In Russia, migrant worker diasporas are beginning to dictate their terms
Migrants who find employment in Russia are gradually occupying various fields of activity.
The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Institute of Demography, Migration and Regional Development, Yuri Krupnov, told Komsomolskaya Pravda, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Talks about cheap migrant labor are a classic story of dumping, in which diasporas are slowly taking over different areas of labor. First, migrants bring down the cost of work in the industry, and when they squeeze out all the locals who do not agree to such prices, they begin to dictate their terms,” Krupnov said.
According to him, then the newcomers become naturalized, secure labor markets and organize into diasporas.
“Russia is not unique here, this is the situation all over the world. Diasporas are forming “showcases”: social movements, migrants’ rights defenders, media with articles about how crime has no nationality, and legal firms. And semi-legal employment and sometimes even criminal structures remain in the shadows. This is a colossal problem,” says the demographer.
If the state is unable to provide good jobs for its citizens, the expert continues, all that remains is to create fierce competition for those that exist.
At the same time, the publication’s interlocutor admits that over the last 10 years in Russia attempts have been made to correct this situation.
“For example, a month ago the State Duma ratified an agreement under which the country will pay pensions to citizens of the EAEU countries (that is, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan) who worked in Russia. This means that employers will have to make contributions to the Pension Fund, and this automatically makes hiring a migrant not so profitable compared to a citizen of the Russian Federation. This is already a step forward, although it will affect, I would say, 20 percent of the number of visitors,” Krupnov concluded.
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