Russia migrants kept to the
shadows By Tom Balmforth
MOSCOW - Bek Takhirov knows all too well
the problems that migrant workers face.
The 38-year-old ethnic Uzbek came to
Russia in 2004 and worked illegally, stacking
cargo in a warehouse for alcoholic beverages. Two
years ago, he completed a lengthy application for
Russian citizenship in order to step out of the
shadows. He now works legally in St Petersburg as
a translator by day and moonlights as a security
guard by night.
He also uses his
experience to help newly arrived migrants from his
homeland navigate Russia's increasingly difficult
labor market.
"Every year it becomes
harder," Takhirov says. "It used to be
easy to find work quickly -
you didn't need any documents or anything. But
nowadays you fill out all the documents and then
they still deceive you and throw you out all the
same. There is so much deceit everywhere."
That deceit includes things like
non-payment of wages, exorbitant bribes to obtain
work permits, and arbitrary detentions by police.
It is due to such conditions that only 2
million of Russia's estimated 10 million-12
million migrant laborers, most of them from the
former Soviet republics of Central Asia, work in
the country legally. The rest subsist in the
shadow economy.
Getting
worse Russia's policy toward migrant
laborers is plagued by contradictions, analysts
say. On one hand, the Kremlin would like to reap
tax revenues that legalizing foreign workers would
bring. The authorities also realize that migrants
are needed to plug gaps in Russia's workforce due
to an aging population.
But persistent
anti-immigrant sentiment, poor enforcement of
existing regulations, and a thriving shadow
economy that counts on illegal workers have
conspired to make it harder for migrants to
legalize themselves.
Vasily Kravtsov, of
the Moscow-based Center for 21st-Century
Migration, says the obstacles for migrants are
only getting worse. "Unfortunately, everything is
being done to obstruct people who want to work
legally, to resettle in Russia or receive
citizenship - this is particularly the case in the
last two years," he says.
Kravtsov was
among the authors of a new Kremlin policy paper on
migration that was unveiled in June. The paper
recognized migration as a positive factor in the
Russian economy, recommended that the authorities
ease barriers to foreign laborers entering the
workforce, and called for steps that would help
integrate migrants into Russian society.
Words and action The Kremlin
formally endorsed the concept outlined in the
paper, which is intended as a policy blueprint
through 2025 and lays out priorities such as
promoting immigration.
But, as Kravtsov
notes, in practice this is not happening. "The
[state migration concept] was interesting,
innovative, and relevant, but what does it matter
if they adopted it, if unfortunately nothing is
changing?" he says. "I for one don't see any
change. Have we seen a rise in legal migration or
has it become easier for migrants to become
citizens and integrate with society? No, we
haven't. It begs the question: what is this
concept for?"
Moreover, the political
rhetoric from President Vladimir Putin on down
directly contradicts the spirit of the policy the
Kremlin claims to endorse.
During his
presidential campaign last year, Putin pledged to
tighten laws requiring migrants to register with
the authorities. He also called for them to pass
exams in the Russian language, history, and
culture as a precondition to work in the country -
a proposal that has since been signed into law.
In November, Moscow annulled an agreement
with Kyrgyzstan, signed in 1996, that simplified
the procedure for Kyrgyz citizens to obtain
Russian citizenship.
In his annual address
to parliament in December, Putin called for
tougher punishment for illegal migration and said
migrants should only be allowed to enter the
country using international passports. Earlier,
residents of some former Soviet republics could
enter Russia using their internal documents.
Pressure points Zhana
Zaionchkovskaya, head of the migration laboratory
at the Russian Academy of Science's Institute for
Economic Forecasting, says such rhetoric and
policies aim to appease xenophobic sentiment in
Russian society.
"I don't think that this
tough rhetoric is good for the country because it
frightens migrants," she says. "They have their
internal migrant information networks. They pass
news on to each other. This [rhetoric] could deal
a blow to migration flows."
Zaionchkovskaya adds that another reason
it is becoming more difficult for migrants to work
legally in Russia is the aftershocks of the global
economic crisis, which slowed the construction
sector considerably.
In reaction, the
Russian authorities reduced the number of work
permits issued by half, forcing potential legal
migrants into the shadow economy.
The
current political climate is also unfavorable. A
poll conducted by the independent Levada Center in
November found that 65% of Russians wanted fewer
migrants in the country and 73% favor the
deportation of those in Russia illegally.
Given all this, Takhirov is skeptical
conditions will improve anytime soon. Many
migrants "are unable to find work legally. They
just try to show you on television that everything
is fine, but it's slave labor in disguise," he
says. "But [migrants] are also content because
they are able to earn US$500-$600 and send it
home. For Uzbeks and Tajiks, that's big money."
Copyright (c) 2012, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted
with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW,
Washington DC 20036
(To view the original
article, please click here.)
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