Migration of population in gap of social problems

Zurab Taxliashvili, Jamlet Jandjgava

The development and function of society is consequent upon the simultaneous process and interaction of multiple social factors.

Each factor is caused by particular reasons and by a process of driving forces. Different processes have different internal mechanisms and structure, they perform different social functions, stimulate or hamper social changes.
One of these important social processes is migration of population. The influence of its social functions and consequences upon the population is quite multilateral. It is an integral formation in which numerous social factors take part.
The end of the twentieth century will go down to history as an epoch of natural and artificial catastrophes, epoch of internally displaced population and refugees. Our country is a participant and, very often, an epicenter of these global processes.
Wars, ethnical conflicts, political and religious discrimination, strained moral and psychological situation, unemployment, small income, etc. are the main reasons of migration. These conditions force people to leave temporarily or permanently their domicile and search for better conditions, in which to realize their own resources. Thus, migration is violence. The most important question here is who does this violence to people ? their external or internal enemies. People are more or less “tied” to their historical homeland; they find it hard to leave it and to move to another place.
It is a common knowledge that expatriation from motherland has always been considered to be a severe punishment. Even in the ancient epoch the most dangerous criminal was expatriated from his motherland.
War conflicts served to intensify processes of migration in the post-Soviet area. As a result of inspired war conflicts, the native population was forced to leave the territory. A considerable number of the so-called ecological migrants joined the great army of refugees. Earthquakes in Zemo Imereti and Racha, landslide in Ajara forced 32 554 people (117925 men) to leave their domicile. In 1996 the number of ecological migrants made up 28 930 men. They settled in different regions of the country. Generally speaking, Georgia has long turned into a country of refugees and migrants where catastrophes, earthquakes, social-economic and political instability, kidnapping and terrorist acts are quite a usual thing. This causes general alarm and resent. The problem of refugees and IDP in Georgia is a peculiar one. The Western countries receive refugees of other ethnic groups and systems. The situation in Georgia is quite a different one. Georgia receives ethnic Georgians, it also widely opens the door to the Chechen refugees ? people of quite different culture. This poses a great problem not only for the population of Pankiss ravine, but for all Georgia. It changes the social-cultural landscape of this small region, encourages drugs business and kidnapping. All this caused an international response. Thus, the problem of refugees has turned into a stable source of violating the social order in the country. All this serves the commercial interests of some official structures and persons.
A part of refugees and IDP (internally displaced population) adopted to the new living conditions. However, the majority of the population do not have a permanent source of income. Their income principally comes from small trade and unqualified labour. The situation is much deteriorated by hard living conditions of the regions and cities they settled in. The government fulfilled its promise of million work places by employing people as petty merchants in the streets or at the Underground entrances. The city resembled a large market with market morality and behaviour. Small market places abound in contraband or falsified, substitute products that pose a danger for people’s health and, therefore, for the whole country.
Our scientists consider the problem of migration in a quite simplified way. They reflect a lot about its economic and demographic aspects, yet they pay less attention or completely ignore its social and moral aspects. Excess of statistics is clearly obvious. Over-all review and analysis of the problems are necessary. The problem of migration will then be presented as a complex unity of social, economic-political and social-psychological factors.
A migrant does not only change his domicile, but he finds himself in a completely different environment. He also has to confront with the poignant issues of adapting to the new living conditions, to the new environment. The question of the local population’s attitude towards him is of no less importance. This attitude is often a hostile one ? Uninvited guest is never welcome. This situation poses a danger for its cultural originality.
According to professor R. Asatiani, the economic system in our country that was called “Shock therapy”, has long lost its therapeutic functions and shocked the population; it gave rise to individualism. On the one hand, Georgian cupidity and, on the other hand, self-preservation instinct makes for “disunity” of the nation. This situation does not give any possibility for the existence of society. There is a dangerously and unnaturally high level of society mobility, disturbances in social layers, complete moral chaos; there come people with the similar plebian morality who think they are law upon themselves. “All that is not forbidden by the law is allowed”. It is a slogan that completely ignores the moral criteria; it is a visa to the supremacy of criminal morality. All this led to nihilism. “Nihilism is the most undesirable and dangerous visitor”- says Nizsche. These are the principle reasons of mass dissatisfaction that have acquired such inadequate and unacceptable forms such as suicide, drug addiction, prostitution, alcoholism, etc. The Georgian national life has received the most severe blow as a result of which our society has lost its internal structure; traditional Georgian values were under threat. “Collective corruption” (Durkheimland and others).
According to the data of Attorney prosecutor’s office, 2023 facts of suicide have been registered within three months’ period from 1995 till 2001. The same tendency is observed in the attempts of suicide; in 1995 there were 56 attempts, in 2000 ?78 and in 2001 ? 17.
At the end of 2000, in the tenth anniversary of Latvian revolution the society learned about Vitauta Landsberg’s famous notification to public that was known under the name of political will. It was written ten years ago; it would have been distributed in case of suppression of independence. Since revolution gained a victory, there was no need in it. The document says: “We will have to confront with a more dangerous weapon than tanks. They will try to destruct us by idleness, immorality, but you should not get spoiled. It is better to suffer tortures than to sell conscience”.
Recognition of our country as a state nation was called in question, relations between state and individual have reached the dangerous climax. After opening the door to the West, a great stream of people who were disappointed in the “achievements of our unstable state and democracy, set off to search for subsistence means. By the summer 2001, according to the estimation of specialists, 1500 people were in emigration. Nowadays, migration has spread all over Georgia. In the first half of the 90-th years, migrants were mainly people of other nationality who returned to their historical homeland. Yet, gradually, this process acquired a mono-Georgian nature. For the time being, this migration has a unilateral nature ? outer migration.
On the basis of social opinion, we have the picture of emigrants’ settlement. The reasons of their migration are different. Among them, business leave, commerce, guest visa are one of the principle ones. The number of people emigrating for employment runs into 13%. The general number of people who left in search of work makes up 52,5% in Russia and 32,2 % in Turkey. Immigration to Europe, usually to Greece and Germany, is more or less noticeable. According to the managers of travel firm, 90-55% of tourists who received a guest visa, have no intention to come back. The majority of migrants are young and employable (aged under 40). 1,88% of those who left for employment, returned to their homeland. These are the people who made some capital with the purpose of starting business here.
Outer migration is a panacea for our country of the unemployed. In spite of it, unemployment increases yearly. The number of people searching for work has increased by 4,7% in May of this year compared with the index of May last year. The whole number amounted to 124 800 of which 52,6% are women aged from 22-30, 22,7% are over 30. As for education, 29,2% are highly educated, 26,7% have polytechnic education, 37,7% – secondary education. Over 48% of the registered unemployed have been out of work for more than a year, 33,7% have been out of work for one or three years. These abnormalities are the first reason of brain drain. These people proved to be unwanted by the country, its economy. The perspectives of the country are rather dim and hopeless. This is why the young go abroad even with some sort of enthusiasm, they do not refuse to take up any kinds of jobs. But they do not feel less proud there. Instead, they receive such a salary that they would not even have dreamt of. They keep up their families and even manage to save some money. Very often they also suffer a fiasco. They constantly have to face the danger of deportation because of their illegal residence in the country. Girls look after senile old people or infants, they work as servants, very often they become victims of trapping. Such is the contradictory life of emigrants. Thus migration cannot be view unilaterally. We should take into consideration both its negative and positive sides. It requires neither apologetics nor “slander”. For the present, it is an attempt of overcoming destitution and realizing one’s own resources.
Brain drain means an energetic loss for the country. The famous 18-th century Italian thinker and lawyer, Chasare Bekaria, said that those who leave their motherland forever, bring more harm than those who commit suicide. Brain drain is a dramatic side of Georgian reality. Restrictions and prohibitions will not put an end to it. For one thing, no one can keep people from thinking about the way of realizing and developing their own gifts and abilities. For another thing, prohibitions and restrictions make people still more desirous of leaving the country. For foreigners it is a warning not to visit this country. Chesare thought that the best way of making people stay in the country was increasing their life standard.
The young people suffer from the impossibility of realizing their own potential. Emigration of young people from the country can be considered to be a form of protest against the existing situation. This protest gives rise to deep demographic problems, among them ageing of population. According to the opinion of scientists, “the Georgian population has reached the high level of ageing”. (Leo Chikava), “the present-day level of population ageing in Georgia is average”. (Anzor Totadze). For our small nation this situation is, certainly, serious and means nothing good. On the basis of some materials, corruption is in some or another way involved in migration process. According to Helen Tevdoradze, many emigrants could not have left the country for years (criminals, people of bad reputation), but they managed to do so by means of bribes. Now, many of them live abroad and lead a disreputable life (drugs business, prostitution ad so on). The question is where all this money that the numerous travel firms managed to collect, goes to.
Many problems are also connected with immigration ? providing place of residence for immigrants, settling problems of their employment and, etc. Very often, this countries resort to the measures of immigration restriction. Germany (1999) and USA (1995) limited the number of immigrants. The Western scientists are afraid that their own ethnic group may become national minority. The authorities of some countries firmly believe in the steadiness of their culture and traditions. According to president Bush, immigration does not pose a problem for the country. On the contrary, it proves that American nation is a successful one. In June of this year he made a demand to ease immigration laws. The West needs immigrants for the promotion of economic progress. As specialists think, they will require new labour force in the near future. They need immigrants because they are a cheap labour force for them
And, last of all, we would like to mention one significant, important fact that made it easier for the Georgians to leave the country. These are recent years’ events. According to the Georgian national notion, homeland was not merely Mecca of pure human relations. The recent years’ events destroyed all kind of romantics that was substituted by Pragmatism. Priority was attached to private interests. The initiator and head of the process was the Government itself. Nothing was done for the restoration of country’s unity. The life standard of population decreased considerably. The above-mentioned factors made people forget patriotism and nostalgia and to leave the country in search of better life.
Migration of population is a protest against the existing anarchy, chaos of social order.