Global+impact+on+migration+process+in+Kazakhstan

= **Migration process in Kazakhstan** =

Kazakhstan plays an important role in the cluster of Central Asian countries. It is also significant in the context of migration dynamics in the region. media type="youtube" key="I7XwIS4HAMg" height="315" width="560"

 In the Central Asian context Kazakhstan, due to its geographical location and more stable economic situation, has become a popular destination and transit country of migrant workers and other categories of people on the move. According to the statistics, main flows of migrant workers in the Republic of Kazakhstan come from the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, attracted by growing salaries and demand for workers. Unfortunately, due to a restricted legal framework for foreign employment, most labour work irregularly. The country is also marked by the high volume of internal migration: thousands of rural residents move to urban areas seeking for job opportunities many of them end up as victims of trafficking. Outside Kazakhstan main destination countries for Kazakh labour migrants are the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Key constraints here include variable levels of political will; poor understanding by stakeholders of the migration-development link and of the impact of social, demographic, political and economic dynamics in the region, limitations in migration management capacity and inadequate legal and social framework to protect migrants, particularly their human rights.



Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world with population about 16 million. For Kazakhstan pay a lot of attention to migration in recent times because it has very big demographic problem. Since independence of Kazakhstan there started new migration dynamics. As we know migration could be divided into external and internal. Kazakhstan's external migration for the period of independence could be considered in two stages: first is outflow after collapse of USSR for the period 1991-2004 and second inflow of ethnic Kazakhs for the period 2004-2010. Compare to external migration internal migration in Kazakhstan was stable. From 1991 till 2010 internal migration didn't exceed more than 450000 people per year.

External migration in Kazakhstan for last years is positive and in 2010 the balance of migration is accounted for 15465 people. The immigration to Kazakhstan for 2010 is 41996 people and emigration from Kazakhstan for 2010 is 26531 people. External migration in Kazakhstan is divided into two big parts. First part considers period from 1991-2004 and the second part considers period from 2004-2010. In the first half of the 1990s there was big flow of nationalism generated by the processes of the country's sovereignty that was particularly noticeable at the household level. Nationalism was a trigger of big wave of emigration from Kazakhstan. It was largely provoked, and then stepped up shock reaction of Russian-speaking population, and became one of the most important factors in a powerful wave of emigration from Kazakhstan. The major causes of out-migration in Germany, is listed below: 1) Higher standard of living in Germany; 2) Historical, cultural, ethnic, kinship ties, which are determined is still quite numerous German population of Kazakhstan, formed in 1940-1950s.; 3) The Government of Germany promoted the returning of ethnic Germans to their historic homeland in the 1980s.; 4) Formed in Germany large "Diaspora of the Soviet Germans" - immigrants from the Soviet Union and then from the CIS countries. On the basis of the "diaspora" have formed fairly stable migration networks. “Diaspora” promotes migration to Germany even now and makes easy adaptation of immigrants. Factors determining the nature the migration to Russia are much different from the mentioned above. 1) The most powerful wave of out-migration from Kazakhstan to Russia formed the Soviet Union's collapse. Shock reaction of the population has led to a powerful flow of migration of the first half of the 1990s.; 2) Conservation of the extensive kinship, friendship, business connections, which are formed on the basis of extensive migration networks, which, on the one hand, facilitate the adaptation of migrants in Russia, irrevocable, and the other - are an important basis for the temporary migration; The migration situation in Kazakhstan in 2002-2005 has significant changes. Formed in 2004 the positive balance of external migration in 2005 increased by more than 8 times and has reached 22,668 people. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">After 2006 migration in Kazakhstan has decreasing tendency till 2008. Experts explain it by the banking crisis of 2007 in Kazakhstan, which began as a result of the crisis in mortgage lending in the U.S., which led to a rapid increase in inflation, the slowdown of the economy. In turn, this led to a marked decline in the level and quality of life of Kazakhstan. Kazakhs in Germany
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">External Migration in Kazakhstan **

=<span style="background-color: white; color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Internal Migration in Kazakhstan = <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Intercensal period 1999-2009 is not only an increase in the number of internal migrants, but also the ratio of inter-regional and intraregional migration in the overall migration process. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Interregional migration in the intercensal period 1989-1999 accounted for the vast majority - 92% of the country, the migration within the region - only 8%. In 1999-2009 interregional migration has is - 42% of intraregional - 58%. The share of migrants traveling within the region grew by 7 times. Every second of the migrant the results of the last census - people who migrate within the region.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[|http://www.stat.kz/publishing/Documents/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5%20%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8B/2011/Migration_Sange_2011.pdf (rus. language only)]

//<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Here you can find interesting tables, diagrames and figures illustrating migration process in Kazakhstan. ( in Russian ) //

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">In 1996, there was an organized return of 70,000 Kazakhs from Mongolia, Iran, and Turkey. During 1991–95, 82,000 Ukrainians and 16,000 Belarussians repatriated. Between 1991– 96, 614,000 Russians repatriated and 70,000 Kazakhs had repatriated from CIS countries. During 1992–96, 480,000 ethnic Germans had returned to Germany. These Germans were forcibly deported to Central Asia during World War II as from the Volga region. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">As of 1996, 42,000 Kazakhs had been displaced internally or had left for other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries as a result of the ecological problems of the Aral Sea, which had lost three-fourths its volume of water. There were also 160,000 displaced persons as a result of Semipalatinsk, an aboveground nuclear testing site in northern Kazakhstan. Since 1991, 45,000 Kazakhs were displaced internally, and 116,000 had left for other CIS countries. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">As of 1999, there were an estimated 35,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Kazakhstan. Of these, there were some 25,000 returnees of ethnic Kazakh origin, 6,000 Tajiks, 3,000 Afghans, Chechens, Georgians, and Armenians, as well as individual cases from China, African and other countries. The majority of the refugee population is located in the former capital Almaty and the southern part of the country. In 2000 the net migration rate was -12.2 migrants per 1,000 population, amounting to a loss of 200,000 people. The government views the emigration level as too high.

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The majority of migrants are concentrated in four regions: Almaty, Astana, Atyrau and southern Kazakhstan. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">The migrants are specialized in several different sectors: according to estimates, nearly a third work in the **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">construction industry, ** another third in **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">convenience services ** (the food service industry, small business, home repairs services), and the last third in **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">agriculture. **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Although men constitute the overwhelming majority of migrants, there is an increasing number of women migrants: in 2002, women made up only 15 of Uzbek migrants to Kazakhstan, but by 2004 they made up nearly a quarter. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The Central Asian migrations to Kazakhstan can be divided into three categories: daily, temporary, and permanent. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The first takes place notably in the border regions of southern Kazakhstan, where an increasing number of Uzbeks commute to work on the Kazakh side of the border during the day, and return home at evening. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">Regular border closures and administrative complications at customs thus trigger strong tensions among villagers who have become economically dependent on being able to cross the border.The Kazakh authorities are fully aware of the size of the migratory phenomenon and do not w ish to resist it. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;"> On several occasions, the government has even stated that its citizens are not in competition for work with migrants because the latter fill a specific social niche, as they take the poor paying jobs refused by Kazakhstani citizens. The authorities nevertheless are seeking to reduce illegal immigration and to encourage legal migration, which is better controlled judiciary and socially. Accordingly, in 2006, the Minister of the Interior legalized 164,000 migrants from other CIS countries, despite having initially announced a figure of only 100,000. Out of this number, nearly 120,000 were from Uzbekistan, 23,000 from Kyrgyzstan, 10,000 from Russia and nearly 5,000 from Tajikistan. Astana’s open policy on migration has also led to the naturalization of many migrants: in 2005, more than 20,000 persons were granted Kazakhstani citizenship, three-quarters of whom were from Uzbekistan, 10 percent from Kyrgyzstan, and 5 percent from Tajikistan. The aim of this voluntarist policy is to counteract the country’s falling population and the resultant reduction in its labor force, and it is complemented by strategies inviting Kazakhs of the diaspora, especially from Mongolia, to “return”. media type="youtube" key="yNsOcnG2oCQ" height="315" width="560"

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;"> Although migratory relations between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are good, managing migratory flows between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has proved more difficult. Tashkent refuses to acknowledge the scale of the phenomenon. The Uzbek state has a monopoly on the legal dispatching of workers abroad, meaning each migrant is obliged to obtain official authorization from the Uzbek Agency of Work Migration. Since 2006-2007, the Uzbek government has also sought to hive off some of the financial flows of its “Gastarbeiters”. According to a government resolution “On registration of citizens seeking employment abroad”, Uzbek labor migrants have to come back to Uzbekistan, go through registration and pay customs dues before returning to work abroad. As a result, the majority of Uzbeks leave without legal permission and thereafter are unable to seek protection from their guardian state. This situation promotes human trafficking and the organization of mafia networks by recruiters who go from door to door asking for volunteers to work in Kazakhstan.

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">The working conditions of Central Asian migrants in Kazakhstan are still very poor. Legislation dealing with immigration continues to be largely insufficient, failing to penalize abusive employers and to guarantee a minimum of social rights to migrants. The Kazakh police force does not seem in a hurry to denounce companies that employ migrants illegally. So, the very size of illegal migration tends to reinforce corruption in the police, the administration, and the customs services. A massive legalization is thus in the public interest, since it would enable these populations, services and money flows to become official, and therefore controllable. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;"> Since Kazakhstan has a relatively low birth-rate compared with that of its Central Asian neighbors and was badly hit by the massive emigration of its Slavic population, its authorities have understood the necessity of an open migration policy. In fact, the country will be needing more than a million additional workers until 2015: migrants, then, are also contributing to Kazakhstan’s development and economic success. Moreover, since labor out-migration is postponing unemployment-fuelled social tension and socio-political instability in Kyrgyzstan and in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan contributes to stability throughout Central Asia, taking on the role of the region’s economic leader.