Remittance man
Russia attempts to draw Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan back into its orbit
PICK a village in either of the former Soviet Union’s two poorest and frailest successor states, Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan, and the chances are you will not find many men about. It is not that they are busy in some workshop. Rather, they have left for Russia.
According to the World Bank, Tajikistan is more dependent on remittances than any other country in the world. Last year migrant workers sent home the equivalent of 47% of Tajikistan’s GDP. Perhaps half of working-age males are abroad, most in Russia. Kyrgyzstan is third in the World Bank’s rankings, behind Liberia. One-fifth of its workforce are migrant workers.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Remittance man"
From the September 7th 2013 edition
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