Social Risks And Vulnerability Of Labor Migrants In The Russian Borderland

Abstract

International migration has a significant effect on demographics, economics and ethnocultural life of Russia. Throughout the last decade, its population has been augmented by about 2.5 million of officially documented international migrants and a significant number of illegal foreign workers, which main streams come from CIS countries and Central Asia. The State migration policy aimed to promote transparency in registration and adaptation of newcomers but they remain very susceptible to risks of discrimination, social exclusion and xenophobia. The sociological survey was conducted in 2017 in Asian borderland (the Altai territory) to investigate different aspects of international migration in Russia in conjunction with security and social integration. The methodology included interviews with population (n=932, aged from 18 to 70 years) and labour migrants (n=317, aged from 16 to 73 years). Despite high degree of consent that international migration meets the demand of economy in low-qualified labour force and that migrants deserve humane treatment, the results show that population's views about migration are often biased and politicized: over a third part of respondents think that migrants threaten national security, associate migration with growing insecurity, increase in disease and blurring of traditional Russian culture. Migrants, in contrast, are rarely opposed to "natives", they are satisfied with conditions of their life in Russia, 88% of them report that they had never faced hostility or aggression. Meanwhile, considering low level of trust towards social institutions and significant role of social networks in accessing social services, the authors conclude about latent character of migrants' vulnerability.