The Crisis Mentality of Russian Migration Management

Abstract

Although on the periphery of the migrant-receiving world as traditionally conceived, Russia is well entrenched in the global migration crisis. Migration crisis in Russia is largely a political construction, yet it is often framed as any other type of crisis (e.g. terrorism, geopolitical conflict, economic crisis), marked by a perception of existential threat, urgent public pressure, and uncertainty. This discussion of Russian policymakers’ approach shows how routinizing crisis decision making, through repeated reactionary moves that are institutionalized into law, creates continued crisis feedback loops that reinforce short-term policy horizons and fails to address long-standing demographic and labor market problems related to migration.

Counting Migrants in Russia: The Human Dimension of Administrative Data Production

“…The Russian case also does not align smoothly with theories emerging from the Western-focused migration literature (Natter 2018), nor with comparative categories dependent on contrasting liberal and authoritarian systems (Breunig, Cao and Luedtke 2012;Mirilovic 2010;Shin 2017). Russia is, instead, typical of many societies with large labor migrant populations, independent of regime type, and experiences high demand for migrant workers alongside social anxieties and political demands for increased immigration control (Brunarska and Soral 2022;Schenk 2018a), or what Calavita (1992) calls a "structural contradiction" between economic and social demands. 5 Therefore, engaging evidence from Russia can help us develop theoretical perspectives on how states produce and use data while also expanding knowledge about non-Western contexts and the motivations that drive their immigration policy and practice.…”

“…Migrants must, then, pass a Russian language, history, and legal norms exam and a medical exam. With documents in hand, plus a photo and translated/notarized copies of their passports, migrants can come to a migration center and apply for a patent (Schenk 2018a). If they are successful, they receive a patent that allows them to work for up to a year if they pre-pay monthly taxes.…”

“…Both the PVS and the civil service arm of the migration services, the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs (GUVM), are under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (Schenk 2018a). In this center, both agencies operated out of the same building, although there were clear lines between PVS and GUVM workers and areas.…”

“…Millions of labor migrants go to Russia each year from Central Asian countries (e.g., Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan), driven by postcolonial structures and channels (Abashin 2014). These workers have visa-free access to Russia, although on arrival, they must apply for a work permit (called a "patent") through the Main Directorate for Migration Affairs (Glavnoe Upravlenie po Voprosam Migratsii or GUVM) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the federal region of Russia where they plan to work (Schenk 2018a). Migrants who receive a patent are recorded in regional statistics, which are aggregated into official Russian federal government data on labor migrants and made publicly available on the websites of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Russian State Statistical Services.…”

“…This article shows that while structural tensions between economic and social demands in Russia create contradictory incentives, Russian state agencies make serious efforts to engage migrants in the process of applying for official work documents, using significant investments of human labor, expertise, and infrastructure investments. Toward this goal, since 2015, numerous one-stop migration centers have been established throughout Russia, where commercial (PVS) and civil (GUVM) services are located under one roof to allow migrants convenient access to documents (Schenk 2018a). 6 This article focuses on the commercial services in support of labor patents, offered by the PVS, in one such center.…”