Given the growing difficulties in Russia, it is increasingly important to find effective alternatives, taking into account that money from work abroad constitutes a very important part of the GDP of Central Asian countries, from 10% in Uzbekistan to 40% in Tajikistan. A topic that is intertwined with the question of Afghans in Germany.
Astana () – The political situation in Russia continues to complicate the lives of Central Asian labor migrants, and in these conditions the possibility of Western countries influencing the region’s economy increases, including through agreements on legal migration. On the other hand, pressure from sovereign forces, opposed to this enlargement, is growing in Great Britain and, to a certain extent, throughout the European Union. During his recent visit to Astana, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz concluded agreements in this field, but without disclosing the details.
After negotiations with the President of Uzbekistan, Šavkat Mirziyoyev, Scholz limited himself to declaring that the agreement “will allow the indispensable immigration of qualified personnel, which we in Germany greatly need.” On the way to Samarkand, the chancellor also agreed on “simple and necessary procedures” so that “those who have to return truly return”, an addition evidently for internal use by German public opinion.
Germany is just one of the many countries in which immigration raises reactions and tensions throughout society, which in the end is one of the most effective tools for developing relations with Central Asia, whose strategic importance at a geopolitical level is growing. in proportion to the prolonged Russian war in Ukraine. Kazakhstan-born Belarusian expert and publicist Jan Matusevič observes that “the German government is facing an issue that is not easy to resolve,” trying to channel anti-immigration trends in the face of recent electoral victories of the far right, and at the same time resolving the problems of labor shortage, one of the biggest brakes on the country’s economic growth.
Given the growing difficulties in Russia, it is increasingly important for emigrants to find effective alternatives, taking into account that money from working abroad constitutes a very important part of the GDP of Central Asian countries, which ranges between 10 % in Uzbekistan and 40% in Tajikistan. In the UK, however, there have been quite violent anti-immigration demonstrations in the last month, protesting against plans to attract thousands of workers from Central Asia. The demands in the different British regions are very high, and intermediation agencies take advantage of this with numerous scams and violations of the law.
Salaries in Western countries are two or three times higher for emigrants than what they can earn in Russia, but the flow is still quite small, even compared to countries with a more traditional relationship with this region, such as South Korea. . Currently, according to Die Zeit, 13,700 Uzbeks live in Germany, of which only 200 are in an irregular situation, a minimum number compared to the total of 225,000 emigrants who will be repatriated. The agreement between Scholz and Mirziyoyev should make the management of the entire situation much easier, similar to similar agreements between Berlin and other countries such as Morocco, Kenya and Georgia.
The German researcher Beate Eschment, from the Berlin center for international studies ZOiS, points out that “the debates on migration today are very confusing and irrational”, and do not allow governments to adopt effective positions, considering that “we absolutely need workers, and they can only come from abroad. Certain factors could make the issue even more dramatic, not only due to the “migrantophobia” of the Russians and conservative forces in Europe and America, but also due to particular contingencies such as the enormous number of Afghans that Germany wants at all costs to send back to Kabul.
Since Germany and other European countries do not wish to maintain official relations with the Taliban, Uzbekistan could offer a very feasible way out, since Tashkent has no problem reaching agreements with the Afghans, and a win-win exchange could take place. Central Asia expects more convinced support from the West, overcoming fears and hesitations in this complex geopolitical phase.
Photo: Flickr / Rasande Tyskar
Add Comment