Oriental Studies (Apr 2018)
The Invisible Migration: Journey from Kalmykia to Moscow
Abstract
The aim of the study is to analyze the internal migration from the Republic of Kalmykia to other regions of the Russian Federation, mostly to Moscow. The ethnographic study draws upon interviews and the author’s observations made in rural districts of the Republic of Kalmykia in 2006-2015. Kalmykia is one of the regions that get depopulated as a result of the migratory exchange with other subjects, while the mortality rate - especially in rural areas - is high. However, the real extent of temporary labor mobility is underestimated in the present-day literature and the actual number of non-permanent migrants is significantly higher whereas most of them are not reflected in the official statistics. The paper argues that there is no border between different types of temporary, permanent and circular mobility for our respondents. In terms of inter-ethnic aspects, the migration changes the traditional norms. People involved into the migration develop a hybrid identity of belonging to different communities. Nevertheless, temporariness can affect the various choices of migrants and their families including the trends to use practices of shadow economy because of the official Moscow policy with its bureaucratic barriers aimed at preventing mass migration into the city and the fact the owners avoid helping both internal and external migrant workers with registration in their apartments. The “internal migrants” are regarded as “alien migrants” in public discourse and this leads to a separation and marginalization of internal non-Russian ethnic migrant workers in the city which reduces potential benefits of the mobility. Like international labor migrants, internal migrants want to maintain or improve their living standards, however, temporary migration implies harsh and uncomfortable living and working conditions. The study of migration processes in the local context helps understand different aspects of internal mobility and the influence of migrants’ social life on local communities.
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