What kind of choice? Understanding migration in Tajikistan

• Published in: The EU's Eastern Neighbourhood pp. 182 - 197
• Main Authors: Fryer, Paul, Virkkunen, Joni, Usmonov, Furugzod
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2016
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Russian Federation; UNDP; Central Asian Societies; Moldovan ASSR; EU's Security Interest; United Nations Development Programme; EU's Eastern Neighbourhood; EU's External Border; Private Employment Agencies; state agencies; International Labour Migration; EU Russia Relation; EU Migration Policy; EU Neighbourhood Policy; Young Men; UN; civil war; domestic legislation; NGO Member; EU's Eastern; EU's Eastern Enlargement; Central Asian governments; EU Ukraine Relation; International Organisation for Migration; CIS Country; EU's Eastern Border; foreign labour migration; EU's Attempt; northern Tajikistan
• ISBN: 9780415722865; 1138477699; 9781138477698; 0415722861
• DOI: 10.4324/9781315858036-15

In transitional Central Asia, migration is generally perceived as still the only choice for many people, who seem to ignore the many risks entailed but argue that options to stay at home are unavailable to them, a fact underlined in responses to the questionnaire administered in northern Tajikistan. Recently, Central Asian governments, including Tajikistan, have particularly looked to the Philippines for a model of efficient migration management and profit maximisation for the home country. With foreign labour migration playing such an important role in Tajikistani society since the end of the civil war, it is not surprising that government has attempted to manage it through formal institutions, including state agencies, legislation and treaties with destination countries. The international organisations, such as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women and the European Union, have made various contributions to certain fields of migration policy. This chapter investigates certain aspects of female migration from Moldova and Ukraine and, more particularly, relates them to the structural organisation of care in EU countries that are the targets of this migration. The Republic of Moldova is located at the junction of the European and the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) migration systems. In mid-2008 the Ukrainian Centre of Social Reforms (UCSR) and the State Committee of Statistics of Ukraine (SSCU) conducted the first large-scale survey on labour migration based on a household sample. Studies from Moldova offers useful information on the social and demographic profile of citizens involved in international labour migration. Fiona Williams, who has extensively written about the interrelations of migration and social and labour policies in contemporary Europe, is convinced that in designing future politics and policies we should be aware of the transnational economy of care and aim at global justice and the transnational political ethics of care.