[LINK] Why are Central Asians emigrating?

[rfmcdonald]

Otto Pohl examined this question Sunday. His conclusion? Soviet-era subsidies to rural areas in Central Asia, directed from the relatively well-off European territories of the Soviet Union, boosted living standards artificially. Without these subsidies, once the Soviet Union imploded the only way that Central Asians--particularly outside of relatively well-off Kazakhstan--could come close to enjoying their former lifestyles would be for family members to leave for richer climes, to earn wages which could be sent back in the form of remittances.