The main street in front of the Spitamen bazaar is clogged with idle taxis sputtering exhaust into the chill air. Said and Abdul, two young Tajiks in a tiny Daewoo hatchback, solicit passersby for their daily drive to Khujand, some 40km away. Business is slow.
"There are so many more cabs here this winter," laments Said as he flicks ashes from his stubby cigarette out the open window. "Everyone is coming back from Russia with no job, so they drive cars," adds Abdul. Indeed, the two friends are themselves part of the growing legion of laid-off guest workers. In their particular case, the duo returned home after losing their jobs at a St. Petersburg construction site in October.
In spite of the evident hardship that is spreading around them, Said and Abdul believe the global financial crisis won’t take a terrible toll on Tajikistan. It is a common feeling. Although remittances of foreign wages have helped prop up the country for years, most Tajiks believe their economy is isolated from the rest of the world. Said, for example, plans to return to Russia next spring, along with many of his friends, to resume the seasonal migration. He is unfazed by news of the sharp downturn in Russia. Reads more
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