Maximizing Returns: The Social Politics of
Central Asians' Migration to Russia
Prepared for Workshop 42, Russia’s Labor Migrants
International Metropolis Conference
Tampere, Finland Sept. 9-3, 2013
Linda J. Cook
Colin Johnson
Brown University, Providence, R.I.
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New Structures of Inequality,
Stratification in Post-Soviet Space
• Since 2000, growing dependence of
Russia’s economy, labor market, on
migration for low-skilled labor
• Growing dependence of Tajik GDP on
migrants’ remittances-30-50% GDP,
world’s highest dependency rate
• Newly-institutionalized political economy of
Russia’s ‘global cities’ and Eurasian
periphery
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COMPONENTS OF RUSSIA’S POPULATION CHANGE
(IN THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE)
(Ioffe and Zayonchkovskaya, 2010)
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2005-2026 Dynamics of Russia’s Working-Age and Total Population in
the Absence of Immigration (in Thousands of People)
(Source: Ioffe and Zayonchkovskaya, 2010)
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US Dollars (mlns.)
Remittance Inflows from Russia to Tajikistan for 20022012
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Remittance Inflows (US$ mln.)
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
(est.)
Source: World Bank Website
Year
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Migrants’ Health and Social Rights in
Russia
• No coherent Russian immigration policy
• Majority of migrants unregistered, informal
• Limited reach of multilateral and bilateral
agreements on social rights
• Russia’s cooperation on soc rights minimal
• Most subject to social exclusion,
severance from social protection
mechanisms
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Migrants’ Health and Access to
Services
• ‘Healthy migrant effect,’ (Buckley)
• then ‘negative assimilation’ leads to
decline in health status
• Infectious diseases, accidents, hostility
• Public facilities provide emergency care,
including, childbirth, to all; little else
• No employer responsibility; 2011 reduction
in coverage for registered migrants unless
permanent residents
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Do NGOs ‘fill gaps,’
compensate for state?
• Spring 2012, 33 NGOs in Moscow with
mission of advocating for or providing
health services to Central Asian migrants
• Preliminary conclusion – clear recognition
of need, NGOs had very limited resources,
capacity to fill
• Advice – focus groups or surveys as
method??
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What do migrants do about
health care needs?
• Rely on ‘shadow’ health services; irregular
status pushes into ‘grey’ markets of fake
med certificates, documents (Why
needed?); undermines public health,
monitoring mechanisms
• Reliance on community of co-ethnics –
informal networks
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Conclusion
Given Russia’s projected demographic
trends, need to migrant labor likely to
increase
Negative implications for migrants’ health,
integrity of Russia’s public health system,
stress on CA health sectors
Increasingly fragmented welfare state;
ethnically-stratified labor force
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