BISHKEK (TCA) — In Russia, the number of labor migrants from Kyrgyzstan is on the rise while that from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is decreasing, the Fergana information agency reported with reference to the Federal Migration Service of Russia (FMS).
As of 12 January 2016, the number of Kyrgyzstan citizens in Russia had grown two percent over the past month, amounting to 553,910, the FMS said.
With Kyrgyzstan’s accession of the Eurasian Economic Union last year, Kyrgyz citizens no longer need work permits in the EEU member countries (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia).
The number of Tajikistan citizens in Russia had reduced by 3.8 percent during the month and amounted to 862,321.
The number of Uzbek citizens had been decreasing even faster — by 4.1 percent during the month and 18.6 percent compared to a year before. Today more than 1.8 million Uzbek citizens live and work in Russia.
“It seems that EEU membership has helped Kyrgyzstan citizens adapt to the crisis, retain their position in the Russian labor market, and even increase their presence there,” Sergey Abashin, a Russian expert in Central Asia migration, commented on the new figures on the Facebook. “They had already been well adapted to the Russian labor market and have now been least affected by the economic crisis as compared to other Central Asian countries. There is an absolutely different situation with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; the crisis has forced migrants from these countries to slowly but steadily leave the Russian labor market.”
