1.1 Migration to Russia
Russia has the second largest foreign migrant population in the world after the United States. Figures vary widely, but the World Bank estimates that in 2005, the total number of migrants was 12.1 million. [2] The Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) puts the number of foreigners officially registered in the country at 7.9 million in 2007. [3] Most migrants arriving in Russia in the last decade have sought work, most often seasonal work. While it is difficult to determine the number of migrant workers in Russia, the FMS estimates that they numbered between seven and nine million in 2007. [4] On the basis of several different studies, experts from the Russian Academy of Science estimate a lower number of three to four million migrant workers, about half of them working illegally. [5] In addition, there are also approximately three million internal labor migrants in Russia. [6]
Some 80 percent of all foreigners seeking to work in Russia come from nine countries of the former Soviet Union with which Russia maintains a visa-free regime. [7] Migrant workers are often driven by poverty and unemployment in their home countries to seek better-paid jobs in Russia. The majority of migrant workers arrive from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. [8] Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and neighboring Kyrgyzstan, whose workers are increasingly seeking work in Russia, rank among the poorest countries in the world. [9] The economic disparity between these Central Asian countries and Russia is stark: in 2007 per capita income in Russia was more than 16 times that of Tajikistan. [10] Russia is also an attractive destination for citizens of many countries of the former Soviet Union because the Russian language remains a regional lingua franca.
Government statistics indicate that in 2006, more than 67 percent of migrants acquiring work permits were between the ages of 18 and 39 and that 85 percent of them were men. [11] According to a 2006 International Organization for Migration (IOM) survey of migrant workers, migrants are increasingly low-skilled, have low levels of education, and have weak knowledge of Russian. [12]
Due to rapid population decline in Russia, most analysts agree that to maintain current levels of economic activity, the workforce must be replenished by labor migration. In 2008, the United Nations projected that Russia could experience labor shortages as soon as 2012-2014. [13]
Migrant workers in Russia have a considerable impact on the economies of both Russia and their home countries. Experts estimate that migrant workers contribute eight to nine percent of Russian GDP. [14] According to World Bank statistics, outward remittances from Russia in 2006 constituted over US$11.4 billion. Tajikistan and Moldova, two of the countries which have significant numbers of citizens working in Russia, are the highest inward remittance-receiving developing countries in the world in terms of GDP, with remittances constituting 42 percent of Tajikistan's GDP and 38.8 percent of Moldova's GDP in 2007. [15] (For more information on remittance see Annex: Background on Selected Countries).
Although the full impact of the 2008 global financial crisis on Russia remains to be seen, beginning in 2003, Russia experienced significant economic growth, driven not only by hydrocarbon and industrial sectors, but also by construction, particularly of residential buildings. [16] To meet employment needs during this construction boom, employers relied heavily on migrant labor; some 40.8 percent of foreign work permits issued in 2006 were for jobs in the construction sector. [17] The preparation for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games will require unprecedented construction work in the coming years. News reports cite Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) estimates of the demand for migrant workers in Sochi to be at least one million per year. [18]
[2]The World Bank, "Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008," http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTDECPROSPECTS/0,,contentMDK:21352016~isCURL:Y~menuPK:3145470~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:476883,00.html (accessed June 2, 2008).
[3] "Report on Results and Basic Aims of the Activities of the Federal Migration Service from 2008-2010," (Doklad o rezultatakh i osnovnykh napravleniiakh deiatelnosti Federalnoi migratsionnoi sluzhby na 2008-2010 gody) http://www.fms.gov.ru/about/ofstat/index.php (accessed August 20, 2008), p. 57.
[4]Vladimir Emeljanenko, "Konstantin Romodanovsky: 'Foreigners are Building Half of Russia, and We Are Proud of its Transformation,'" (Konstantin Romodanovskij: 'Inostrantsy strojat pol-Rossii, a my gordimsja ee preobrazheniem'), Profile, February 4, 2008, as republished on the Federal Migration Service website: http://www.fms.gov.ru/press/publications/news_detail.php?ID=9420 (accessed June 2, 2008).
[5] Human Rights Watch interview with Zhanna Zaionchkovskaia, co-director, Migration Research Center, Institute for Economic Forecasting, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, May 26, 2008.
[6] Human Rights Watch interview with Zhanna Zaionchkovskaia, May 26, 2008.
[7]The countries are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Federal Service on Government Statistics, "International Migration," (Mezhdunarodnaia migratsia)
http://www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/b08_11/IssWWW.exe/Stg/d01/05-09.htm (accessed September 25, 2008).
[8] Human Rights Watch interview with Ekateriana Egorova, Head, International Affairs Directorate, Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, Moscow, June 2, 2008. Experts estimate that in recent years, fewer migrants are coming to Russia from Ukraine and Moldova, whose workers increasingly seek opportunities in Central and Western Europe. International Organization for Migration (IOM), "New Immigration Legislation in the Russian Federation: Enforcement Practices," 2008, p. 12 (publication pending).
[9] World Bank Data and Statistics, "Gross national income per capita 2007, Atlas method and Purchasing Power Parity," http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/GNIPC.pdf (accessed October 2, 2008).
[10] The World Bank estimates that gross national income in 2007 was US$7,560 for Russia and US$460 for Tajikistan. Estimates adjusting for purchasing power parity indicated that per capita income in Russia is more than eight times greater than in Tajikistan. World Bank Data and Statistics, "Gross national income per capita 2007, Atlas method and Purchasing Power Parity."
[11]Federal State Statistics Service, "Labor and Employment in Russia – 2007," (Trud i zaniatost v Rossii - 2007g.) Number of Foreign Citizens Working in Russia, Disaggregated by Sex and Age Group, http://www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/B07_36/IssWWW.exe/Stg/d01/05-16.htm (accessed August 25, 2008).
[12] According to the 2006 IOM survey, on average, 15 percent of migrant workers in Russia today have very poor knowledge of Russian. As cited in International Labour Organization (ILO), "Regularization of migrant workers and prevention of employment of migrant workers with irregular status in the Russian Federation," 2008, (publication pending).
[13]Since 1992, Russia's population has declined by 6.5 million and the yearly rate of decline is increasing. The United Nations predicts that if current demographic trends continue, the population could decline from 142 million in 2007 to 100 million by 2050.The demographic crisis is likely to result in labor shortages as soon as 2012-2014, which will worsen over time, totaling up to 20 percent of demanded labor. The United Nations in the Russian Federation, "Demographic Policy in Russia: From Reflection to Action," 2008, http://www.undp.ru/index.phtml?iso=RU&lid=1&cmd=publications1&id=73 (accessed August 25, 2008). The International Labour Organization (ILO) has made similar predictions. ILO, "Russia Needs Migrant Workers to Support Economic Growth," July 20, 2006, http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Feature_stories/lang--n/WCMS_071244/index.htm (accessed August 25, 2008).
[14] Russia Today, "Interview with Elena Tyuryukanova," July 11, 2007, http://www.russiatoday.ru/guests/detail/239 (accessed August 25, 2008).
[15] Although the World Bank estimates that remittances will slow somewhat in response to the 2008 global financial crisis, experts also note that remittances are "one of the less volatile sources of foreign exchange earnings for developing countries," and "historically remittance flows have also been resilient to downturns in the migrant‐destination countries."World Bank, "Outlook for Remittance Flows 2008-2010: Growth Expected to Moderate Significantly, But Flows Remain Resilient," Migration and Development Brief No. 8, November 11, 2008, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/Resources/334934-1110315015165/MD_Brief8.pdf (accessed November 13, 2008).
[16] The World Bank in Russia, "Russian Economic Report," June 2008, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRUSSIANFEDERATION/Resources/rer16_eng.pdf (accessed June 19, 2008). From 2003-2007, construction was Russia's fastest growing sector, experiencing an annual average growth rate of 11.4 percent in 2003-2006, and 16.4 percent in 2007. Russian Federal State Statistics Service, "Main indicators of the system of national accounts," (Osnovnye indikatory sistemy natsionalniskh schetov), http://www.gks.ru/bgd/free/B01_19/Main.htm (accessed June 2, 2008).
[17]Federal State Statistics Service, "Work and Employment in Russia - 2007," (Trud i zaniatost v Rossii - 2007g.); As of June 2008, 7.8 percent of the Russian workforce was employed in the construction sector. Federal State Statistics Service, "Mid-year number of workers in the economy by economic activity," (Srednegodnaia chislennost zaniatiykh v ekonomike po vidam ekonomicheskoi deiatelnosti), http://www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/b08_11/IssWWW.exe/Stg/d01/06-03.htm (accessed June 2, 2008). The actual percentage of migrant workers working in construction is likely to be higher, given that construction is one of the most unregulated sectors of the Russian economy.
[18]Sima Ajvjazan, "Sochi 2014: A Builder's Dream," (Sochi 2014: mechta stroitelia), BBC Russian, May 12, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/russian/russia/newsid_7395000/7395544.stm (accessed June 4, 2008).