Khopan - Seasonal Work or Flow of Russian Propaganda
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Javakheti is a region in Southern Georgia, near the Armenian border where more than 90% of the population are ethnic Armenians. Economically the region is depended on Russia a lot, as lots of men from Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda go to “khopan” - work in Russia. The fact of at least one family member being based in Russia, makes the family interested in the country itself and accordingly the flow of Russian information and disinformation as well.
The roots of the problem called “khopan” (that’s what locals call the seasonal earnings abroad) arose in the 1960’s and were very popular during the Soviet Union. The term got attached to the region of Javakheti and it started to be normalized because of the huge percentage of the population leaving for khopan. In the end of 1980’s and beginning of 90’s the people in Javakheti started to actively go on earnings in different countries such as Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine mostly.
In Georgia, there are no official statistics on how many people leave for Russia, forming a seasonal labor market from Javakheti.
"Seasonal Husband" - According to a survey by local media organization Jnews, in 2018, 63 percent of families in Javakheti had at least one person working in Russia. That is, six out of ten families have a "seasonal husband." So they call here men who spend at home only one season a year.
The EMC (Social Justice Center), which studies minority issues, reports that based on the information they provide in Javakheti, about 70 percent of men are involved in labor migration nowadays.
This indicator is rising because of the huge existence of Russian propaganda in the region, as a fact for the families having at least one family member working in Russia and depending on Russia economically.
Kristina Marabyan is a journalist of the Javakheti Information Center (Jnews.ge) and co-founder of the NGO “Green Crossroads”. As she mentions, the region won’t be able to survive independently in this economic conditions, because here there is not developed tourism, nor the economic side, no investments and nothing for people to be able to stay and earn money locally.
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The latest 2014 census in Georgia shows that, out of 79,878 ethnic Armenians living in Samtskhe-Javakheti, only 16,676 speak Georgian fluently, accordingly the source of information for the non-georgian speakers is mostly russian or armenian media sources.
“Russia is leading an aggressive policy for now and people who are usual people without any educational backgrounds, because people going for earnings are usually ones who don’t have any high education, they can’t differ the trustworthiness of the information or the source they get the information from. For them all the information they get is true, this is why there is also a need to work on education, so that they can implement themselves”.
According to Kristina Marabyan, all this factors are depended on the country development level, and she believes that if Georgia gives opportunity to its citizens for work and live in their countries, there will be no migration, neither in Russia nor in other countries.
Money is the most important reason for the population to go and work in Russia, because most people, especially the ones who have no higher education, find it difficult to find jobs, without knowing the Georgian language especially.
According to 2023 data provided by National Bank of Georgia, the amount of money transfers to Georgia from Russia is clearly rising, the country’s dependence on the Russian economy. According to the data from January-April 2021 compared to the data from January-April 2023, the money transfer amount was raised by 636,4%, making it 838,1 mln USD in total in the first four months of 2023 only. There is no exact data about what percentage of this money goes to Javakheti specifically, although the dependance of the region on the Russian economy is visible.
Javakheti region is popular for potato farming, though the potato price is so low, most people throw their product at the end of the season waiting for the price to go high and never getting it. The village of Chamdura is one of the villages in the region, where every family has their own potato farms, however due to the economical difficulties, most of the villagers' solution is in Russia. 57 years old Albert Hovhannisyan and his family live. The fact of having potato farm doesn’t prevent their family members from going to khopan. Two young men, 32 years old Kimik and 23 years old Harutyun have been going to khopan for years now. The main income of the family is the money sent from Russia.
“Our country is scared of its national minorities, why? Because there is problem of Abkhazia and Ossetia but these situations have nothing in common with Javakheti and Kvemo-Kartli These are established regions of Georgia, yes they differ because these are regions where ethnic minorities live compactly, but except for that there are no other differences. That’s why the government should trust it’s population more and do all the possible for these regions and the whole country to develop and give the opportunity for these people to work on the spot so that there is no such hell practice for people to go to “khopan” in Russia".
The economic dependence on Russia makes the Armenian population in Javakheti more interested and supportive of the country, since their family members, relatives or friends work and live there and their economic prosperity is dependent on Russia’s well being. The problem mostly remains because of the lack of knowing the state language as well, which is the government's duty to take care of.