By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Mar 6 2002 (IPS)

Bolivian, Chilean, Paraguayan and Peruvian immigrants living in Argentina are returning to their home countries en masse, after finding their hopes for a better life quashed by the economic meltdown and depreciation of the local currency.

Not only jobless Argentines are fleeing this crisis-stricken country, where looting and protests toppled two presidents just over two months ago, in huge numbers, but many of the immigrants from other Latin American countries who came to the region’s third largest economy when it was still a land of opportunity and the peso remained at par with the dollar have now begun to leave.

“I came here eight years ago, and you could earn good money,” Peruvian domestic worker Rocío Casas told IPS. “I was able to save half of my wages and send the money home to Peru, where I bought a plot of land and had a house built. But now my wages have been cut, and I can’t save anymore, so I’m going back to my country.”

Casas’ story is not unique. Hundreds of thousands of people from neighbouring countries came to Argentina in the 1990s, drawn by the convertibility or currency board system that pegged the peso to the dollar, which meant the minimum monthly salary of 500 pesos was equivalent to 500 dollars.

But wages began to fall and unemployment continued to climb. Then in December, the government slapped limits on cash withdrawals from banks, which made it difficult for private employers to pay their household staff and for small businesses to pay their workers.

As if that weren’t enough, the convertibility regime was scrapped in January, and the newly free-floating peso lost half of its value. Today, a monthly salary of 500 pesos is worth just 250 dollars.

“When I came in 1993, you could get a job in a private home that paid 1,200 dollars a month. I lived in my workplace Monday through Saturday, and on the weekend I shared a hotel room with a fellow domestic worker. Four years later, I brought over my son, who was then nine years old,” said Casas.

But today, even though Casas’ son has adapted to Buenos Aires, she sees no sense in making the sacrifices involved in staying. “I want to go back. I won’t stay here beyond this week. Many of my friends have already left or want to but can’t because now they’re out of work and they don’t have the money for a ticket,” she added.

The secretary-general of the Paraguayan consulate in Argentina, Teresa Montanaro, confirmed to IPS that many of the roughly 800,000 immigrants from that country are going back home, although statistics are not yet available.

The only cases that reach the consulate are those of undocumented workers who are seeking to be exempted from paying the fine for having overstayed their permitted visit to Argentina.

“Up to December, there were benefits in working here. Many people came to get jobs and save money. Even Argentine pesos were accepted in Paraguay, but now that incentive doesn’t exist anymore,” said Montanaro.

“There does appear to be a major outflow (of immigrants), although we still cannot say just how big,” agreed Violeta Correa, director of the Centre of Aid to Refugees, which provides assistance to people from a number of South American countries.

“The immigrants apparently believe the conditions for saving money and sending it home have disappeared, which means they are losing their interest in living so far away from their families,” Correa told IPS. “Even worse, many (employers) can’t even pay their wages anymore.”

In the decade of the 1990s, the inflow of immigrants from neighbouring countries was one of the most outstanding phenomena in this Southern Cone country of 36 million.

Some trade unions complained that foreigners were taking jobs from Argentine workers, and blamed the immigrants for the growing unemployment, even though analysts said immigrants had not played a strong role in the rise in unemployment, which now stands at around 22 percent.

The International Organisation of Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental agency based in Buenos Aires, said things were blown out of proportion by prejudice, and pointed out that immigrants generally do not compete for work with the local population, but take the jobs Argentines do not want.

Many of the Chileans working in the areas along the lengthy shared border between Chile and Argentina have visited their consulates in provinces like Mendoza in the northwest to arrange their return to their home country.

The Bolivian consulate, meanwhile, estimates that around 300 Bolivian families a day returned home in December and January, Victoria Rocha, director of the Vocero Boliviano newspaper read by the immigrant community here, explained to IPS.

Many Bolivians were working in agriculture, small textile factories and the construction industry, or as street vendors selling fruit, vegetables and spices. As they began to lose their jobs, some offered their services in plumbing and electrical repairs, while others began to sell homemade baked goods or set up informal carwashing businesses.

Around two million Bolivians live in Argentina, according to Rocha, although official statistics put the number at 800,000.

Most undocumented Bolivian immigrants were working in farming, the textile industry, or sweatshops run by other Bolivians or South Koreans in Argentina. Although their wages were low, they were able to save up pesos, which they exchanged for dollars and sent home by mail.

“My fellow countrymen are good at saving, and if they earned 200 pesos (which used to be worth 200 dollars), they saved half, even if they had to live in extreme conditions. But now not only are they unable to save, but many of the small factories that employed them have shut down without even paying their back wages,” said Rocha.

When they arrive to their hometowns and villages, some of the returning immigrants survive on what they can earn by selling contraband products from Argentina, especially wine, said Rocha. Local authorities in the city of Tarija, for example, have taken measures to protect local industry from the competition from cheaper Argentine products.

Others have begun to head to Israel, where Rocha said there is a strong demand for Bolivian workers in the textile factories. In its shaky condition, Argentina, which was so nearby geographically, no longer provides much of an option for South American emigrants in search of a better life.

Excerpt:

By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Mar 6 2002 (IPS)

Bolivian, Chilean, Paraguayan and Peruvian immigrants living in Argentina are returning to their home countries en masse, after finding their hopes for a better life quashed by the economic meltdown and depreciation of the local currency.

Not only jobless Argentines are fleeing this crisis-stricken country, where looting and protests toppled two presidents just over two months ago, in huge numbers, but many of the immigrants from other Latin American countries who came to the region’s third largest economy when it was still a land of opportunity and the peso remained at par with the dollar have now begun to leave.

“I came here eight years ago, and you could earn good money,” Peruvian domestic worker Rocío Casas told IPS. “I was able to save half of my wages and send the money home to Peru, where I bought a plot of land and had a house built. But now my wages have been cut, and I can’t save anymore, so I’m going back to my country.”

Casas’ story is not unique. Hundreds of thousands of people from neighbouring countries came to Argentina in the 1990s, drawn by the convertibility or currency board system that pegged the peso to the dollar, which meant the minimum monthly salary of 500 pesos was equivalent to 500 dollars.

But wages began to fall and unemployment continued to climb. Then in December, the government slapped limits on cash withdrawals from banks, which made it difficult for private employers to pay their household staff and for small businesses to pay their workers.

As if that weren’t enough, the convertibility regime was scrapped in January, and the newly free-floating peso lost half of its value. Today, a monthly salary of 500 pesos is worth just 250 dollars.

“When I came in 1993, you could get a job in a private home that paid 1,200 dollars a month. I lived in my workplace Monday through Saturday, and on the weekend I shared a hotel room with a fellow domestic worker. Four years later, I brought over my son, who was then nine years old,” said Casas.

But today, even though Casas’ son has adapted to Buenos Aires, she sees no sense in making the sacrifices involved in staying. “I want to go back. I won’t stay here beyond this week. Many of my friends have already left or want to but can’t because now they’re out of work and they don’t have the money for a ticket,” she added.

The secretary-general of the Paraguayan consulate in Argentina, Teresa Montanaro, confirmed to IPS that many of the roughly 800,000 immigrants from that country are going back home, although statistics are not yet available.

The only cases that reach the consulate are those of undocumented workers who are seeking to be exempted from paying the fine for having overstayed their permitted visit to Argentina.

“Up to December, there were benefits in working here. Many people came to get jobs and save money. Even Argentine pesos were accepted in Paraguay, but now that incentive doesn’t exist anymore,” said Montanaro.

“There does appear to be a major outflow (of immigrants), although we still cannot say just how big,” agreed Violeta Correa, director of the Centre of Aid to Refugees, which provides assistance to people from a number of South American countries.

“The immigrants apparently believe the conditions for saving money and sending it home have disappeared, which means they are losing their interest in living so far away from their families,” Correa told IPS. “Even worse, many (employers) can’t even pay their wages anymore.”

In the decade of the 1990s, the inflow of immigrants from neighbouring countries was one of the most outstanding phenomena in this Southern Cone country of 36 million.

Some trade unions complained that foreigners were taking jobs from Argentine workers, and blamed the immigrants for the growing unemployment, even though analysts said immigrants had not played a strong role in the rise in unemployment, which now stands at around 22 percent.

The International Organisation of Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental agency based in Buenos Aires, said things were blown out of proportion by prejudice, and pointed out that immigrants generally do not compete for work with the local population, but take the jobs Argentines do not want.

Many of the Chileans working in the areas along the lengthy shared border between Chile and Argentina have visited their consulates in provinces like Mendoza in the northwest to arrange their return to their home country.

The Bolivian consulate, meanwhile, estimates that around 300 Bolivian families a day returned home in December and January, Victoria Rocha, director of the Vocero Boliviano newspaper read by the immigrant community here, explained to IPS.

Many Bolivians were working in agriculture, small textile factories and the construction industry, or as street vendors selling fruit, vegetables and spices. As they began to lose their jobs, some offered their services in plumbing and electrical repairs, while others began to sell homemade baked goods or set up informal carwashing businesses.

Around two million Bolivians live in Argentina, according to Rocha, although official statistics put the number at 800,000.

Most undocumented Bolivian immigrants were working in farming, the textile industry, or sweatshops run by other Bolivians or South Koreans in Argentina. Although their wages were low, they were able to save up pesos, which they exchanged for dollars and sent home by mail.

“My fellow countrymen are good at saving, and if they earned 200 pesos (which used to be worth 200 dollars), they saved half, even if they had to live in extreme conditions. But now not only are they unable to save, but many of the small factories that employed them have shut down without even paying their back wages,” said Rocha.

When they arrive to their hometowns and villages, some of the returning immigrants survive on what they can earn by selling contraband products from Argentina, especially wine, said Rocha. Local authorities in the city of Tarija, for example, have taken measures to protect local industry from the competition from cheaper Argentine products.

Others have begun to head to Israel, where Rocha said there is a strong demand for Bolivian workers in the textile factories. In its shaky condition, Argentina, which was so nearby geographically, no longer provides much of an option for South American emigrants in search of a better life.

Excerpt: