One of the users commented on the live stream of the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Facebook, saying he lived in the United States and worked in the field of IT, but he was ready to come back to Armenia if he was given the minimum of $4000 salary for the same job here. That comment was criticized by other users – who would not work for $4000? Indeed, it is a high salary for Armenia, although not fantastic: there are specialists here, who get higher salaries (and more importantly, all taxes paid) in IT field working with foreign capital.
Anyway, we should understand our fellow Armenians. He works there and gets 5 times higher salary than the number he mentioned. What do you think? Will he leave everything and come to Armenia only because the regime and the authorities have changed here? No, he needs guarantees that here he will have an apartment and job.
The same can be spoken about our fellow Armenian, for example, who asphalts roads and driveways in Chelyabinsk and gets $1000 monthly salary. He will not mind working in his fatherland with the same salary, but he is not required here yet. What will he do if he comes back to his emptied village (usually that contingent of emigrants is from regions)? Plus his children speak Armenian but do not read, and his grandchildren neither speak nor read. He is inspired by the news that General Manvel is detained, but this enthusiasm will hardly help him to keep his family. First and foremost the jobless asphalters living in Armenia should be provided with a job and then only the ones having left Armenia invited.
However, the others are also worth to be taken into consideration as well. It seems to me the name and the functions of the Ministry of Diaspora should be changed first. If we are 2 million here and 10 million Armenians live abroad, then what is “diaspora”? The institution should be named “Ministry of Immigrant Absorption” by the example of Israel. And the repatriation itself should become the point, first of all, the return of the people who have left Armenia throughout the previous 25 years.
Let us take the IT specialists residing in the US or the asphalters living in Chelyabinsk as an example again. To demand that they leave everything and come back to Armenia is not realistic. However, the Ministry can encourage their “cognitive” visit to Armenia. Let them have meetings, let them get acquainted with the market and the labor market, maybe they will find other interests as well. Those people should be motivated. To make calculations on the basis of feelings alone is not right.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
