Azerbaijan to substitute foreign migrants with local labour

Azerbaijani expert Nadir Abdulaev has stated that there are about 1 million migrants residing in Azerbaijan. Most of these are IDPs but there are also more than 100,000 migrants from foreign countries, although only 54,000 are registered with the police.

Migrants most commonly come to Azerbaijan from Georgia, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Africa. Only a few of these migrants have the official right to reside in the country, and most of them are working illegally.

Due to the financial crisis, Azerbaijani officials have begun to take more serious measures against migrants so that the local labour force will be able to take jobs migrants currently do. The state plans to tighten the procedure of registration of foreign migrants, increasing the fees for granting permission to work. Other steps are also being taken to encourage local employers to employ Azeri nationals rather than foreigners.