Armenian youth longing for living abroad

/AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Youth are the driving force of each society across the world. If they face multiple problems, it means that society is grappling with a lot of challenges. Youth in Armenia are not satisfied with their current conditions and want to live abroad.

Armenia's Deputy Sport and Youth Minister Arsen Karamyan said the youth in the country are struggling with several problems topped by hard socio-economic conditions.

"Our country is still suffering from the consequences of the economic crisis in 2008," Karamyan noted.

He added that the unemployment, lack of quality education, and socio-economic and daily problems are threatening the youth today. "Armenian youth need a lot of time and efforts to change the current situation," Karamyan said.

Young people in Armenia see the unemployment as their top problem, saying there is no job in the country and the people with higher education can't find a relevant job.

"Many students pay huge money for education, but they fail to find an appropriate job," 22 year-old Arpine said.

The most tragic point in the minds of young Armenians is that their dreaming of future stands beyond the post-Soviet state's borders. "The worst trend among youth is that none of them imagine his/her future here in Armenia, since the condition of working is very hard and the salaries are extremely low in the country," a graduate of the Yerevan State University, Anna, said.

The New York-based Trading Economics, which is engaged in providing accurate information about countries all over the world based on official sources, reported that the current unemployment rate in Armenia is roughly 17.5 percent.

Another problem the youth face is the limited independence of judiciary in Armenia, which eliminates freedom and justice in the country.

The Washington-based Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world, shows Armenia as a partly free country, scoring the freedom rating, civil liberties and political rights by 4 point, which is an indicator of a mid-level and inconvenient freedom atmosphere.

The young Armenians say the new laws proposed by the ruling Republican Party, including the law on refunded pension system and turnover tax have caused many problems in the country.

Psychologist Karine Nalchajyan believes the socio-economic problems are the main impediments discouraging the youth in Armenia. "People in Armenia are interested only in their own benefits today. Even the human relationships are based on mutual benefits. It seems that the youth have already accustomed to this situation," she said.

The Armenian authorities are proud of the country's touristic destinations, appetizing wines, as well as the delicious cuisine, which includes a lot griped meals and etc. But when it comes to economic, social, political condition in the country, they prefer to keep silence. Thus, the youth feel a desire to leave the country, because they want bread instead of the alcoholic wine, they demand workplaces instead of touristic places and they opt for ready meals on their tables instead of reading about them on the web-sites.

An anecdote reads: "An Armenian TV channel airs a talk-show, which accolades the social condition in the country, promises a bright future and calls the Armenian population happiest in the world. A young man watching the TV suddenly sighs and says: "How would it be great to live in Armenia!" His friend surprisingly asks him: "What's up? You already live in Armenia." The youngster turns to him and replies: "I want to live in Armenia that is on the TV show now, but not in today's poor country!"

Armenian youngsters ignore the utopia developed by the government and demand a real country based on real values. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sacrificed their patriotism feelings to the desire of living abroad amid the country's hardest days.