[BRIEF NOTE] A Case Study of Emigration
Apr. 22nd, 2005 05:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldHamid Toursunof's article "A New Wave of Migration?", published by Transitions Online, is a fascinating examination of the new pressures for large-scale emigration from Kyrgyzstan to Russia, not least because it graphically illustrates three forms of population movement in a post-colonial setting.
1. Russophone emigration from Kyrgzystan
As this IRIN report acknowledges, since the collapse of the Soviet Union Kyrgyzstan's Russophone population has shrunk massively through emigration.
This population is ethnically diverse, not only including ethnic Russians but other Slavs, Jews, Germans, and even Koreans. It might not be too much of a stretch to compare Kyrgyzstan's Russophones with the pieds noirs of colonial Algeria, who traced their origins to Italian, Spanish, and Maltese immigrants at least as much to the French whose language united a diverse colonial population. The situation in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan was rather different from that of post-French Algeria, never mind that of neighbouring Tajikistan. Whether it's different enough to make a long-term difference is open to question, though.
Here's hoping things work out.
2. Kyrgyz Emigration from Kyrgyzstan
Russophones have hardly been the only emigrants leaving post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, though. Despite the regime's relatively liberal credentials, Kyrgyzstan is easily one of the poorest countries in the world and, despite the fragmentation of the former Soviet Union, it remains closely linked to the wider Russophone world.
This amount of emigration, in a country with a total population in the vicinity of five million, is substantial indeed.
3. Rural to Urban Migration
Finally, the economic collapse that hit Kyrgyzstani rural society and the new mobility of the population has encouraged many ethnic Kyrgyz to migrate to the cities of Kyrgyzstan, particularly to Bishkek. The city, unfortunately, doesn't seem to have prepared for this kind of influx.
Call me a migration-studies nerd, but I'm fascinated by this.
1. Russophone emigration from Kyrgzystan
As this IRIN report acknowledges, since the collapse of the Soviet Union Kyrgyzstan's Russophone population has shrunk massively through emigration.
The new exodus has also been fuelled by illegal land seizures around Bishkek and by nationalistic sentiments, some Russians in the country have said. Prior to independence in 1991, Russians comprised 22 percent of the population, according to official figures. A decade later, the number had decreased to 13 percent, or about 600,000 people. The number has been steadily dropping and today there are about 560,000 Russians left in Kyrgyzstan. About 200,000 of them live in Bishkek, according to data from the Slavic Fund, a local civic group representing the Russian minority.
This population is ethnically diverse, not only including ethnic Russians but other Slavs, Jews, Germans, and even Koreans. It might not be too much of a stretch to compare Kyrgyzstan's Russophones with the pieds noirs of colonial Algeria, who traced their origins to Italian, Spanish, and Maltese immigrants at least as much to the French whose language united a diverse colonial population. The situation in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan was rather different from that of post-French Algeria, never mind that of neighbouring Tajikistan. Whether it's different enough to make a long-term difference is open to question, though.
"Russians in Kyrgyzstan were in the most advantageous position compared to the other republics of the former Soviet Union. The attitude to the Russian-speaking population has been friendly. Even the Kyrgyz opposition did not try to play the so-called Russian card during the elections," Boris Asaulyuk, chief of migration at the Russian consulate in Bishkek, told IRIN.
But despite the reputation for tolerance, some ethnic Kyrgyz sense a growing xenophobia in post-Akayev days. "We have been under Russians for a long time. They humiliated us. Kyrgyz are very tolerant and friendly by nature, but for how much longer we will put up with this? Enough, let Russians go back to Russia! It will be better if they leave," Nurmangazy Orokcheev, a Kyrgyz radio journalist said. Other local people said they had recently been spat on or abused for speaking Russian in public.
Here's hoping things work out.
2. Kyrgyz Emigration from Kyrgyzstan
Russophones have hardly been the only emigrants leaving post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, though. Despite the regime's relatively liberal credentials, Kyrgyzstan is easily one of the poorest countries in the world and, despite the fragmentation of the former Soviet Union, it remains closely linked to the wider Russophone world.
Many felt that Akaev's declaration of Russian as the country's official language in 2002 was an attempt to stem the flow of Russians. Akaev explained the decision saying that the Russian language and the Russian media helped Kyrgyzstan stay in touch with the world. This was true during the March events that culminated in Akaev's flight to Moscow, when Russian-language Kyrgyz media provided much of the local coverage of the uprising and subsequent installation of a new leadership. Russian television and radio are far more popular than their Kyrgyz-language competitors, and one of the country's largest universities, Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, bears the name of the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin.
Even as the number of native Russian speakers shrinks, more and more Kyrgyz- and Uzbek-speaking parents are sending their children to Russian-language schools, hoping to improve their economic prospects. Officially, 300,000 Kyrgyz citizens are migrant workers in Russia; the number of unregistered workers, many of them seasonal laborers, is far higher, up to 800,000 by some estimates.
This amount of emigration, in a country with a total population in the vicinity of five million, is substantial indeed.
3. Rural to Urban Migration
Finally, the economic collapse that hit Kyrgyzstani rural society and the new mobility of the population has encouraged many ethnic Kyrgyz to migrate to the cities of Kyrgyzstan, particularly to Bishkek. The city, unfortunately, doesn't seem to have prepared for this kind of influx.
[M]igration of another kind [...] is currently proving the biggest headache for the new Kyrgyz government. For years, poor rural Kyrgyz have been migrating to the capital in search of work. Now some have begun squatting on unused land belonging to inhabitants of Bishkek and nearby villages, claiming they need the plots to build houses. According to Tolekan Ismailova, the head of an organization called Citizens Against Corruption, 50,000 people are now illegally occupying land in Bishkek.
Parliament discussed the issue throughout the week of 11-15 April, but was unable to reach a consensus on how to deal with the problem. Although the authorities have threatened firm action against the occupations, little has been done so far. However, a government minister, Ishenbai Kadyrbekov, said the state could expropriate vacant lots whose owners have done no building work in the last two years, RFE/RL reported.
[. . .]
The land seizures are also exacerbating inter-ethnic tensions, because the areas where land seizures are most common – the suburbs of Bishkek and outlying villages – are home to many Russian-speakers, including Ukrainians, Belarusians, Germans, Koreans, Dunghans, and other ethnic groups.
Call me a migration-studies nerd, but I'm fascinated by this.
