Migrant Resettlement in the Russian Federation: Reconstructing Homes and Homelands

by Moya Flynn

Overview

This timely book offers a unique insight into the individual and collective experiences of movement and resettlement among Russian migrants 'returning' to the Russian Federation over the period 1991–2002. Moya Flynn uses different levels of analysis (local, regional, national and global) to open up fresh perspectives on the nature of the Russian migration regime and government migration policy. The book offers the first in-depth examination of non-governmental development in the area of migration in post-Soviet Russia and provides new understandings of the experience of migration and resettlement at the individual level, specifically through an exploration of understandings of 'home' and 'homeland' and a focus on the role of migrant networks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781843311171
Publisher:	Anthem Press
Publication date:	08/26/2004
Series:	Anthem Series on Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies
Edition description:	First Edition, 1
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Moya Flynn is a Lecturer in the Department of Central and East European Studies at the University of Glasgow, UK. Her main research interest concerns the migration movements taking place in the Russian Federation and the wider post-Soviet space.

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Migrant Resettlement in the Russian Federation: Reconstructing 'Homes' and 'Homelands'

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By Moya Flynn

Wimbledon Publishing Company

Copyright © 2004 Moya Flynn
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-85728-743-4

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CHAPTER 1

Understanding Migration in Post-Soviet Russia

This chapter introduces the research space and research focus, and the main theoretical approaches, which run throughout the course of the book. Firstly, the process of migration (the 'return movement and resettlement) of ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking migrants from the former republics of the Soviet Union to the territory of the Russian Federation since 1991 is located within the context of contemporary global and regional migration processes, and the precise migration movements which are occurring into, within and out of the Russian Federation. Secondly, the chapter describes the conceptual frameworks – the migration system, and the 'home/land' dichotomy – that shape the theoretical and empirical boundaries of the study. This enables a number of key levels of empirical analysis which are pertinent to the migration process in question to be identified: the global/international environment, the Russian state, the regional context, migrant networks and the individual migrant. The identification of these frameworks and levels of analysis reveals a key theme that is explored through the book – the discrepancy that can exist between state (and other 'official') constructions of the migration process and of the 'homeland', and actual migrant experience and understandings of the same process, and their priorities for the re-creation of 'home'. Finally, the empirical project that enabled the interrogation of (and further shaped) the conceptual frameworks and theoretical parameters of the study is described.

THE GLOBAL MIGRATION CONTEXT

The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed great political, economic and social upheaval and change, which had significant implications for contemporary migration movements. The changes in the character of migration flows have led to the application of the term a 'new migration', and for the period of the late twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first century to be labelled by some as an 'age of migration. A number of characteristics of contemporary migration are used to justify the application of the term 'new'. To a greater extent than any other period, all areas of the globe have been drawn into both global and regional patterns of migration. Since 1989, Europe has witnessed its most intense migration movements since the Second World War, and such movements are increasing in volume in all major regions of the world. Individual countries are affected by a greater range of migrants of different origins and backgrounds than in previous periods. There has been an increase in the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers and, with the shift to a post-industrial global economy, new 'types' of migrants have emerged. These include highly skilled, elite labour migrants, together with increased numbers employed in the private service industries and domestic services. This latter trend has led to the 'feminization of migration. In response to contemporary migratory flows, there has been a growing politicization of the issue, and a corresponding securitization and institutionalization of migration at the domestic and international levels. Improvements in transportation and communication have meant that migrants are increasingly able to sustain simultaneous, multi-stranded, transnational relationships that link societies. Multiple attachments to different localities have allowed the development of new and complex 'diasporic' identities amongst migrant communities.

THE FORMER SOVIET UNION! A NEW GLOBAL MIGRATION SPACE

Population movements across the former Soviet Union

One of the 'new' spaces of migration within the complex and changing global migration environment is the territory of the former Soviet Union (FSU). The opening up of borders between east and west, and the relaxation of restrictions on movement, meant that a previously isolated area was included within a wider global migration system and became caught up in both regional and global migratory flows. The emergence of fifteen independent states in 1991 transformed the volume, direction and nature of previously internal population movement into significant international migration flows. Millions of former Soviet citizens migrated within, between and out of the former republics of the Soviet Union during the last decade of the twentieth century. The diverse reasons for the migrations taking place include ethnic conflict and discrimination, severe socio-economic and political collapse and environmental disaster. Central to understanding the complexity of the movements is the specific environment of political, social and economic change in which they are located, where processes of 'decolonization and nation building are taking place concurrently. Many of the migration movements are motivated by the influences of nationalism and ethnic sentiments, which have brought about a return of groups of repatriates to their respective 'homelands' and the rehabilitation of formerly deported peoples. The role played by issues of nationalism and ethnicity in influencing the migration movements means that they become inextricably related to wider issues of identity, citizenship and belonging for the individual and wider definitions of territory and nation for the state.

Another result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the opening up of its external borders has been the arrival in the territory of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Baltic states of individuals from the 'far abroad'; these include refugees in search of asylum or economic migrants seeking employment. The intended final destination of many of these migrants is the west; however, restrictive policies of western governments has meant that they frequently find themselves trapped on the territory of the FSU. The consequent challenge for all the former Soviet republics on an institutional and policy level has been immense. None of the present governments had any experience of dealing with the problems of mass migration, specifically the complex nature of the migration movements in question. Institutional and legislative structures have rapidly been created to manage the migration flows that are under way. Nevertheless, in most states these are still in an evolving form.

The migratory processes on the territory of the former Soviet Union have also provided a policy challenge for the international community. As noted by Held et al., within the global migration system there exists a 'hierarchy' of power between nation states where national governments possess varying capacities to control population movements, to maintain the integrity of their borders and to shape the structure of international migratory regimes. At the present time, the west is dominant in this hierarchy. From 1989 die potential for a mass migration of people from the territory of the former Soviet bloc generated great concern at the international and particularly European level. Although the west had called for the liberalization of emigration from the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s, following the breakdown of borders between east and west from 1989 the west perceived the potential migration as a threat and used this to legitimate the policies of an increasingly 'Fortress Europe'. Where previously migrants who arrived from the FSU had been unconditionally accepted as political refugees, now they were treated as ordinary, voluntary/economic immigrants and, as such, they faced increasingly severe entry restrictions. In many ways, movement between east and west was as restricted as it had been prior to 1989.

The fear of a mass migration has not been realized. Just over two million individuals left the territory of the FSU for the far abroad during the period 1989–95, which was less than 1 per cent of the 1989 population. Most of these were ethnic migrants moving to Israel, Germany and Greece. Western government policy may have discouraged migration, but equally it has failed to move beyond the idea that the economically 'superior' conditions in the west are sufficient to generate mass migration, and ignores other essential factors influential in determining movement such as individual motivation, psychological readiness, adequate infrastructure and family and friendship networks in the destination country. As Codagnone suggests, we must therorize not only why people move but also why people stay, despite the existence of strong socio-economic push and pull factors. Of significance to the present study is a need to understand why migrants choose to move within the territory of the FSU, i.e. from another former Soviet republic to Russia, rather than consider a possibly beneficial socioeconomic move to the west.

Migration flows to, and within, the Russian Federation

Individual regions within the territory of the FSU have experienced varying types and levels of migration. The Russian Federation is the successor state perhaps most affected by the population movements engendered by the social, economic and political changes of the 'transition period, both in terms of migration into the territory from the 'near' and 'far' abroad, and by internal migration within its borders. The country is experiencing the arrival from the former Soviet republics of ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking 'returnees', other 'returnees' belonging to ethnic groups of the Russian Federation, refugees and forced migrants, formerly deported peoples and economic migrants. Amongst the arrivees are immigrants of former Soviet nationalities coming from their respective home countries, primarily Ukrainian, Armenian, Belorusian, Azeri, Georgian and Tajik. During the period 1989–96, 1 million of these immigrants arrived in the Russian Federation as a result of the push and pull of socioeconomic factors and, in the case of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan, due to ethnic and civil conflict that forced the titular nationalities to leave. In addition, the country is facing large-scale internal migration and displacement as a result of the Chechen conflict, and due to socio-economic out-migration from the North, Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

As for the whole of the territory of the FSU, migration from the far abroad has increased. It is made up of refugees and undocumented migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East – many of whom are using the Russian Federation as a transit region to reach Western Europe – and permanent and temporary economic migrants arriving primarily from China and Vietnam. As Russia has become part of the global migration system, and a major 'receiving' territory, fears have increased about the 'threat' of 'illegal' migration. Particularly in recent years, the phenomenon of 'illegal' migration, and its related 'negative' consequences, is frequently spoken about both by government representatives and widely in the Russian press. Estimates of the numbers of 'illegal' migrants vary widely, from 1.5 million up to 15 million. Reflecting tendencies for the wider territory of the FSU, migration flows out of the Russian Federation consist largely of Greek, Jewish and German repatriates returning to their 'historical' homelands. Between 1990 and 1996, 86.3 per cent of emigrants from the Russian Federation went to Israel, Germany and Greece. Over the period 1997–2001, this figure decreased to 64.6 per cent. This shows an overall continuation in the dominant trend in emigration during the late Soviet period. From 1976 to 1990 nine out of ten emigrants were Jewish or German.

The 'return' of the ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking populations of the successor states of the former Soviet Union

A population greatly affected by the upheaval and change in the FSU over the last decade has been the community of ethnic Russians who found themselves in the newly independent states following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. According to the last Soviet census conducted in 1989, there were 25.3 million ethnic Russians living in Soviet republics other than the Russian Federation (see Table 1.1). In addition there were 11 million Russian-speaking (russkoiazichnii) members of the non-titular nationalities in the FSU whose primary cultural affinity is to Russia.

The movement of Russians within the territory of the Russian and later Soviet 'empires' has dominated the nature and direction of migration flows since the sixteenth century. However, it was during the Soviet period that the greatest number of Russians and other Slavic nationalities, involved in the drive for agricultural and industrial development, migrated out to the former republics of the Soviet Union (see Tables 1.2 and 1.3). This movement peaked in the 1960s when the number of Russians in the republics as a whole grew by almost one third. Yet, although the share of the Russian population in the eight southern republics of the FSU reached its optimum point in 1959, in the six European republics this only occurred in 1989. The 'return' movement began at different times depending upon the republic in question: the number of Russians in Georgia and Azerbaijan started to decrease in the early 1960s and 1970s, in Kazakstan at the beginning of the 1970s, while in the Central Asian republics a significant 'return of Russians only occurred from the late 1970s. The Baltic republics and Ukraine, however, continued to receive the immigration of Russians until the late 1980s. Prior to 1989, processes of modernization in the former Soviet republics were seen as the primary cause of the return movements. The development of the education and training of members of the titular nationality increasingly brought competition for urban residence and employment opportunities in professional, management and skilled labour sectors.

From the late 1980s and early 1990 s the process of 'return' accelerated rapidly. Initially this was due to ethnic Russians and Russo-phones fleeing from former republics where there was civil war and ethnic conflict. Significant flows of Russian refugees occurred as a result of outbreaks of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan) and the Ferghana valley (Uzbekistan) in the late 1980s, in Baku (Azerbaijan) in 1990, and later conflicts in Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan and the North Caucasus. By 1994 the main regions of departure had shifted to Central Asia and Kazakstan, the movements being caused by the interplay of socio-economic and ethno-political factors. By 2001 the highest levels of out-migration were to be found from Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Out-migration of Russians from the Baltic States, Ukraine and Belarus in the 1990s for the first time replaced the in-migration of Russians that had been characteristic of the population exchange up to the end of the 1980s.

The official registration of returnees from the former Soviet republics by the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation began in July 1992; by 1 January 2002, 1,576,100 ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking forced migrants and refugees had been registered in the Federation (see Table 1.4). The peak of in-migration was reached between 1993 and 1995; thereafter there has been a slow decline in numbers. However, these figures do not account for the total migration occurring between the former republics of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation due to the high incidence of non-registration with the branches of the Federal Migration Service, and overall inconsistencies and ambiguities in the collection of data on migrants and refugees. It is estimated that the actual number of returnees from the CIS states to date maybe as high as 8-10 million (see Table 1.5).

EXPLORING THE MIGRATION PROCESS – LOCATING A THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL CONTEXT

The migration of the ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking populations from the former republics of the Soviet Union to the territory of the Russian Federation provides a challenge to existing migration theories and their capacity to adequately conceptualize the character of migration flows, the nature of 'return' movements and resettlement processes, and the 'reality' of migrant experience. Furthermore, examination of the nature of, and response to, the migration movement informs debates concerning the constitution of the present-day Russian nation and Russian national identity. In-depth study of the process, at both the state and individual level, allows further complication of definitions of Russia and proves relevant to the contested question of the nature of 'Russia' and 'Russian-ness' in the contemporary period. In order to negotiate the complexities of the theoretical and empirical field, two broad and interrelated conceptual frameworks are utilized: a migration system, within which the migration process (the movement and resettlement) takes place, and a 'home/land' dichotomy through which the migration process can be better understood.

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Excerpted from Migrant Resettlement in the Russian Federation: Reconstructing 'Homes' and 'Homelands' by Moya Flynn. Copyright © 2004 Moya Flynn. Excerpted by permission of Wimbledon Publishing Company.
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Table of Contents

List of Tables, Figures and Maps; Acknowledgements; Notes on Transliteration; Introduction; 1. Understanding Migration in Post-Soviet Russia, 2. Constructions of the 'Homeland' by the Russian State; 3. Leaving 'Home' and 'Homeland'? The Decision to Migrate; 4. 'Return' and Resettlement: Recognition Within the Russian State; 5. The Developing Non-Governmental Sector; 6. Depending on 'Selves': Family, Friendship and Migrant Networks; 7. Conclusion; Appendix 1: Limitations of Statistics Concerning Forced Migrants and Refugees; Appendix 2: Migrant Settlement Sites in Saratov, Samara and Novosibirsk Oblasti; Appendix 3: Table of Migrant Socio-Demographic Data; Appendix 4: Profiles of Federal Non-Governmental Organizations and Regional Migrant Organizations; Notes; Bibliography; Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

'Coherent, innovative...important new research [and] impressive quantity and quality of data... Its conclusions challenge existing assumptions that can influence thinking about Russia.' —Wendy Slater, Lecturer in Contemporary Russian History, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London

'An original empirical and theoretical contribution, both to Russian studies and more generally to migration studies… A mine of original and interesting material.' —Khalid Koser, Lecturer in Human Geography, University College London