View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives LABOUR MIGRATION FROM CENTRAL ASIA TO RUSSIA State Management of Migration Marthe Handå Myhre Master‟s Thesis – European and American Studies Faculty of Humanities UNIVERSITY OF OSLO SPRING 2012 II © Marthe Handå Myhre 2012 Labour migration from Central Asia to Russia – State Management of Migration Marthe Handå Myhre http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo III Abstract Russia has become a large scale recipient of labour migrants from Central Asia. Unemployment and low wages in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have made people travel north to what used to be the centre of the former Soviet Union – a state entity that these now independent states, a little more than some 20 years ago, all belonged to. Currently, Russia is facing a demographical crisis with dramatic population decline especially among the working-age group of the population. As such, access to work force from abroad can rightly be seen as a resource for the Russian state. Due to a persistent visa-free regime entrance, Russia is easily accessible for citizens of all the three Central Asian states mentioned. The length of their stay, however, is limited, and there are procedures for prolonging it, as well as for obtaining the right to work in Russia. Although experts claim that there is a need for immigration, these views are not shared by Russian citizens in general. On the contrary, anti- migration sentiments are quite widespread, and there are people claiming that the presence of labour migrants are worsening the situation for the local population; when it comes to work access as well as wage levels. The large presence of migrants, however, confirms that there is a demand for the cheap labour that they provide. As such, the field of migration is for the state a mine field of contradictory interests. This thesis investigates the Russian state‟s management of labour migration from Central Asia; the state‟s concrete regulations and their consequences. It acquaints the reader with recent law amendments in the sphere of migration as well as bringing in the perspective and experiences of other actors involved in the processes of migration management in Russia. The state, as it will become evident, is not at all that capable and fine-tuned in its migration management. IV Acknowledgments First of all I want to express gratitude to all my informants who shared their experiences, information and points of view with me. I want to thank my supervisor Pål Kolstø for constant support through fast feedback, honest criticism, encouraging comments and sound advice. I am most grateful for the hospitality of Ellen Melgård Solstad and Valentina Porfirevna Aksenova who provided me with splendid accommodation during my field-work in Moscow and St. Petersburg respectively. A word of thanks also goes to the Centre for Independent Social Research in St. Petersburg, which welcomed me to use their library and other resources while collecting data. Thank you so much Per Byrkjeland and Phillip Mendenhall for editorial support! For any inaccuracies or mistakes I am fully responsible. A special thanks also to my close family and friends for inspiration, generosity and joy!! V Abbreviations CAC Civic Assistance Committee for refugees and forced migrants Komitet “Grazhdanskoe Sodeĭstvie”, obshchestvennaya blagotvoritel`naya organizatsiya pomoshchi vynuzhdennym migrantam CIS Commonwealth of Independent States EMS United Migration Service Edinaya Migratsionnaya Sluzhba FMS the Federal Migration Service of RF Federal`naya Migratsionnaya Sluzhba RF IOM International Organization for Migration Minzdravsotsrazvitie the Ministry of Health Care and Social Development Ministerstvo Zdravookhraneniya i Sotsial`nogo Razvitiya MVD the Ministry of Interior Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del` RF the Russian Federation Rossiĭskaya Federatsiya Rosstat the Russian Statistical Agency Federal`naya sluzhba gosudarstvennoĭ statistiki UFMS theTerritorial Divisions\Departments of FMS Upravlenie FMS TTM All-Russian public movement for Tajik Labour Migrants Obshcherossiĭskoe Obshchestvennoe Dvizhenie Tadzhikskie Trudovye Migranty VI Table of Contents 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................1 1.1 Demographical challenges ........................................................................................2 1.2 Russia – Central Asia relations .................................................................................5 1.3 Research questions ...................................................................................................9 1.4 Limitations and clarifications ................................................................................. 10 1.5 Definition of concepts ............................................................................................ 12 1.5.1 Who are the labour migrants? What is labour\economic migration? ................. 12 1.5.2 Management of migration................................................................................ 14 2 Theoretical and methodological framework .............................................. 16 2.1 Migration theory: interdisciplinary and relevant paradigms..................................... 16 2.1.1 The state in migration research\Bringing the state back in ............................... 18 2.2 Understanding the state per se ................................................................................ 22 2.2.1 Russia - a migration state ................................................................................ 25 2.3 Methodological considerations\ Selection of data ................................................... 26 2.3.1 Interviews as a way of collecting empirical data. ............................................. 28 3 The Russian state as a migration manager ......................................................... 30 3.1 The 1990s – migration policy formation in the young Russian Federation .............. 32 3.2 The escalation of labour migration and Russia‟s response ....................................... 34 3.3 Towards a liberalization of policy? ......................................................................... 37 3.3.1 The 2006 amendments ..................................................................................... 38 3.3.2 The 2010 amendments ..................................................................................... 44 3.4 Which state organs are handling migration in Russia? The FMS: Institutionalizing a negative perception of migration?.............................................................................. 47 3.4.1 FMS‟ interaction with civil society and other state agencies ............................ 50 3.5 What does Russia want? The lack of a policy concept. ........................................... 53 VII 3.6 State concerns: Public opinion does matter in Russia… Various public viewpoints on migration and the rise of xenophobia. ........................................................................ 57 4 Non-state managers of migration. Their view on the state management. 61 4.1 Non-commercial migration managers ..................................................................... 62 4.1.1 Labour migrants‟ troubles and the side effects of state management ................ 67 4.1.2 The NGOs‟ policy recommendations and suggestions for structural improvements .................................................................................................. 72 4.2 Ethnic associations; a semi-commercial migration management ............................. 75 4.2.1 Umid ............................................................................................................... 76 4.2.2 TTM................................................................................................................ 78 4.2.3 The semi-commercial migration managers‟ policy criticism and recommendations ............................................................................................ 80 4.3 Commercial migration managers: Firms that provide migration services ................ 83 4.3.1 Migration processes as business and the business‟ view on the state ................ 84 4.4 Other Actors ........................................................................................................... 89 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 92 5.1 What does the state want? ....................................................................................... 93 5.2 How does the state go about to achieve its aims? .................................................... 94 5.3 What are the side effects, problems, and insufficiencies of state policy? ................. 97 5.4 Russia - a persistent migration state ........................................................................ 98 Literature ..................................................................................................................... 101 Interviews .................................................................................................................... 112 VIII IX X 1 Introduction 20 years have passed since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Although it would be an exaggeration to say that all the new states that then emerged have successfully consolidated, much has changed,