Labor Migration of Armenians into Russia: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

Ashot Aleksanyan — Doctor of Politics, Expert of the Migration Competence Center, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of International Relations, Yerevan State University. Address: 1 Alex Mannogian St., 0025, Yerevan, Armenia. E-mail: ashalex@ysu.am

This article provides a comparative analysis of the main factors of Armenian labor migration and the Indices of social development in Armenia (1990–2012). The article discusses the general trends of labor migration from Armenia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has become not only the «initial center» of labor migration, but a transit zone for labor migrants from Armenia. Since the establishment of the CIS, the mechanisms of the regulation of labor migration issues between Armenia and Russia have been formed. The integration of Armenian labor legislation began with the establishment of the Eurasian Customs Union (ECU), the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Armenia, after signing several agreements, also had the opportunity to actively participate in the development of a common labor market in the Eurasian space. In this context, the article discusses some statistics on labor migration.