Russian Migration Policy and Its Impact on Human Development

For Russia, migration policy – in terms of internal or/and international migration flows management – was an ever-important element of the State activities. Concentrated on State interests, the policy also resulted in human development. The paper presents a historical overview of the Soviet and Russian migration policies with special emphases on the impact on human development and the driving forces behind the changing policies. The Soviet period can be characterized as contradiction between strict limitations on the freedom of movement provided by the propiska system, and large-scale population movements, both voluntary and involuntary, that were inspired by economic and administrative policy measures to meet labor demand of an industrializing economy. In the post-Soviet period, international migration is the major focus of the Russian migration policy. The Russian Federation is the major receiving country in the vast former USSR territory. The evolution of Russian migration policy in the post- Soviet period is a good example for getting a better understanding of how the everlasting conflict between the need for additional human resources and anti-immigrant public moods (typical of all receiving countries), combined with the opportunistic considerations of political elites, that hampers the elaboration of a reasonable long-term migration strategy. Russian migration policy has been drifting from a relatively open immigration regulation based on a laissez faire approach in the early 1990s to restrictive immigration laws in the early 2000s and to an ‘open door’ migration policy in respect to CIS citizens in 2007.Human development, internal migration, international migration, migration policy, Russia

Russian Migration Policy and Its Impact on Human Development

For Russia, migration policy – in terms of internal or/and international migration flows management – was an ever-important element of the State activities. Concentrated on State interests, the policy also resulted in human development. The paper presents a historical overview of the Soviet and Russian migration policies with special emphases on the impact on human development and the driving forces behind the changing policies. The Soviet period can be characterized as contradiction between strict limitations on the freedom of movement provided by the propiska system, and large-scale population movements, both voluntary and involuntary, that were inspired by economic and administrative policy measures to meet labor demand of an industrializing economy. In the post-Soviet period, international migration is the major focus of the Russian migration policy. The Russian Federation is the major receiving country in the vast former USSR territory. The evolution of Russian migration policy in the post- Soviet period is a good example for getting a better understanding of how the everlasting conflict between the need for additional human resources and anti-immigrant public moods (typical of all receiving countries), combined with the opportunistic considerations of political elites, that hampers the elaboration of a reasonable long-term migration strategy. Russian migration policy has been drifting from a relatively open immigration regulation based on a laissez faire approach in the early 1990s to restrictive immigration laws in the early 2000s and to an ‘open door’ migration policy in respect to CIS citizens in 2007

Russian Migration Policy and Its Impact on Human Development

For Russia, migration policy – in terms of internal or/and international migration flows management – was an ever-important element of the State activities. Concentrated on State interests, the policy also resulted in human development. The paper presents a historical overview of the Soviet and Russian migration policies with special emphases on the impact on human development and the driving forces behind the changing policies. The Soviet period can be characterized as contradiction between strict limitations on the freedom of movement provided by the propiska system, and large-scale population movements, both voluntary and involuntary, that were inspired by economic and administrative policy measures to meet labor demand of an industrializing economy. In the post-Soviet period, international migration is the major focus of the Russian migration policy. The Russian Federation is the major receiving country in the vast former USSR territory. The evolution of Russian migration policy in the post- Soviet period is a good example for getting a better understanding of how the everlasting conflict between the need for additional human resources and anti-immigrant public moods (typical of all receiving countries), combined with the opportunistic considerations of political elites, that hampers the elaboration of a reasonable long-term migration strategy. Russian migration policy has been drifting from a relatively open immigration regulation based on a laissez faire approach in the early 1990s to restrictive immigration laws in the early 2000s and to an ‘open door’ migration policy in respect to CIS citizens in 2007

Analiticheskiy doklad po proyektu na temu : Rol' mezhdunarodnoi trudovoi migratsii dlya ekonomicheskogo razvitiya Rossii

Russian version of CARIM-East RR2012/04CARIM-East: Creating an Observatory of Migration East of EuropeCARIM-East is co-financed by the European University Institute and the European Union

Economic migration, social cohesion and development: towards an integrated approach

Dans la déclaration finale de leur 8e conférence, les ministres européens responsables des questions de migration se sont engagés à promouvoir et à protéger les droits fondamentaux des migrants, avec une attention particulière portée à l'égalité de genre et aux droits des femmes, au renforcement du dialogue et de la coopération entre les pays d'accueil, de transit et d'origine, notamment en Europe, et à la promotion de la cohérence entre les politiques de migration, de développement et d'intégration à tous les niveaux (international, national, régional et local).Les ministres se sont également engagés à gérer les migrations économiques afin de favoriser le progrès économique et social dans les pays d'accueil, de transit et d'origine ; à renforcer la cohésion sociale en améliorant l'intégration des migrants et des personnes issues de l'immigration, et la réintégration des migrants qui retournent dans leur pays d'origine ; à renforcer la contribution des migrants et des personnes issues de l'immigration au développement dans les pays d'accueil et d'origine, et leur participation à des programmes de codéveloppement. Cet ouvrage a été préparé pour servir de support aux débats des ministres durant la conférence. Il présente les aspects et caractéristiques principaux des migrations dans les Etats membres du Conseil de l'Europe, analyse les problèmes soulevés par les migrations contemporaines et définit un programme d'action adapté.In the final declaration of their 8th conference, the European ministers responsible for migration affairs committed to promoting and protecting the human rights of migrants, with special attention to gender equality and the rights of women; to strengthening dialogue and co-operation between receiving, transit and origin countries, particularly within Europe; and to promoting coherence at all levels (international, national, regional and local) between migration, development and integration policies. The ministers also agreed to manage economic migration with a view to promoting economic and social progress in receiving, transit and origin countries; to enhance social cohesion by improving the integration of migrants and persons of immigrant background and the re-integration of migrants who return to their countries of origin; and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and persons of immigrant background to development in receiving and origin countries and their involvement in co-development programs. This report was prepared to support the ministerial debate during the conference. It presents the main aspects and characteristics of migration in the member states of the Council of Europe, analyses policy challenges raised by contemporary migration and identifies an integrated policy agenda.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Migration and public trust in the commonwealth of independent states

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet space has seen regional integration in the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The CIS while moribund has affected migration in the post-Soviet space. Despite its persistence and effect on migration, few studies have sought to explore public perceptions towards the CIS. We address this limitation by developing several arguments, anchored on the literature on public opinion and European integration, to explain how perceptions towards migrants and employment status affect public trust in the CIS. Our analyses make use of the sixth wave of the World Values Survey that includes seven CIS member-states and finds strong support for our hypotheses. Our contribution lies in the investigation of public attitudes in a non-EU setting while applying arguments from EU literature and the wide coverage of our study compared to the extant literature on the CIS and public opinion

Migrant integration models in modern Russia

CARIM-East: Creating an Observatory of Migration East of EuropeThis is the translated version of CARIM-East RR 2013/12The work here is of both a theoretical and an applied character. The authors pay particular attention to understanding what the integration of migrants means and how it corresponds to the terms assimilation and adaptation. They also offer a classification of complete and partial integration. For Russia, the paper retraces how the disregard of migrant integration in the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s was gradually replaced – after a delay – by an understanding that these were closely interrelated spheres of State activities. This was particularly true for a country like Russia, which annually receives millions of migrants, both for permanent and temporary stays. The experience of Russia clearly demonstrates that the dissociation of the State from this important sphere of internal policy leads to ethnic tension, erosion of tolerance in society, alienation of migrants from Russian society, self-isolation, and open conflicts between migrants and local residents. Therefore, now that the integration of migrants has been understood to be an important issue in Russia, the elaboration and realization of the policy of integration of migrants is complicated by an extremely unfavorable atmosphere of xenophobia and a politically-loaded perception of migration. The Russian policy of migrant integration is evaluated in respect of the most privileged category of immigrants: Russian “compatriots”. The adaptation policy of temporary labour migrants is analyzed in the context of the Russian State’s 2012 initiatives. The authors also argue out the integration and the anti-integration potential of ethnic diasporas when – as in present-day Russia – the infrastructure for the admission and integration of migrants has not been properly developed.CARIM-East is co-financed by the European University Institute and the European Union