aghasy Tadevosyan said migration is not only peculiar to Armenians but the fact that our migrant workers only rely on Russia during seasonal work makes them vulnerable. If in 2007 the main cause of migration was the lack of workplaces, the survey showed in 2013 that many leave Armenia to work elsewhere because they are displeased with their salaries,” said Mr Yeganyan. “We have no right to restrict the free movement of persons, but the state should handle migration problems by creating job opportunities for its citizens,” added Mr Tadevosyan.
