It is no longer just about young people, public employees over 45 years of age also emigrate. Türkiye, Russia and the United Arab Emirates are the preferred destinations. In Turkey there could be close to a million emigrants from Turkmenistan. They are forced to pay bribes to work in their country, as well as to go to other countries.
Moscow () – Between March 1 and April 10 there was a peak in emigration of Turkmen citizens, especially public employees, both in offices and factories, who resigned to seek their fortune in another country. The information comes from Radio Azatlyk, which explained that, due to the conditions of high unemployment in Turkmenistan – which official statistics do not register – before, mostly unemployed citizens emigrated, but the economic crisis is so deep that the meager wages push them to leave even those who have jobs.
The Ashgabat Ministry of Labor and Social Defense does not publish figures on the actual employment situation in the country, much less on the level of poverty of the population. Even public employees in the areas of education and health are leaving their jobs, and even more intense exoduses are expected during the summer. The State Migration Service also refuses to comment on the situation.
Before the pandemic, which was never officially recognized in Turkmenistan, labor migration was mainly among the very young, but the new wave seems to involve many men over 45 who received state salaries. In years past, the first destination was Turkey, when a visa was not required to enter that country, but now that entry has been restricted, people are more oriented towards Russia or the United Arab Emirates.
Turkey has suspended the free entry regime for Turkmen since September 2022 and today it takes at least three months to obtain a visa, but the number of immigrants to Ankara and Istanbul remains high. The most popular Russian regions are those of the Kazan Tatars, Rostov on the Black Sea or Novosibirsk in central Siberia, while working in Dubai is always one of the most desired goals.
The Russian war in Ukraine opens up new possibilities for labor migrants from Central Asia, as the large war mobilization and heavy combat losses are creating many problems in finding labor in Russia. People migrate to support their families, allow their children to marry, build or buy a house, or allow their children to access higher education. In addition, to get a job in their country they are forced to pay large bribes and then receive very low wages.
The indirect response to this emergency comes through the huge publicity – spread by the state media – about Turkmen’s new “labour cadre aggregation” agencies, which offer job search help. Turkey’s emigration agency has estimated that 222,000 Turkmen citizens currently live in the country, although the actual number appears to be closer to 1 million.
During the pandemic, all international flights from Turkmenistan were suspended for more than two years, but since the restrictions ended, there have been endless queues at the ticket windows to get plane tickets. The same happens in front of the municipal offices to obtain the biometric passports that require at least three months of waiting, just like the visas to enter Turkey.
The queues are reminiscent of Soviet times: a family member comes to the office at 6 in the morning to get the “cheque”, the ticket that allows you to queue at 9 to submit the application, and from the early hours of the late, the queue is formed to obtain the long-awaited document. And at each stage you have to leave a thank you to public officials. To avoid all the queues, the minimum is $200, but it can even exceed $1,000 if the person contacts the airport managers directly. Then a phone call from the airport to the corresponding local offices is enough and, as if by magic, the gates of paradise open for the Turkmen.
Photo: Flickr/citt
