KHOROG, February 20, 2009, Asia-Plus -- Compared to January 2008 labor migrants’ migrants to banks in Gorno Badakhshan decreased by 158,000 US dollars last month, according to the branch of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) in Khorog..

“Labor migrants remitted more than 1.558 million US dollars to banks in the region last month, which was 158,000 US dollars fewer than the same period of 2008,” the source at central bank’s branch in Khorog said.

According to the GBAO regional administration, labor migrants remitted $36.6 million to banks in Gorno Badakhshan last year, which was $13.2 million more than in 2007.

The GBAO agency for employment, migration and social protection of the population said that more than 24,000 residents of Gorno Badakhshan, or 12 percent of the region’s population, have left the country to other CIS states, primarily Russia, seeking better employment opportunities.

“Despite financial crisis staff reductions in Russia, no mass return of labor migrants to the region has been to be observed so far,” an official with the GBAO migration directorate Mamadkarim Nazriov said.

Labor migrants are a critical component in Tajikistan’s economy.  Remittances keep many struggling families at home above the poverty line.