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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.

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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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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