Transit migration is a term that is used to describe mixed flows of different types of temporary migrants, including refugees and labor migrants. In the popular press, it is often confused with ...illegal or irregular migration and carries associations with human smuggling and organized crime. This volume addresses that confusion, and the uncertainty of terminology and analysis that underlies it, offering an evidence-based, comprehensive approach to defining and understanding transit migration in Europe.
The article analyses migration from border countries (the so-called overlapping area) of two migration subsystems — Eurasian (centred in the Russian Federation) and European (the European Union) from ...1991 to 2021 (before the recent events in Ukraine). A step-by-step analysis of the migration situation in the countries of the former USSR — Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine and Estonia was conducted. The article examines bilateral and multilateral migration processes, analyses the main factors influencing their development and explores migration policy measures and their impact on the regulation of migration processes in the countries of the overlapping area. These countries, located between the two centres of major migration subsystems in Eurasia (Eurasian and European, or, in other words, between the Russian Federation and the core of the EU), are subject to their strong influence and ‘competitive gravitation’.
The strength of this gravitation depends not only on pull and push factors but also on the attractiveness and non-attractiveness of the migration policies prevailing in these migration subsystems at a given point in time.
To understand the evolution of the European Migration System one has to recognise that European states have again been facing significant changes in political, economic and social conditions over the ...last 20 years, which have led to a restructuring of their interactions. The collapse of the socialist system at the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s was accompanied by the emergence of new economic systems in these countries and changes in European administrative and territorial divisions.
The Russian Federation is the regional focal attraction point for labor from former Soviet Union (fSU) countries. It occupies one of the top five places in the world on number of labor migrants ...(about 9-10 mln. people) (WB 2017). The Majority (about 90%) are from fSU countries (MVD 2017). The free visa regime within the post-Soviet space is accompanied by difficulties in obtaining legal registration and work permits in Russia that turns many migrants into the situation of illegality. Russia has done a lot in terms of legal provisions to combat illegal migration and human trafficking by signing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and two Palermo Protocols against Trafficking in Persons and against the Smuggling of Migrants in 2004 and has made a lot of amendments to the Russian Criminal Code. In spite of all these efforts, the real situation with combating human trafficking is problematic. Russia has been an origin, transit, and destination country for men, women and children trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation to and from numerous countries mostly neighboring. How does Russian migration policy, particularly the propiska (registration system), create vulnerabilities for labor trafficking? An Inconsistent migration policy and it's implementation in Russia produce roots for constant violation of migrants' rights by local government administrations, employers, and by law enforcement bodies, creating irregular migrants vulnerable to human trafficking. This analysis shows how national anti-trafficking laws intersect with other domestic laws, including migration policies, and create new vulnerabilities for trafficking.
In this study, we examined the failure of Russia’s environmental governance to prevent the nutrient load generated by littoral households and tourism businesses from reaching Lake Baikal. It is ...important to note that this failure has occurred even with sufficient implementation capacity and demonstrable political will to protect this body of water. This research inquiry into the ‘eutrophication governance’ of Baikal was based on field analysis of management issues, institutions, and actors concerned with the island of Olkhon and was further ‘triangulated’ and completed using desk research targeting the broader institutional framework and actors’ discourses. On one hand, the study of the island’s socio-ecological system demonstrated that governance solutions developed by the Federal Government to curb Baikal’s eutrophication do not constitute a coherent set of measures targeting various stakeholder groups using an applicable repertoire of policy instruments. On the other hand, many local actors oppose the conservation agenda, and in doing so, they are actively making use of any gaps and inconsistencies in the eutrophication governance regime. This difference has resulted in a high level of conflict among key actors that is spreading across all policy levels. Successful solutions could be based on an inclusive and transparent policy elaboration aimed at resetting existing conservation tools to more acceptable ones with a parallel “ratcheting up” of enforcement and monitoring, which are grossly underpowered at the moment. This resetting process needs to be targeted by adequate capacity-building efforts. The greatest challenge, however, is to address the inconsistent and confusing signals regarding the protection of Baikal originating from high-level policies.
•We explored drivers beyond exacerbating nutrient load on Baikal.•We found local actors fiercely opposing any restrictions and actors promoting them.•Monitoring and enforcement are underpowered.•Signals from high political floors regarding the protection of Baikal are inconsistent.•Possible solutions would require political will and scrupulous grassroot work.
Acquiring citizenship in the country of resettlement is the ultimate step on the integration pathway of a resettled person. For people from countries of the former Soviet Union (fSU), we can see a ...great variety in patterns of citizenship acquisition and changes in migration policy governing the granting of citizenship. Russia is the main player in this field. As a descendant of the fSU, the country uses its right to determine whether or not to grant its citizenship to people in the new independent countries as a way of maintaining its influence on the post-Soviet and even the former Russian Empire regions. Russian citizenship was granted to m 8.6 million people between 1992 and 2016 (excluding the Crimean population), more than 92 percent of whom were from the fSU. Russia employs a range of different policies, starting with its compatriot policy for individual resettlement; then comes its not formally declared policy of issuing Russian passports for the population of non-recognised states (such as Transdnestria) and finally there is Russia’s policy of automatically granted citizenship for 2 million Crimean people. This paper explores the phenomenon of Russian citizenship policy and compares it with European or Eurasian policy governing fSU countries. It also discusses the implementation of this policy at both regional and global levels.
Dagestan is the most multiethnic and multilingual republic within the Russian Federation. From the viewpoint of interethnic relations, Dagestan is a unique research platform: the model of ...ethnopsychological compatibility of numerous peoples has been implemented here for centuries. It is essential for researchers to understand which factors contribute to and which hinder the establishment of effective interethnic communication in modern Dagestan. This empirical study was conducted in the context of the acculturation theory introduced by the Canadian cross-cultural psychologist John Berry. This article presents the results of researching the impact of perceived security, friendly intercultural contacts, preference for supporting a multicultural ideology, ethnic tolerance, and mutual integration attitude on the psychological well-being of both individual ethnic groups and Dagestani population as a whole. In the course of the study, the authors suggested that the higher the perceived security among ethnic groups in Dagestan, the greater the tendency towards maintaining a multicultural ideology, tolerance, and the preference for an integration strategy, and the lower the preference for a separation strategy (multiculturalism hypothesis). In addition, the authors hypothesized that the higher the intensity of friendly intercultural contacts between representatives of various ethnic groups in Dagestan, the higher their level of tolerance, preference for an integration strategy and the lower their preference for a separation strategy (contact hypothesis). The authors also suggested that the higher the preference for the integration strategy by representatives of various Dagestani ethnic groups, the higher their self-esteem and life satisfaction (integration hypothesis). The sample included Avars, Dargins, Russians and representatives of other ethnic groups: Kumyks, Lezgins, Laks, Tabasarans, Nogais, etc. (total number of respondents N = 438). The data were analyzed both for the total sample and for a sample of specific ethnic groups using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. MIRIPS questionnaire scales were used. The results demonstrated the contribution of perceived security to a preference for a multicultural ideology, tolerance, and mutual integration in the total sample. The results also demonstrated that the intensity of friendly intercultural contacts has no significant effect on tolerance or mutual integration in Dagestan. However, the preference for mutual integration contributes to life satisfaction and self-esteem among the inhabitants of Dagestan, which confirms the integration hypothesis. A separation preference was positively associated with perceived security, life satisfaction and negatively with friendly intercultural contacts among representatives of certain ethnic groups of Dagestan. The results obtained demonstrate the importance of solving the problem of perceived security for building effective intercultural relations in Dagestan. The formation of a national policy in matters of preserving the cultural identity of various ethnic groups must be adequate, since, as the study has shown, separation strategy only leads to life satisfaction, and integration strategy is associated with both life satisfaction and self-esteem of the inhabitants of Dagestan.
Assesses migration processes during the last 10 years in newly independent post-Soviet countries. Six hundred potential migrants were asked why they applied in Russian consulates for resettlement to ...Russia. Another 400 respondents were selected from among actual migrants in the frontiers of Siberia & the European regions. The main aim was to investigate decision-making processes pertaining to resettlement & adaptation. Findings showed that migration behavior of Russian-speaking populations depends on cultural & historical links of origin countries to Russia. The lowest level of emigration to Russia was from the Slavic-speaking Ukraine, & the highest from Muslim Kazakhstan. Responses of potential & actual migrants indicate a growing role of self-organized migration networks. While the role of local authorities has decreased, informal & family relations factor more heavily. The role of NGOs in providing resettlement assistance has also risen. Nevertheless, Russian migration policy may influence future flows; yet this policy is not consecutive. The process of creation of national states has almost been completed, & the ethnic tensions are not the main reason for migration. Economic reasons are now the main motive for migration to Russia. However, in spite of this fact, the latent ethnic motivation for migration has not disappeared. Therefore, if the situation were to deteriorate for Russian-speaking populations (mainly in Central Asia), we could again expect new inflows to Russia. 6 Tables, 5 Figures, 20 References. Adapted from the source document.
The article analyses European Commission and European Parliament documents — directives, communications, conclusions, recommendations — and best practices for EU member states’ international projects ...focusing on migrant integration in the EU states and the countries of origin of migrants. Special emphasis is placed on the role of diasporas and the efforts taken by the EU to involve them into the integration process. We stress the need for a new supranational EU immigration and integration policy concerning diaspora involvement, in the context of new migration trends and the so-called migrant crisis. The study shows that the EU integration policy is targeting migrants, the host countries and the countries of origin. Since the early 2010s, the involvement of various diaspora organisations in the implementation of the EU migrant integration policy has significantly increased. An analysis of the EU integration projects shows that diasporas have a potential of becoming one of key actor in the EU integration policy. We suggest expanding the list of the objectives for the national integration policy of the EU countries. This may be achieved by boosting efforts to reduce the gap in the socio-economic development of the host countries and the countries of origin, particularly, by promoting multilateral cooperation with diaspora organisations.
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