KHUJAND, Tajikistan - Economic hardship resulting from the global financial
crisis is to blame for a spate of suicides in the northern Tajikistan region of
Soghd, victims' relatives and experts say.
A mother of three who lives in the provincial capital of Khujand said her
car-dealer husband committed suicide after some of his clients failed to pay
him.
"He was in the business of buying and selling imported cars. He took loans, a
lot of money. He did not tell me about his problems but I understood that he
had been simply let down," she said.
In addition to her bereavement, the woman has had to deal with
some of her husband's debtors, "Now they come to me and demand that I repay his
debts. Where do I get this kind of money? If I had been working I would have
tried to pay back little by little. It is good that others have forgiven his
debts."
A mother of two from the Bobojon Gafurovskiy district not far from Khujand lost
her husband of 11 years. They shared a house with his two brothers and their
families. While her husband was working they managed to make ends meet, but
things changed when he lost his job.
"His brothers did not like it and told us to move out. My husband did not see
any way out and hanged himself," she said. "After 40 days of remembrance they
[the brothers] threw me out of the house. It was a terrible time for me. I went
to live with my relatives then with my sister. Kind people gave me a helping
hand, found me a place in a dormitory. I found work to feed my children."
The Soghd region, traditionally better off than other parts of the country, has
been hit hard by the economic downturn.
The crisis has not only cut local incomes and the number of jobs but also
remittances from thousands of labor migrants. Some 150,000 seasonal workers
from Soghd are working abroad, mostly in Russia but also in Kazakhstan,
according to official figures.
Najiba Shirinbekova, who heads a non-governmental group called Law and
Prosperity, told the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), "The latest
information indicates a particularly high level of poverty in the region. This
is because factories are standing idle because of the financial crisis and the
winter energy crisis."
In the first six months of the year, labor migrants from Soghd transferred home
more than US$200 million, while last year the figure for the same period was
more than $300 million.
There are no official records of how many suicide cases are directly caused by
the economic crisis, though police sometimes state "financial problems" when
registering deaths.
From January till the end of June, the number is given as 15. However, the
figures do not distinguish between those living in long-term poverty and those
whose dire financial situation has been compounded by the economic slowdown.
The Interior Ministry office in Soghd said that in the first six months of the
year, police registered 92 cases of suicide and 52 attempted suicides, 23 more
than the total suicides and attempts in the same period last year.
Despite a lack of clarity in suicide statistics, there are some indications
that people are taking their lives under the stress caused by the economic
crisis.
More men than women committed or attempted suicide - 84 and 78 respectively.
Many men are of working age and the country has more women than men because of
the numbers working abroad.
An expert in gender issues, Rano Babajanova, said financial problems were often
the cause of suicide in men whereas among women the leading cause is domestic
violence.
Men carry the responsibility of being the breadwinner and are expected to be
able to provide for the family, "Society is used to seeing in a man a strong,
brave person who takes care of his family."
But in times of economic crisis they struggle to fulfill this role and that can
make them depressed, according to Babajanova.
"They are not supposed to cry, to show weakness. They have nowhere to turn and
that is why they can take such a radical step," she said.
Six suicide cases in the past month involved unemployed men aged between 22 and
60, the local Interior ministry office said.
Commenting on suicide statistics, the coordinator of the crisis center
Gulrukhsor, Mavzuna Hakimbaeva, said, "According to our information, to a large
extent it is financial difficulties in the family that lead to the rise in this
phenomenon."
Medical doctor Malika Saidalieva said that psychological illnesses tend to
emerge against the backdrop of various factors including financial problems,
"This could be the loss of a loved one, losing a job and a number of other
reasons."
Economic hardship could lead to suicidal thoughts, she said. "Constant stress,
a weakened immune system and nervous breakdown will lead to neurasthenia. [This
brings] persistent thoughts including a desire to commit suicide."
Neurasthenia is a condition whose symptoms include fatigue, anxiety and
depression.
A 45-year-old resident of Khujand who gave his name as Samad told IWPR how he
was driven to the brink of suicide when he lost his job. He tried to find work
but failed to get a stable job and earnings from temporary work were meagre. In
his desperation, Samad turned to alcohol. He and his wife quarrelled
constantly.
"I was ready to take my own life and even pictured in my mind how to do it. But
one evening my youngest daughter sat on my lap and said, 'Dada [daddy], I love
you very much'. I felt reborn and realized that there are more important things
than your own worries."
The decline in remittances puts a strain on people who have used funds sent by
family members working as labor migrants as collateral to take out loans.
Microcredit organizations accept a bank's letter confirming monthly transfers
from a relative abroad as a guarantee for repayment.
The head of crime prevention among minors and young people at the Interior
Ministry, lieutenant-colonel Rahimjon Abduvaliev, told IWPR that this year's
suicide statistics include cases of men who took their own lives because they
had problems repaying loans. He was not able to give the number.
Barbara Kreuter, a consultant with the German Development Service advising the
Tajik Association of Microfinance Organizations, confirmed that many people are
struggling with loan repayments.
"This year delays in repayments have risen four times compared with 2008," she
said.
The local government last month set up a commission to work on how to prevent
suicide attempts. Members will include a deputy of the Tajik parliament, a
psychologist, a religious figure, a police officer and a writer, according to
Zulfia Umarova, the head of the department for social and cultural affairs and
interethnic relations in Khujand. The commission will organize meetings and
talks. The administration is also enlisting the help of mosque leaders.
"They will be asked to talk in their sermons about being patient and thinking
of people's responsibility towards their families," Umarova said.
Bahtior Valiev is an IWPR-trained journalist in Tajikistan.
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