Armenia Migration Exodus Creates Women-Only Villages

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.

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, tells the BBC:

"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, according to the BBC. "So birthrates here in Armenia are now too low to keep the population stable."

Meanwhile, Armenia's prime minister 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," Tigran Sarkisian is quoted by the Arka News Agency as saying. 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, Sarkisian said, were seasonal workers who eventually return home, according to Radio Free Europe. 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.

Comments

[hqb]

03:17 AM on 08/16/2011

A generation of girls that will have no chance to marry? This is false: #1. Women migrate, too. Most of the temporary migration is men, but that is only seasonal. They tend to come back when their temporary jobs are finished each season. #2. The current male-to-female birth ratio in Armenia is way out of proportion. The most skewed birth ratio in the world is China with approximately 120 boys being born to 100 girls. Armenia is number two in the world with 115 boys being born to 100 girls, Azerbaijan is third with 114 boys to 100 girls and Georgia is 4th with 113 to 100. While labor emigration is a very important thing for Armenia to be talking about, so are other aspects of the population demographics that affect the future of this country.

[PBWDC]

03:06 AM on 08/14/2011

Interestingly enough, the major media outlets like the Huffington Post or the BBC can find "creative" topics to gossip about Armenians and Armenia, but avoid the real questions like why the Turkish Government denies the factual Armenian Genocide? Why the Turkish Republic, a future member of the European Union, blockades the Armenian border via extortion and blackmail? Why Azerbaijan and Turkey are being sold military hardware when they have a history of invasion, occupation, and aggression towards other nations and former citizens within their borders (i.e. Armenians)? Who do you think these weapons will be used on? This is the same problem that the West faces throughout history. Its the same cycle of events. You sold Iraq biological weapons and who did he use it against? The Kurds, are you really surprised? Hmm ... I think the Huffington Post should address these issues, the real catalyst behind the demographics versus this garbage article that it has written to demoralize Armenians. What kind of trash is this? Really? Women-only-villages? You are ignoring the Armenian Genocide, the border blockade, the illegal invasion for Cyprus, the countless victims of the Armenian Genocide for this garbage? I am shocked, but not surprised. It is like a race to the bottom with CNN, BBC, and other outlets.

[PBWDC]

08:06 PM on 08/12/2011

You can not use the demographic of any country to paint a complete picture. One can see an intersection of interests between the West and Azerbaijan. The oil dependent West, clearly, must sacrifice its moral integrity to gain access to resources. It does not suprise me to find an article that attacks the demographics of Armenia, whether highlighting demographic trends of men or women for that matter, roughly around the period that multilateral peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan are being held. What the article fails to do is provide any sort of meaningful information to the audience. If you investigate the history of many nations, immigration and emigration patterns exist in all regions, in all states, and in all nations. I can name three maybe more, what about the immigration patterns in Ireland, Greece, and Italy during the turn of the century? What about their patterns twenty years ago? Clearly, the Celtic-tiger has had various changes in demographics. Hmm ... can you please take some time and research them before trying to alarm Armenians into a "fatalistesque" defeat? I hope so.

[KIVPossum]

08:15 AM on 08/11/2011

All over the former Soviet Union, you will find areas with a very high female to male ration. Men go off in search of work, and often never return

[spiderhole]

08:37 AM on 08/11/2011

This would happen to rural US, France, and other places if farm subsidies were withdrawn. Soviet agriculture was heavily subsidized, and the IMF and other Western institutions forced the new republics to stop funding it. This also meant that production fell to pre-1917 levels, and these countries with the most fertile land on earth needed food aid.

[Sunil Weliwitigoda]

06:40 AM on 08/11/2011

Migration has resulted in Women Only Villages, in Armenia. What a Shame. Time for help. The USA should get a resolution passed in the UN, like they did for Libya, to save the Female Civilians in Armenia and NATO should be commissioned to air - drop eligible NATO Bachelors into Armenia, to save the poor, lonely females of Armenia. No war, no bloodshed,no death, no misery, only Happiness all around, for a change.

[Erewhon7]

04:57 AM on 08/11/2011

Hope the Chinese find out.

[hqb]

03:20 AM on 08/16/2011

Armenia is right behind China with their skewed birth ratios -- and I mean that quite literally. China is first in the world for skewed birth ratios (120 boys to 100 girls being born) and Armenia is second with 115 boys being born to 100 girls. Azerbaijan and Georgia are immediately behind Armenia with 114 and 113 to 100, respectively.

[Rick Ney]

04:31 AM on 08/11/2011

One of the biggest jokes here in Armenia is the population figure the government fabricates to justify continuing aid programs--and journalists faithfully and naively spit out what they are told by the government. In truth here is barely 2 million people living here at any single time. The rest are as reported in Russia, Europe and the USA. The women have every right to be worried--I know of a dozen cases of men leaving here "temporarily" but never returning-taking new wives and making new lives abroad. They desert their families here and that is the tragedy.

[MIKEinNYC]

11:29 PM on 08/10/2011

Is that what this is about? Lightening up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsSa8Whfp9A

[LMPE]

10:24 PM on 08/10/2011

Villages becoming complete gynocracies. Not a bad thought.

[Kache]

11:24 PM on 08/10/2011

That was my thought too. This should be interesting, and probably enlightening.

[Sasa Milosevic]

09:03 PM on 08/10/2011

A lots of Serbian marriages have been broken after Serbian men had gone to Russia for well paid jobs in 1990's. It was horrible time for Russia and their women had only one dream: to go out . I am sure that things are different now because Russia is not isolated as it was, rising into world's power country. Russian girls and women have more various options in hunting of international males, so it seems they are not interested too much for workers from neighbouring. They are more interested for wealthy Western men. Many Serbs had to back to their ruined home after their Russian mistresses left them with empty pockets catching better opportunity.

[Erewhon7]

04:59 AM on 08/11/2011

Sad comment about the quality of Serbian men.