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MALE EXODUS REAL DISASTER FOR ARMENIA
Tert.am
11.08.11
An estimated 60,000 Armenians are leaving their country each year in
search of a better life, and the mass exodus has caused a startling
new trend: whole villages populated almost entirely by women, the
Huffington Post interne newspaper reports, quoting BBC.
While many men are leaving the former Soviet nation to go to Russia
to earn enough money to support their families, women and children
are usually left behind to work in the fields, the BBC is reporting.
One mother-of-two said that many women fear their husbands will set
up second families in Russia, which has happened often. As Milena
Kazaryan, a resident of Dzoragyugh says.
"All of the women are really scared. We phone every morning and
every evening, to find out what our husbands are up to. It's always
really stressful wondering whether he'll come back or not. A lot of
the women here worry because they think that in Russia all the girls
are beautiful. And the problem is that the men work very hard so of
course they also want to relax. That's why they're scared.
"It's really tough because the whole family is just waiting and
waiting for the men to come back. All we want is jobs in Armenia
so that our families can stay together and so that fathers can see
their children grow up. A family is more than just the mum. We need
the dads here too."
As one human rights activist writes, the lack of men is starting to
be felt throughout Armenian society, and the birthrate is already
starting to be affected. "There's a new generation of girls growing
up who have no chance of getting married because all the boys are
leaving the country," Karine Danelyan wrote in a letter to the
government."So birthrates here in Armenia are now too low to keep
the population stable."
Meanwhile, Armenia's Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan recently tried to
downplay speculations about the mass exodus, and said the government
has had success in promoting the nation's birthrate. "Today we have 3
million permanent residents in Armenia, and twice as many Armenians
living outside the country." Noting that migration was not as large
as has been previously claimed by the media, he added, "This reflects
the mobility of our nation, that is, our citizens can move freely,
since there are favorable conditions for it."
Many of those migrants, Sargsyan said, were seasonal workers who
eventually return home. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991,
Armenia had an estimated 4 million residents, at least one-quarter
of which have since emigrated for employment abroad.
Tert.am
11.08.11
An estimated 60,000 Armenians are leaving their country each year in
search of a better life, and the mass exodus has caused a startling
new trend: whole villages populated almost entirely by women, the
Huffington Post interne newspaper reports, quoting BBC.
While many men are leaving the former Soviet nation to go to Russia
to earn enough money to support their families, women and children
are usually left behind to work in the fields, the BBC is reporting.
One mother-of-two said that many women fear their husbands will set
up second families in Russia, which has happened often. As Milena
Kazaryan, a resident of Dzoragyugh says.
"All of the women are really scared. We phone every morning and
every evening, to find out what our husbands are up to. It's always
really stressful wondering whether he'll come back or not. A lot of
the women here worry because they think that in Russia all the girls
are beautiful. And the problem is that the men work very hard so of
course they also want to relax. That's why they're scared.
"It's really tough because the whole family is just waiting and
waiting for the men to come back. All we want is jobs in Armenia
so that our families can stay together and so that fathers can see
their children grow up. A family is more than just the mum. We need
the dads here too."
As one human rights activist writes, the lack of men is starting to
be felt throughout Armenian society, and the birthrate is already
starting to be affected. "There's a new generation of girls growing
up who have no chance of getting married because all the boys are
leaving the country," Karine Danelyan wrote in a letter to the
government."So birthrates here in Armenia are now too low to keep
the population stable."
Meanwhile, Armenia's Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan recently tried to
downplay speculations about the mass exodus, and said the government
has had success in promoting the nation's birthrate. "Today we have 3
million permanent residents in Armenia, and twice as many Armenians
living outside the country." Noting that migration was not as large
as has been previously claimed by the media, he added, "This reflects
the mobility of our nation, that is, our citizens can move freely,
since there are favorable conditions for it."
Many of those migrants, Sargsyan said, were seasonal workers who
eventually return home. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991,
Armenia had an estimated 4 million residents, at least one-quarter
of which have since emigrated for employment abroad.