Employment agencies in India promise people to get great jobs in Armenia. However, when the workers reach here, the circumstances are completely opposite to their expectations.
When Ishan Kumar came to Armenia from South India last year, he thought that his life would improve. Kumar, who agreed to talk to DW after changing his name, said that one of his friends living abroad had advised him to come here.
Kumar says, “He said that I would earn more than $1,000 every month. He said it was a European country.” Kumar’s friend arranged for his travel to Armenia through an agent.
For this, approximately $1,600 was spent on arranging an e-Visa, plane ticket and a job in a delivery company. There was no official agreement other than WhatsApp chat, but Kumar decided to go there.
Their new home for the next six months was the Cherry Hotel, about 30 minutes from downtown Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Kumar told that many Indian workers were given accommodation in this hotel.
Here many people are kept in the same room. Kumar, an Indian laborer who faced the pain of trafficking, exploitation and ransom in the Gulf countries, immediately started working for a delivery service, although the working conditions were not what he had imagined. Kumar says, “They said that for one order we will get 1,900 Daram (about $ 4.69) during peak hours and 1,400 Daram (about $ 3.46) at other times. But when I came here, I saw that there was something wrong with it. “I got only 1,300 (3.21 dollars) and 900 drams (2.22 dollars).”
Kumar says that he worked hard from morning till evening and his first salary was around $940, which was as per his expectation. However, Kumar claims that out of this he could save only a nominal amount. He had to bear the rent and food expenses himself in the small place where he was living with 10 people. Rent for the scooter used for delivery also had to be paid. He was not informed about all these expenses before leaving for Armenia.
Kumar said, “After making all the payments, I was left with only $120 to send home.” Why do Indian workers come to Armenia? After Russians, Indians are the largest group of foreign citizens in Armenia.
According to the Economic Ministry of Armenia, currently 20-30 thousand Indian citizens are living here. Of these, about 2,600 are students. Indian students have been coming to Armenia for higher education since the days of the Soviet Union.
In 2017, the government of Armenia made it easier for Indian citizens to come here by changing the law. Since then their number increased. Last year 3,200 Indians got work visas. This number was 530 in the year 2022 and only 55 in the year 2021.
Saudi Arabia is worse than hell: Indian workers However, many workers like Kumar told DW that they were promised high salaries, which is why they agreed to pay large sums of money to agents to transport them to Armenia.
Some people say that they have paid up to $3,500 to come here. Some others say that they did not get work as soon as they arrived or did not get the salary that was promised. Besides this, they also have to pay high rent for beds in crowded rooms.
Most of the people have come from Kerala in South India. S Irudaya Rajan, head of the International Institute of Migration and Development in Kerala, says that people of the state had started migrating since the 1970s. He said, “The main reason was poverty and unemployment”. Today most of the middle class people are moving out in the hope of a better standard of living.
Rajan says that there are many agencies providing jobs in Kerala. “There is hope from immigration,” he said. Employment agencies are selling dreams to people” Along with this he also said that there is a lot of fraud in this industry. Migrants are exploited and have to live in very poor conditions in many countries. Rajan said, “I know many people who were cheated. Often their lives become worse than before during migration.”
Making matters worse, Kumar’s experience turned worse when his scooter met with an accident on a snowy road in Yerevan. After the accident he wanted to change his job, but he had to remain unemployed for several months. He could not pay the rent for Cherry Hotel, so he had to take a loan from his agent. Later, many other jobs were arranged for him, but all of them were for short periods.
His agent took commission from him and took his salary in lieu of room rent. He wants to leave Cherry Hotel, but being a foreigner he doesn’t know where to go. “That’s why we’re all living here in this condition,” says Kumar. Saudi lived like animals. Indian went to earn money. Some of Kumar’s friends eventually managed to find work here on their own, and he also wants to go with them. . However then another difficulty emerged. Kumar told that his agent had his passport. He claims he had to lie to get the passport.
Kumar said, “I said I want to go to India, I want a ticket, give me my passport.” Kumar says that if he had not said so, the agent would not have given him the passport. Several people staying at the Cherry Hotel told DW that their passports had been confiscated by agents. One person told that he had complained to the Indian Embassy in Yerevan.
DW contacted the embassy. Consul there Aditya Pandey agreed to talk behind the scenes, but the embassy did not answer DW’s questions about the allegations. Promised handsome salary and facilities, Kumar’s agent Raihan Sinelabudin had come to Armenia from Kerala to study medicine.
Sinelbudin’s current business partner is Anna Petakchyan and they founded ‘Find Your Progress LLC’. A company has been registered under this name. It contains Petakchyan’s name and the address of the Cherry Hotel. The company has another office in Kollam, Kerala. The company’s publicity claims that it offers excellent salaries and benefits, and a generous package ensures that employees get the best results for their hard work and dedication. However, Indian workers working for the company say that they were exploited and mistreated. Ara Ghazaryan, a labor and migration official in Yerevan, told DW that it is important to find out what is the motivation behind the recruitment of workers, so that the crimes of recruitment agents can be known.
“If the purpose is not to provide a normal and safe employment environment, but to exploit, then it is already a crime,” Ghajaryan says, adding that hiring a migrant without a work permit or immigration status is illegal. Is a crime. Similarly, violation of labor laws also. Migrant laborer Ghajaryan, who is swinging between governments and companies, says that migrant laborers should not be paid in cash. They must have a valid employment contract, a place of work, normal working hours, annual leave, sick leave and weekend leave. Along with this, they should definitely not be treated badly. Ghajaryan also said that withholding passports is an early sign of trafficking and exploitation.
She says that by withholding passports they control the lives and mobility of migrants. Generally only government agencies are allowed to hold passports. Ghajaryan clearly says, “Passport is property, no one else can keep it. Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs told DW that in 2023 they have settled 14 cases involving Indian workers. All these were probably related to smuggling.
So far no one has admitted to human trafficking, but there have been incidents of violations of labor laws and fraud. In some cases, the employing companies also kept the passport, but the ministry says that this was not forced. According to the ministry, these passports were given to companies to get work permits.
However, Ghajaryan said that it is not necessary to provide the original passport for the permit, only a photocopy will suffice. He said, “If they claim otherwise, it is a lie. This means some fraud is being committed” What do the agents say? Petrachyan and Sinelabudin told DW that all workers make an initial deposit of $1,500.
This covers the expenses for their arrival, placement and accommodation for the first month. Some things have changed after Kumar’s arrival. Petakchian confirmed that food and accommodation were not free at that time. Along with this, he also said that the workers were informed about this before coming here. With this, all the workers now sign the agreement. However, in the documents seen by DW Report, the amount of wages was not mentioned and it was not even signed by the agent. Petakchyan claims that his agency is working with some of the largest companies in Armenia, including hotels, restaurants and gas stations.
He says that these companies do not want to register Indian citizens. That’s why ‘Find Your Progress’ Hires laborers and provides them services. According to Petakchyan, this is the reason why workers do not receive salaries directly. She stressed, “We pay them exactly the same salary that they get.” Asked about 40 people living in rooms in the basement of the hotel, Petakchian said, “I am not saying that is absolutely right, but the Indian people That’s all one needs.” During the interview, three people said they had not received their salaries and accused Sinelabudin and Petakyan of keeping their passports. Sinelabudin protested, “Do you have any proof?” Petakchyan confirmed that she collects passports for workers so they can apply for residency. She claims, “I will return the passport to them later.” It is difficult to say who is telling the truth.
However, it is clear that some people did not have passports. When DW spoke to Kumar again a month after his first meeting, he did not have a job. A factory manager said Kumar had to leave the job due to health issues which were affecting his work. Kumar says that he had to ask for money from his family members in India.
He hopes that soon he will be able to start working as a taxi driver. Kumar wants to go home, but at present he does not have this option. They need money for plane tickets. More importantly, the huge amount of loan he had to take to come to Armenia still has to be repaid. Kumar says, “Only after this I will be able to go back.” Currently, he is stuck in Armenia.