- Title: AZERBAIJAN: Oil-rich Azerbaijan attracts immigrant labour
- Date: 29th May 2009
- Summary: MOHAMMED PLAYING AT TABLE
- Embargoed: 13th June 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Azerbaijan
- Country: Azerbaijan
- Topics: Economic News,Employment
- Reuters ID: LVADKWBKU4JG03TNB9FFZUHDX9VI
- Story Text: The economy of oil-rich Azerbaijan has prospered in the past five years, turning the former Soviet republic into a prime destination for immigrant labour from South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Immigrants, both legal and illegal, have flocked to find work in Azerbaijan which has an economy was among the fastest-growing in the world between 2003 and 2007.
Immigrants come from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, China and neighbouring post-Soviet countries whose economies have been less prosperous. Many enter the country on tourist visas and stay on to work as street traders or on construction sites - mostly without official work permits.
According to official figures issued by the Azeri Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, there are 4,300 illegal immigrants working in Azerbaijan at the moment.
Baku-based NGO the Centre for Immigration puts the figure far higher at 100,000 illegal immigrants, of whom it estimates 6,000 are Chinese.
The immigrant workers are filling a demand for labour created in Azerbaijan's recent boom, but they are also filling a gap created in the early post-Soviet years.
Millions of Azeris left the country in the early 1990s to seek work after the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent war with Armenia over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory and supported their extended families by sending home remittances.
The number of Azeris working in Russia even today is estimated at between 900,000 and 2 million. Individuals sent 0.76 billion euros in 2008 from Russia to Azerbaijan, Russian central bank data shows.
Analysts say that the impact of the global economic crisis on Azerbaijan will affect not only the income from remittances, but also the livelihoods of immigrant workers, as the construction industry stalls.
A further decline in oil prices could test Azerbaijan's currency, budget and ultimately political stability.
But those immigrants who managed to gain legal status in Azerbaijan feel safe and optimistic.
Camwel Sinh, who arrived from India several years ago, is one of them.
Though he started in the lowest-paid jobs, he eventually started work as a chef in a small curry house in the capital Baku. Indian food is gaining popularity fast in Azerbaijan.
"For money there is no problem, I started in a solar salon for a low salary and now I have normal salary and good work and nobody disturbs me," said Sinh in his broken English, while cooking curry for his Azeri customers.
"Azerbaijani people also like Indian food - so many people like Indian food," he added.
Sinh is married to an Azeri wife, and receives guests from India. His brother and his friend have become frequent guests in Azerbaijan as they plan to start their own business here as well.
At home with his family - he has two children, five year-old daughter Ria and three year-old Mohammed - Sinh confessed he was homesick in the beginning.
Now, though he says Azerbaijan has become his second home after marrying his wife Sulkhia.
"Now my brother has arrived with his friend to visit us - there is no big difference for me, I feel at home here now," Sinh said during dinner in his two room apartment.
"But when I see a film or hear a song then I miss it. I miss it when I hear a real song, I miss it and I want to go there and to stay, to live, but as soon as I come home and start playing with my children I forget about it. I only remember about it if I am alone at home," he added referring to songs from his homeland.
Sinh's wife Sulkhia said her relatives were not surprised when she married an Indian.
On the contrary, they say it was her childhood dream come true - apparently she would often dress up in pretend saris, using the household curtains, when she was a little girl.
"I have been married for six years now. I was in India with my husband and was accepted and warmly treated by his family," said Sulkhia while serving tea for her guests.
The global crisis may adversely affect the lives of many immigrants and Azeris in the near future, as the Caucasus state, a supplier of oil and gas to Europe from the Caspian Sea, faces plunging oil revenues.
Azerbaijan's Manat currency is still holding its ground against the US dollar but pressure on the authorities is growing to follow the path of Kazakhstan and Russia and weaken the exchange rate to cope with lower oil prices.
But Azerbaijan can look on its relatively undeveloped financial sector as a blessing, which may cushion its economy against deep recession.
This is In contrast to Caspian neighbour Kazakhstan where banks have been hit hard by huge foreign loan exposure. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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