A Bird’s Eye View of Central Asian Migration
“When seasonal birds are soaring,
the heart breaks out from its nest.
My dear mother used to tell me
that when the migrant birds return
our lives are one year shorter.”
Marfuga Aitkhozha, “When Birds Arrive”
Few regions can claim to have a history of migration as long as that of Central Asia. The home of great nomad empires has long been an area defined by shifting boundaries. However, the migration of today takes on a very different form. The emergence of the nation-state and the influences of post-industrial capitalism have forever changed the nature of migration. Spurred on by the forces of history, politics, and economics, migration now forms a distinct issue for Central Asian States.
Migration: A Background
Central Asian migration is a multifaceted issue that finds its roots in both historical and present circumstances. Large amounts of Tajik migration stems from the 1992-1997 Tajik civil war, which left the country devastated in the wake of battles between Islamists, liberals, and Russian border guards. Similarly, a tradition of migration across Central Asia, especially to the Russian steppes, was established in the 1930’s, where collectivisation and famine forced many to flee from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
These historical features set a precedent for the modern day. Such migrations have now taken on a structural role within the global economic system. In 2019 alone, 528,967 people left Kyrgyzstan (Kashimov et al. 2022). In the same period, 2,177,851 people left Uzbekistan (Ibid). Today, common reasons cited for migration include low income, corruption, poor social protection, and limited educational opportunities (Mohapatra 2011. 133-145). These issues are nearly uniform across the region.
The end of the USSR spelt the end of heavy industry in Central Asia. Without the support of a centralised economic system and state subsidies, the already limited social wealth of Central Asia quickly evaporated. People were forced to barter for basic goods while market economies formed around these beleaguered, semi-nations. Following nation building processes and economic liberalisations that finally restored some semblance of unity and stability, the days of industry were already long past. Hydrocarbons and minerals were now the future of these states (Kumenov 2024).
A map of Central Asia (Source: Asia Society)
The social effects of these transformations did not go unnoticed. Ethnic Russians who had settled in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan under Kruschev’s “virgin land” scheme fled, leaving many states with a relative population deficit (Mohapatra 2011. 139-141). As Central Asian economies struggled under the weight of poor infrastructure and governance, extractive industries boomed. These notoriously variable industries rise and fall in cycles of boom and bust. Though this at times creates great wealth, much of the real value produced is sent abroad while the population and economy of the home states remains reliant on agriculture and resource profits (Massey 2015, 466-471). Development is slow and arduous while political systems remain authoritarian and corrupt. Hope is short as arable land turns fallow from overcultivation and yet another bust cycle ruins prospects. A better life seems possible elsewhere, and so people migrate.
But where do you go? The landlocked nature of Central Asian states leaves few options.
Leaving Home: Where and How
There are two main destinations for Central Asian migrants: Russia and Kazakhstan.
For those who have so little, Kazakhstan appears to be an improvement. Though it has high levels of outward migration, Kazakhstan is still a sink for migrants who fill its relative population deficit (Kashimov et al. 2022). A porous border with other Central Asian states and extensive extraction industries in its south provide some, albeit low-paying, jobs (Integral Human Development, n.d). Quality of life in Kazakhstan is still noticeably higher than its neighbours and, with increased investment from Russian capital flight and China’s Belt and Road Project, unskilled migrants see a better life in Kazakhstan. Alongside general Central Asian migrants, an increasing number of Russians are also fleeing to Kazakhstan, creating a degree of tension within communities of ethnic Russians in the north and migrants who now settle in these areas (Mohapatra 2011,143). Otherwise, the same problems of harsh repression, corruption, and poor working conditions plague newly arrived migrants as much as they do native citizens. A north-south divide exacerbates this, with northern communities facing increased migration without investment into industries (United Nations Development Program 2006). Both internal and international migration schemes exist to populate the north, but they risk damaging the limited economies of these areas. Still, Kazakhstan remains a key destination.
Russia’s own local ageing population (Zhunussova 2023), political links, and shared language create attractive opportunities for migrants. Even during current times of war, migration to Russia remains strong with more than 1.3 million Central Asian migrants entering Russia within the first quarter of 2023 alone (Ozat 2023). In Russia, these migrants usually work in construction as manual labourers, earning higher wages than possible in their home nations. However, a high price is paid for these limited benefits. Migrant workers in Russia exist in a constant state of precarity. Government policy is hostile to migrant workers who are seen as sources of crime and a drain on the state, while chauvinistic Russian nationalist movements such as the “Young Guards” carry out racially motivated attacks (Mohapatra 2011, 146). With a hostile society and government, labour exploitation flourishes with overwork, withheld wages, and inhumane working conditions (International Labour Organization n.d.). Women suffer particularly from this, as human trafficking and discrimination are commonplace for those who lack support systems in their home nations. Despite this, Russia still considers migrants an important part of its economy and continues to implement plans to attract workers from Central Asia (Zhunussova 2023). The Ukraine War has even led to policies encouraging migrants to join the army to obtain Russian passports, though sometimes a form of coercive conscription is utilised instead (Ibid). Labourers are thus pushed in and out of Russia, searching for a better life within insurmountable danger.
People line up to travel to Russia (Source: Khurshed Davronov via Getty Images)
A reliance on remittances has developed from such migrations. Central Asian nations share the same fate as many other resource exporters- a reliance on remittances from abroad to supplement a variable economy. Such reliance is deeply embedded, with remittances making up 21% of Uzbekistan’s GDP and 51% of Tajikistan’s GDP (Ozat 2023). This money sent back has become a reliance for both families of workers and their countries, ensuring that a steady stream of migration is ever-present. This is especially notable as remittances from Russia, even in a state of war, have increased by 50%, alongside increasing labour flows into Russia (Ibid).
Migration has simply become a fact of life in Central Asia, with governments now looking to how it can be managed. For example, Uzbekistan is currently negotiating agreements with other nations such as Germany and Saudi Arabia to accommodate its migrant population (Ozat 2023). Krygzstan and Tajikistan have also followed this trend, entering into negotiations with South Korea. Conditions are likely to remain harsh and exploitative in these nations, many of which have questionable worker’s rights records (Kim 2023).
Returning Home: The Oralmen
The management of migration can take very different forms. The war in Russia and declining global economic conditions have incentivised some migrants to return to their home nations, sometimes with the influence of their home state. The best illustration of this can be seen in the Kazakh “oralman” scheme.
“Oralman” is a term used to describe a Kazakh migrant that has returned to their home country after initially migrating. With the need to construct a unified nation-state and make up a population deficit caused by emigrating Slavs after the fall of the USSR, schemes were implemented to attract oralmen back to Kazakhstan (United Nations Development Program 2006). The nationalistic rhetoric of Kazakhstan today has served to embolden this scheme. The oralmen of Kazakhstan are taken in by quota and assigned to various regions. A purported list of benefits from housing assistance to reintegration schemes are advertised to the prospective returnees (Ibid).
An Oralman from China (Source: David Swanson)
On one hand returnees provide another labour force and a source of Kazakh culture, on the other they are often much worse off than their settled Kazakh counterparts. For example, Oralman employment rates vary significantly between regions, from 91% in Astana to as low as 38% in the South Kazakhstan Oblast (Ibid). Similarly, many Oralmandar struggle to access housing services, and are frequently deprived of the benefits they were promised. A dubious legal status provides the basis for these issues. As neither residents nor non-residents of their resettlement areas, the Oralmandar are unable to fully access the opportunities available to locals (Ibid). Indeed, many of these issues are further reflected in already existing divides such as that between the rural and urban, already so prevalent across Asia, that sees rural Oralman communities significantly worse off than their urban counterparts (Mohapatra 2011,143). With much of the wealth closed off to these returnees, the conditions that first made them flee are reproduced.
Conclusion
The inequalities of migration in Central Asia thus represent a stark global inequality. Subservience to global economic forces and structural inequalities places Central Asians in a desperate position. How can the country and lives be improved? Great reform is clearly needed, but the path remains unclear under shifting global movements of labour and capital. The future of Central Asia is yet undecided, and there are still many paths to take.
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Image Sources
Asia Society, N.d. “Central Asia: A Political History from the 19th Century to the Present”. Accessed March 2024
David Swanson via “The New Humanitarian”
Khurshed Davronov via Getty Images
reuters.com
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