Deportation of 170 thousand Armenian labor migrants from Russia will cut remittances by 10% - Garik Makaryan

YEREVAN, February 18. / ARKA /. Deportation of around 170 thousand Armenian labor migrants working in Russia illegally will cut the amount of remittances from Russia by 10% or $ 150 million, the chairman of the National Union of Employers, Garik Makaryan, said at a news conference today.

Under several revised Russian laws, citizens of some former Soviet republics, including from Armenia, have the right to remain in the territory of the Russian Federation without registration for only 90 days within every 180 days. This means that citizens of Armenia cannot continually live in Russia for at least six months.  

According to the Russian Embassy in Armenia, some 170,000 Armenian labor migrants in Russia are facing the risk of being deported. They are included in Russia’s migration service’s database, and after crossing the border into Armenia their re- entry into Russia will be automatically denied.

Markaryan said the return of tens of thousands of labor migrants would affect the unemployment rate in Armenia dramatically, increase the overall public discontent and add to the poverty level.

Assessing the government's actions in the current situation, Makaryan said he did not see special flexibility in its actions.

"Government members are indifferent to this and it seems that they fully control the situation. However, it is a very deceptive calmness, because we do not understand whether it is caused by its full understanding of the situation and control over it, or simply the cabinet does not posses enough information and did not look into possible scenarios," he said.

In 2013 some $1.869.7 billion were remitted to Armenia by individuals. Of that amount about 86 % came from Russia. -0-