TASHKENT: A German teacher stands in front of Uzbek nursing students, rattling off health terms — wheelchair, overweight, retired — they will need to master before setting off for new jobs in Germany.
They are part of a growing number of Central Asians shunning the traditional option of emigrating to Russia in favor of the West.
Facing labor shortages in a host of sectors, several EU states have struck agreements with the five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan — to help bring in skilled workers, particularly in the care and agriculture industries.
As hostility toward Central Asian migrants grows across Russia, the higher wages on offer in Europe have enticed many to look elsewhere.
“Honestly, the salary interested me first and foremost,” caregiver Shakhnoza Gulmurotova told AFP about the option to work in Germany.
